Blog The Beach

The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary cares for injured wild birds and, when possible, returns them to the wild. All species of wild birds, like this beautiful white ibis (above), benefit from the hard work of the volunteers and paid staff of the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary produces a very informative newsletter to keep the public informed about their activities. It is called “Fly Free.” I thought I’d take a look at their Summer 2008 issue, and share the highlights with you:

• A large colony of Black Skimmers nested on the sands in front of the Sanctuary this summer.  The Sanctuary launched a public awareness campaign, and with cooperation of local media, Eckerd College, the Audubon Society, and the local community, human interference and encroachment was reduced, resulting in the hatching of 50 chicks.
• The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary has produced a documentary featuring the history of the Sanctuary and shows how wild birds get injured and how the public can help.  The film, called “Flying Free,” has received numerous awards of excellence. To order copies of the documentary, call 727-391-6211, or order online at www.seabirdsanctuary.com.
• The Sanctuary is seeking volunteers for the busy winter roundup and bird rescue efforts on the Ft. Desoto and Skyway Bridge fishing piers. According to Elizabeth Vreeland, Sanctuary Staff and Volunteer, “Last winter I rescued almost 200 birds from the north and south Skyway and Ft. Desoto Fishing Piers in just a couple of months. That’s just me. That’s just two piers.” If you are interested in being a volunteer, even if it is just for an hour a month, contact the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.
• Upcoming is the Seabird Christmas Celebration.  Saturday, December 6, 2008, 10am. Free tour of the Sanctuary, cookies, punch, children’s gifts and special events. Fun for all ages.
• An injured Bald Eagle was rescued in northern Pinellas County, then rehabilitated, and released back into the wild. It appeared to have been involved in a territorial fight with another eagle.

Above are just a few of the interesting things I found in the Sanctuary’s newsletter. Become a member of the Sanctuary and receive the newsletter, or stop by the Sanctuary and pick up a copy.

Above: White Pelicans recuperate at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. White Pelicans are much larger than Brown Pelicans (pictured below) and have different feeding habits. Their needs are very different. The staff and volunteers at the Sanctuary are experts at caring for all kinds of wild birds.

Above: A view of a small portion of the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. The Sanctuary cares for all types of wild birds, from small songbirds, to herons and hawks.

Visit their website at www.seabirdsanctuary.com, or stop by and see the birds!

They are located at 18328 Gulf Boulevard, Indian Shores, FL 33785.

Wild Bird Rescue

Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer with some flotsam from the beach.

What do rubber ducks have to do with ocean science? The same thing flotsam in general has to do with it. Flotsam is that stuff, natural or manmade, that’s floating around in the ocean. Nowadays, there’s an unbelievable amount of manmade stuff, especially plastic, that is floating in the oceans, caught up in the currents, and circling the oceans, sometimes for decades, before washing up on a beach somewhere.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Ebbesmeyer at the 13th Annual International Seabean Symposium in Cocoa Beach in October 2008. He presented a very interesting slide show.  Here are a few bits and pieces from Dr. Ebbesmeyer’s slide show:

• Plastic from as far back as 1944 was found in an albatross in 2005. The stuff hangs around for a long time.
• Florida’s Atlantic coast is one of the best places for beachcombing because of the North Atlantic Gyre, a huge circular current that passes the US east coast, Western Europe, and Africa.
• It takes about 3 years for a piece of flotsam to go around the gyre, but the longest documented ride taken by a piece of flotsam was a bottle that spent 35 years drifting in the gyre.

I thought it was all just a lot of fun–collecting flotsam, beachcombing, studying ocean currents–but there is a darker implication to all the junk floating in the oceans. This was brought home by “shed bird.” 

This poor bird (I forget the species–some seabird) had made a nest in a shed in someone’s yard and was raising a chick. The baby bird did not survive. Upon autopsy, 512 pieces of plastic were found in the birds stomach. Enough to kill anything.  Some fish attach their eggs to floating objects. Birds that eat the eggs ingest the object (in this case, plastic) then regurgitate the deadly meal to their chicks before the chicks’ stomachs have developed enough to expel indigestible matter.

Here’s a short, but informative video clip on what Dr. Ebbesmeyer does:

Dr. Ebbesmeyer is also a forensic oceanographer. This means that when a human body, or body parts wash up on the beach, he is often called in to help with the identification process. I won’t go into the details here, but remember the stories about the shoes (with human feet still inside them) washing up on Canadian beaches? Dr. Ebbesmeyer was quoted in the UK Guardian:

“The big picture is that there are body parts washing up all over the place all the time,” said Curtis Ebbesmeyer… But this, he admits, is different. “I’ve never come across a time when we’ve had five of one kind [all feet]at one time. It’s highly unusual.”… “The shoe is going to protect the foot pretty well,” Ebbesmeyer said. “Most shoes float, and sneakers tend to float sole up, so that would protect them from birds.”

