We are in the thick of our 14th season, as we just finished an excellent trip on the Wild, Wonderful Withlacoochee and are preparing for our last two events of the season. Springtime on the Chipola, six days on the river, will commence on March 18th (see photo above). Then we turn our attention to our final event of the season, the Suwannee River Paddling Festival, which takes place April 1 - 3. Our 2022-2023 season schedule will be announced in this space on May 1st. Our 15th season promises to be our best yet, as we have developed remarkable partnerships with communities, state parks, food vendors, speakers and musicians. Thanks to all the folks who are an integral part of what we do!

In February, we were reminded that advocacy works. 

In Citrus County, more than 250 local residents came together at the Citrus County Commission to oppose the proposed Northern Turnpike Extension, which could cut through the watersheds of some of Florida’s most treasured springs. A commissioner who supported the roads last month says that he now supports the "No Build" option after listening to hours of public comments against the road. 

That's advocacy in action and we're grateful to everyone who was there. If you're in the Nature Coast area, pay attention, follow No Roads To Ruin Coalition, (a coalition of groups that includes the Florida Springs Council) so you'll know when you need to show up and make noise! [Read more…]

As attention and urgency ramp up around the world over the looming dangers of climate change, a major new federal report released on Tuesday offers a surprising forecast: It actually reduces the amount of sea level rise the world is expected to see as the Earth warms.

For South Florida, the region with the most coastal real estate at risk, the sobering prediction is that the sea will continue to rise — about 11 inches by 2040 — but the latest forecast is markedly less than atmospheric modeling runs produced just five years ago. That previous forecast called for 17 inches by 2040, a level likely to produce regular and damaging tidal flooding in low-lying areas from Key West to Palm Beach County and beyond.

It’s a change that really only amounts to a bit more breathing room, said Jayantha Obeysekara, head of Florida International University’s Sea Level Solutions Center and contributor to the report. The end of the century scenarios are still bleak for Florida — five to seven feet at the new worse case projections. [Read more…]

Photo credit: Emily Michot / Miami Herald

Here’s the thing: Small changes alone won’t save our planet. To keep the Earth from warming above the critical 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) limit, climate action needs to happen at an institutional level. The Washington Post has built a tracker to keep you up to date on all of President’s Biden’s environmental actions.

But that doesn’t mean you should feel helpless, or that your actions aren’t worthwhile. Taking steps to lower your own carbon footprint may help ease your climate anxiety by giving you back some power — and even the smallest of actions will contribute to keeping our planet habitable.

With that in mind, here are 10 places to start. [Read more…]

Photo credit: Washington Post

The unprecedented human effort to feed starving Florida manatees has so far provided the lovable marine mammals with more than 25 tons of lettuce, officials said Wednesday.

The round-tailed, snout-nosed animals popular with locals and tourists have suffered a major die-off because their preferred seagrass food source is disappearing because of water pollution from agricultural, urban, septic tank and other sources.

Officials say the feeding program involving donated romaine lettuce at a Florida Power & Light plant on the east coast is attracting about 300 to 350 manatees per day. It’s been as many as 800 manatees at times, sometimes less than 60 as they move around the waterways.

“We’re making a difference,” said Ron Mezich of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission during an online news conference Wednesday. “It gives us the greatest exposure to the greatest number of animals.” [Read more…]

Photo credit: Fritz Geller-Grimm

In a positive development for southwest Florida wildlife, coastal communities, and economies, scientists there recently discovered that some areas gained significant amounts of seagrass from 2016 to 2020.

That’s good news because seagrass helps buffer coastal communities from severe weather, supports economically important activities such as scalloping and fishing, and serves as a vital food source for manatees, which are starving to death in other parts of the state because of pollution-related seagrass die-offs.

After mapping underwater habitats north of Tampa, the Southwest Florida Water Management District found that an offshore area by Anclote Key, an inshore area of Crystal Bay, and Waccasassa Bay east of Cedar Key gained about 5,300 acres of seagrass combined over the four years. The mapping also found that more than half a million acres of seagrass habitat in the region are stable, including much of the seagrass in the state’s new Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve, which stretches along the coast from Pasco County through Citrus County.[ Read more…]

Photo credit: Florida Wildlife Federation

How To: Efficient forwards paddling for sea kayakers

As sea kayakers, our focus tends to be on the environmental aspects of paddling such as tidal planning, weather and swell or on our dynamic skills out in the waves, in and around the rocks, tide races or in the surf. But focusing some time on our forwards paddling stroke on a calm day, we can bring big improvements that are beneficial to all aspects of our paddling on the sea.

Click here for article and video.