Tim Grollimund

Grunts congregate all around Snapper Ledge during the day. Seagrass beds nearby provide nocturnal foraging grounds and are essential to the harmonic balance of the ecosystem. (Photo by Tim Grollimund)

A lot of the time I see something on the reef that interests me, do the research and write about it. But now I am immersed in "Sanctuary Science." I figure I may as well communicate what is swimming around in my head while I am trying to absorb all this information. While I intake vast amounts of data (which I call Conehead Syndrome for you ancient SNL fans), let's see what filters through the gray sponge and spills out on the deck.

Posted - Friday, March 29, 2013 11:01 AM EDT

If current population trends continue, more Americans will find themselves in harm's way due to coastal flooding and other severe weather conditions.

Posted - Friday, March 29, 2013 11:01 AM EDT

By CHUCK FADLEY

The Tamiami Trail bridge in the Everglades, which will allow water from the River of Grass to flow from north of the Tamiami Trail to the south, was dedicated March 19 with a ceremony attended by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

It was touted as a triumph of modern engineering when it opened in 1928, a road across the once-impassable Everglades that took 2.6 million sticks of dynamite and 13 years to construct.

Posted - Wednesday, March 27, 2013 10:26 AM EDT

By KEVIN WADLOW

Florida Bay fishing guides examine the latest proposals to limit motors in the bay. Everglades National Park staff was met with near-unanimous opposition to the pole-and-troll plan as it now stands.

Even professional flats guides can pole a boat only so far, dozens of guides and anglers told Everglades National Park staff at a Wednesday hearing in Tavernier.

A proposal to declare about a third of Florida Bay -- more than 131,000 shallow acres -- as pole-and-troll zones would effectively ban access to many popular fishing areas, said speakers at the first Keys hearing on the park's preferred alternative for its updated rules.

Posted - Saturday, March 23, 2013 05:30 AM EDT

A pledge of $5 million to design and test Florida Keys canal restoration projects could lead to more outside money for a widespread program, Monroe County commissioners decided.

Posted - Saturday, March 23, 2013 10:40 AM EDT

ENVIRONMENT

The Bahamian government is allowing an oil company to conduct exploratory offshore drilling ahead of a referendum giving its citizens a say in the country’s future energy development.

Posted - Thursday, March 21, 2013 08:18 PM EDT

ENVIRONMENT

Rep. Holly Raschein, R-Key Largo, sponsored a bill aimed at lowering feral cat populations statewide through spaying and neutering programs.

Posted - Thursday, March 21, 2013 06:53 PM EDT

Keynoter Contributor

Baby greens doing well now, but it was a slow start and lots of experimentation on containers, soil, sun.

You've heard the saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again." And believe me, I've tried.

I now have to acknowledge that my initial gardening success three years ago must have been beginners luck.

Posted - Saturday, March 16, 2013 09:48 AM EDT

From improbable to ingenious, Florida Keys Mosquito Control Director Michael Doyle says employees offered up hundreds of ideas during this week's two-day sustainability summit in Marathon.

Posted - Saturday, March 16, 2013 11:01 AM EDT

A young great horned owl raises its wings in a display after leaving its nest -- formerly an osprey nest -- in Islamorada. The owl and its sibling are less than three months old.

Two young great horned owls, hatched on an electric-utility tower in Islamorada, have grown up fast.

"The babies are big and feisty," Joan Scholz, executive director of the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center in Tavernier, said Thursday. The two chicks, estimated to be about 10 weeks old, left their nest as fledglings last week.

Posted - Saturday, March 09, 2013 10:40 AM EST