After the Sea-Bean Symposium was over, some of us drove down to Sebastian Inlet to hunt for sea-beans. While we were goofing off, Dr. Ebbesmeyer and Dr. Blair Witherington ( a research scientist and author of Florida’s Living Beaches) were filmed discussing various items found on the beach. These educational video clips, which promise to be very interesting, will appear on the Space Coast Beach Blog.

You won’t want to miss the new book by Dr. Ebbesmeyer, co authored with Eric Scigliano. It’s called Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science. It’s coming out in March 2009.

From the promotional material:

Curtis Ebbesmeyer is no ordinary scientist, and for the first time, he tells the story of his life–long struggle to solve the sea’s mysteries–uncovering the astonishing story of flotsam, unraveling the mystery of marine currents, and changing the world’s view of trash, the ocean, and our global environment. 

You’ll also want to visit Dr. Ebbesmeyer’s website www.beachcombersalert.org, and subscribe to his newsletter Beachcombers’ Alert to stay informed on what kind of crazy and interesting things people are finding on beaches these days…like a 1 million pint beer fermentation tank, for instance.

We stepped out onto Grayton Beach on a beautiful October morning. The sand was as white as fresh snow, and felt like coarse sugar under our feet. The water, as you can see from the photo above, was crystal clear and a comfortable 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

But we quickly realized that something was very wrong. Despite a fairly consistent north breeze, we were being swarmed by biting flies. Ouch!

Now, I’ve lived in Florida my whole life and have, from time to time, encountered an occasional biting fly on the beach. I’ve been driven from the beach by no-see-ums (aka sand gnats), but they are only active at dawn and dusk now and then.

These flies on Grayton Beach drew blood and they didn’t give up. We headed straight for the water, which provided considerable relief, as very few of the flies ventured out over the water. Everyone was swatting flies and heading for cover.

When we tried to sit in a beach chair under our umbrella to relax, the flies swarmed us again. We had to leave. I was dumbfounded. Why had I not heard of this? After all, I am the “Beach Expert.”

I questioned a few people who told me that the flies are brought down on the north wind with the first cold front, and that they are only a problem for a few days each year. Lucky us, I thought.

Fortunately by later in the day the wind turned southerly and greatly alleviated the fly problem.

I’ve done some research and have managed to find a couple of resources on the internet that shed some light on the fly problem, but I still have more questions, so I’m continuing my research. I’ll give you an executive summary and provide links to the articles I found.

“Dog Fly” Facts

Fly season in the Florida panhandle is generally from August through October.

The flies are “stable flies” or “dog flies.” They lay their eggs in the farm country of Alabama on manure or rotting vegetation such as might be found in a farm environment. Apparently, winds bring them south to the panhandle beaches.

The flies are blood suckers, and prefer the blood of cows and pigs, but clearly do not turn away from humans when available.

The panhandle, from Gulf County to Escambia County,  has had a spray program in place since the 1970’s, funded by state dollars. The state funding was cut off in 2008. In Panama City Beach, the Mosquito Control program is trying to take up the slack.

Of course the spray program has its own controversy. Not everyone is happy with insecticides being sprayed on the beaches, even if it helps ward off the tourist-chasing flies.

We talked to several locals about how they deal with the flies. One helpful gentleman said that he uses something he called “Cactus spray,” which is apparently a natural insect repellant product. We never did find any of that in the local stores, but we did find a repellent called “Bug Band” with time-released “geraniol” as an active ingredient. It does not contain DEET. Photo below.

We cannot vouch for its effectiveness personally with regard to the flies, since after the first day, we were not bothered by the flies. But it does work with mosquitoes. We encountered some mosquitoes at Eden Garden State Park late in the afternoon. Sue had used the Bug Band and I had not. The mosquitoes had a feast on me but left her alone.

Florida panhandle beaches are absolutely gorgeous, so the purpose of this blog post is NOT to scare people away. But bring your insect repellent along with your sunscreen, just in case…

For further reading on Florida panhandle “dog flies”:

Skeeter Patrol Says “Shoo Fly Shoo”

Ugh…Dog Flies Are Here

If you have any info or personal stories about these irksome critters, send an email to beachhunter [at] beachhunter.net

Upham Beach has a SERIOUS litter problem. Every time I’ve been to Upham Beach this summer I’ve encountered a shameful amount of plastic and paper litter. I’m not talking about one or two items here and there. Everybody can make the mistake of leaving a small piece of trash behind on rare occasions. I’m talking about deliberate disrespect for the beach. Much of the litter is left on the beach in front of the Envoy Point, Starlight Towers, and Caprice condominiums near the jetty.

