Eco adventure

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Have breakfast with a ranger at Topsail Apr. 9

Learn about park life at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park Location: Topsail Hill Preserve State Park on Scenic Road 30A, Santa Rosa Beach Saturday, Apr. 9 – 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. The Department of Environmental Protection’s Topsail Hill Preserve State Park will be having a Breakfast with a Ranger at 9 a.m. Join the Rangers of Topsail Hill and ask them all the questions you can think of about park life. This program is family oriented and ideal for...

That bunch of seaweed on the beach teems with life

Beach wrack full of curiosities When walking the beach this spring break, pause and ponder the virtues of stranded seaweed. Those scattered clumps along the high-tide line actually have a name – beach wrack – and are a pivotal part of the beach ecosystem. “Many might think sand makes a beach, but it’s the wrack that truly brings a beach to life,” said Blair Witherington, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologist who studies beach life. “It sponsors...

Gulf grouper recreational season opens April 1

Gag grouper still prohibited in federal waters, for now The recreational harvest of shallow-water groupers in Gulf of Mexico state and federal waters off Florida, except in all waters of Monroe County, reopens on April 1.  However, the recreational harvest of gag grouper is still prohibited in Gulf federal waters off Florida (beyond nine nautical miles from shore).  Also, persons on federally permitted for-hire reef fish vessels may not harvest or possess gag grouper in both federal and state Gulf...

Beach mouse research volunteers needed Mar. 26 and 27

Learn about the beach mouse as you assist in research Margo Stoddard a University of Florida researcher needs lots of volunteers to help out this Mar. 26 and 27 with her beach mouse project.  The project will consist of planting vegetation (broomsedge) in different spatial configurations.  The objective of this study is to examine the influence of vegetation patch size on beach mouse activity (movement and foraging), and/or installing foraging trays in the field; foraging trays for this study are clear plastic...