At Saturday’s beach clean-up sponsored by the Beach and Coastal Resources Advisory Committee, ugly, yucky cigarette butts were the most collected small toxic item littering the beach. For the past year, the Committee has collected and counted their monthly collection of cigarette butts as a form of data collection. In past years, single use plastic drinking straws was on the […]
Environment
Marco’s Beach Renourishment
‘The project that goes on forever’The beach renourishment project is in progress for Marco’s Central Beach. It will continue from dusk to dawn, Monday through Saturday and will be completed before sea turtle season, which begins April 15th. Nighttime dredging activities may occur, but will be limited to an area along the water’s edge. Approximately 150,000 – 175,000 cubic yards of sand will be dredged […]
DEP Welcomes Everglades City as Florida Trail Town
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection welcomes Everglades City as a newly designated Florida Trail Town. The designation became official at a recent meeting of the Florida Greenways and Trails Council in Silver Springs. Everglades City is a gateway to the Ten Thousand Islands and an important hub for several paddling trails, including the 1,515-mile Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail. The town […]
Girl Scouts Clean Up Monofilament at Caxambas Park
For members of Girl Scout Troop 873 of Naples, their Saturday morning excursion to the Caxambas Park and Boat Ramp started out with an on-site visit to the burrowing owls. Alli Smith, lead researcher for Audubon of the Western Everglades, gave a tour and a brief lesson on Marco’s charismatic resident raptors. Part of the visit included a clean-up of […]
Lucky Charm
Meet Your Area DolphinsBorn in 2006, this dolphin has been on its own for 10 years and is approaching adulthood. It’s impossible to tell a male dolphin from a female just by looking at them, but social behavior over time can give us a clue. Lucky Charm is usually seen by itself or in the company of adult females and other sub-adult dolphins. This […]
I Think We Need a Bigger Boat!
Stepping StonesAhhh, it’s Valentines week and love is in the air. All around the globe humans are acting as if they were smitten by love for the very first time. “I love you, my itsy, bitsy baby.” “No, I love you more” is the reply. “No, I love YOU more, my little cuddle kitten.” Even some of the animal kingdom seem […]
Untangling the Dangers of Fishing Lines to Wildlife
An osprey (Pandion haliaetus) has been spotted near the Tigertail Beach Lagoon Observation Tower with a monofilament line around its neck and a tangle of fishing line trailing behind it as it flies. It is thought to be one of the mated ospreys at the Observation Tower at Tigertail Beach. It has also been spotted sitting on a branch, trying […]
A Walk to Remember
Stepping StonesTwo issues ago it was a pleasure to inform you about an area just south of San Marco Road on U.S. 41 called the Marsh Trail. It’s a magical place this time of year, with a great variety of birds feeding in the prairies and along the shorelines of the brackish water, dotted with red mangroves and gumbo limbo trees. […]
Meet Ariel
Meet Your Area DolphinsMeet Ariel, who graces the cover of this issue of Coastal Breeze News. Ariel, one of our newest Marco Island dolphins, was born in the fall of 2018 and is coming up on five months old. About a month ago, our dolphin study team noticed that this new calf had some fishing line wrapped around its dorsal fin. Rookery Bay […]
Master Gardeners Return to Lowes
The Master Gardeners Walk-In Plant Clinic has returned to Lowes, ready again to offer advice and answer gardening questions. If you are having trouble with your plants, they can diagnose the problem for you. It could be bugs, fungus or overwatering. It could just be the cold weather. Come and visit to find out! Master Gardeners will be at Lowes […]
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