Bay & Gulf County Scallop Webinar
Tuesday, August 11th from 6-7 PM ET Join us to learn more about recreational scalloping! Hear from UF/IFAS, Florida Sea Grant, FWC, and FWRI presenters and stay for Q&A. The pandemic has been challenging, to say the least. We must all must be contentious to all...
CARES Act Funding in the Pipeline for Hard-Hit Fishing Industry
We won’t see it tomorrow… but desperately needed funds for a hard-hit fishing industry are on the way. Congress has allocated $300 million in relief funds for losses suffered by various fishery-related businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes as part...
Climate Change and Future Hurricanes
We have reached that time of year when the Atlantic starts cranking out storms, and they will continue to roll out as the dog days of summer progress. Over the last decade, many experts have speculated on how climate change and sea level rise might impact hurricanes...
What the “Devil” is That?
The hickory horned devil is a blue-green colored caterpillar, about the size of a large hot dog, covered in long black thorns. They are often seen feeding on the leaves of deciduous forest trees, such as hickory, pecan, sweetgum, sumac and persimmon. For about 35...
What Are The Wildlife Up To This Summer?
As hunters and wildlife enthusiasts we tend to focus on wildlife behavior and biology during hunting season but tend to forget about them during the summer months. But the summer months are very important to our population numbers. Hunting season includes mating...
Year of the Turtle 2020 – the Gopher Tortoise
This blog will wrap up our series on Florida turtles for the Year of the Turtle (2020) – and we end with a good one – the gopher tortoise. We only have two true terrestrial species of turtles in Florida, and it does not get more terrestrial than the gopher tortoise....
Storm Season and Mosquitoes, the Double Whammy
Attacking mosquitos are spoilers for our outdoor activity interests this time of year. Hurricanes and other storm events tend to be a catalyst that increases these populations. Not only are mosquitos a nuisance, but they are carriers of several diseases. But, there...
Embrace the Gulf 2020 – the cephalopods
For many of the blogs we have posted on marine life of the Gulf of Mexico I have used the term “amazing” – but these cephalopods are truly amazing. There have been numerous nature programs featuring not just marine invertebrates but rather highlighting the...
Fly Trapping Plant That Does NOT Eat its Catch
Most people have heard about bug-trapping plants that sustain themselves by digesting and absorbing nutrients from bugs that they catch. This gives them the ability to grow in soils of low fertility that most other plants cannot tolerate. Good examples of this in our...
Florida Friendly Fishing Guide Certification
Fishing is big business in Florida, contributing billions of dollars each year to the state’s economy. Fishing guides are an important part of the fishing industry. Guides provide locals and tourists alike with authentic Florida fishing experiences and memories that...