This year, 2026, is another huge loss of a nesting shorebird species, Wilson’s Plover, on Sand Dollar Island/Big Marco Pass Critical Wildlife Area (CWA). According to Audubon of the Western …

Just beyond the busy streets and growing developments of Collier County lies a landscape that has remained largely wild for generations. Spanning more than 729,000 acres of cypress swamps, wet …

Over 30 volunteers gathered at Residents Beach for a beach cleanup on October 18, 2026.   Big thanks to our sponsors, Our Daily Bread Food Pantry (ODBFP) and Marco Island Civic Association …

October is Florida Native Plant Month. There is a slight drop in the heat and humidity and we know it is as fall. It’s the ideal time to check the garden. For the month of October, think of Native …

Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, on October 9, 2026, as a Category Two Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. In Collier …

The dolphin study team on board the Dolphin Explorer documented adult female Ollie with her very first baby ever and it is named OZZIE! Ollie’s siblings are Ripple, Mocha, Bubbles, Piper, and Dixon. They are all the aunts and uncles of newborn Ozzie. Welcome to the world little one, and congrats to first-time mom Ollie!

It’s early October 2026 in Southwest Florida and it’s that time of the year for the annual sunflower viewing at Pepper Ranch in Immokalee. The fields turn golden yellow with the blooms of the …

These preliminary numbers were provided by FWC as of August 31, 2026: Loggerheads have reached a preliminary 136,972 nests statewide as of August 31, already exceeding the previous annual record …

Kids growing up on Marco Island in the 1970s were all too familiar with sandspurs. They were everywhere. But chances are many of today's Marco Islanders have never experienced the pain of stepping on …

On Marco Island, four green sea turtles nested, but one nest did not hatch as it was below the escarpment. Last week, two nests hatched, according to Marco’s Sea Turtle Monitoring Team, and one …

As the flocks are growing in number on the beach, Audubon Western Everglades is transitioning from our summer stewardship to our fall/winter stewardship! Thank you to the Coastal Breeze News for …

At the five Collier County beaches monitored by the Sea Turtle Protection Program in 2025 (Barefoot Beach, Vanderbilt, Park Shore, Naples and Marco Island) there was recorded a total of 106,992 eggs …

It was an unusually hot and dry summer across South Florida, according to the National Weather Service, with several cities setting new records for summer heat! Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial …

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” and the image of the cliff-hanging nest that hatched conveys its meaning more effectively than any narrative. Or maybe we should say, “one look is worth …

Protecting Southwest Florida’s Everglades and wild places “out there” is essential – but so is making landscapes just outside our door work better for nature. For 65 years, Audubon Western …

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) emphasizes the importance of using low, shielded, and long-range lighting to protect sea turtles during nesting season. These guidelines …

The Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) funding program started in Marco in 2019, and it was a collaboration with the Beach and Coastal Resources Advisory Committee, the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) of …

Looking back at the 2025 sea turtle season, the berm conditions are very similar to 2026. 2025 was one of the quietest weather years in SW Florida: 2025 was an El Niño year in Florida …

A dedicated group of 35+ beach volunteers gathered atthe South Beach boardwalk entrance on August 8, ready to take part in a monthly cleanup to remove harmful trash items and protect marine life. …

For the last week of July, 2026, Jeanene and Robert Jewett, part of the Collier County Sea Turtle Monitoring Team for Marco Island, encountered two green sea turtle nests on Marco Island. Earlier in …