The litter, I’m sad to say, appears largely to be attributable to teenagers (based on my personal observations). I’ll just leave it at that for now, although I reserve the right to publish actual photos of the perpetrators in the future. I’m amazed that the condo residents are so tolerant of this behavior.

To its credit, Suncoast Surfrider Foundation, under the direction of Mike Meehan, frequently stages cleanups of this area.  A couple of weeks after the last cleanup, I came back to Upham to find the mess pictured in the photos. In about 10 minutes, right on the beach in front of the aforementioned condominiums, I picked up a full 13 gallon trash bag of litter.

The litterbugs even leave their clothes in the bushes (on private property no less).

The beach is for all to enjoy and there is no reason to litter, nor is their a reason for us to tolerate the act of littering. Not only is litter ugly, some of it is dangerous to wildlife.

Many of us like to talk about being “green” and respecting the environment. Why don’t we start at Upham Beach?

Another side effect of a few irresponsible people littering the beach is credibility. The condo residents see the young people hanging out on the beach, riding their skimboards, etc., and leaving their litter behind, and associate this disrespectful behavior with surfers and beach culture in general.

In a recent St. Pete Beach Commission meeting where the surfing community was trying to assume a reasonable and credible position against rushing into building permanent rock structures on Upham Beach, one condo resident made a remark associating the surfers with throwing litter onto their property, attempting to call into question the credibility and motives of those associated with surfing.  Why put ourselves in this position?

Further, I’d like to point out that even though condos are often an eyesore, and frequently have little in the way of foliage and trees around them, a fine example of stewardship exists right above the beach in front of those Upham Beach condos by the jetty. A beautiful and peaceful garden is lovingly tended by the condominium residents and is open to the public. The gentleman below welcomed me into the garden as he was going about his work in the hot August sun.

Notice also the use of a compost bin to recycle garden waste (below). Sunset beach is visible on the other side of Blind Pass.

Yes, the condos are built too close to the Gulf, but the current residents are making the best of what they have.

Why don’t we ALL work together to make Upham a better place to play?

I’ve managed to live in Florida for 48 years without having seen a coyote, and I’ve spent more than my share of time out in the wilds. But I just came across a story on Naplesnews.com about a rash of Coyote/ domestic animal attacks in Lee and Collier Counties (that’s the Fort Myers / Naples area). What caught my attention was surveillance video of a coyote hunting and killing a woman’s cat in the Naples area.

I guess what struck me as interesting, even more than the coyote and the unlucky cat, is the sophisticated video surveillance that this lady had set up around her mobile home. Is that amazing or what? I wonder if she’s had trouble with crime in her neighborhood. That’s some serious bucks to spend on cameras and such. Pretty handy though. I could have used that type of surveillance around my house on a few occasions in the recent past. Good for her.

Here is an interactive map of the many documented cases of coyotes in conflict with domestic animals in southwest Florida. I notice that most seem to be in the areas near the interstate where humans are RAPIDLY moving into formerly wilderness areas.

There don’t seem to be any documented coyote incidents near the beaches. So breath easy, all you beach visitors.

Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida is a great place to spend the day.  It’s great for kids and adults. If you are visiting the Sarasota / Bradenton area, Mote is a MUST SEE if you like marine life. Exploring Mote Marine Lab is one of the best ways to get to know the beautiful marine life of Florida. Rather than try to describe it further, I’ll just let the video below do it for me. (Note: I did not film this video).

Siesta Key Beach had signs posted today (August 1, 2008) warning bathers not to go into the water because of high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. In laymans terms, it means that a lot of poop is in the water. Why now?

Well, dogs and cats poop on the lawn, then it rains and washes the germs into the waterways and into the Gulf. Poorly maintained septic systems also contribute. There have been heavy rains lately, resulting in increased runoff from the land. Apparently there is no way to measure how much each “poop factor” contributes, but we can measure the resulting bacteria level increase in the Gulf.

This happened not too long ago, when there were large amounts of red drift algae on the area beaches. It was speculated that increased bird activity (resulting in more bird do-do) may have caused the high levels of bacteria.

Fortunately this type of beach closing is very uncommon and usually only lasts for a day or two.

It remains to be seen whether Siesta Beach will reopen for the weekend.

Update: As of Sunday, August 3rd, 2008, Siesta Beach has re-opened the water for swimming. Bacteria levels have fallen to acceptable levels.

See beach water quality test results for Sarasota County.

Get up-to-the-minute beach condition reports for Southwest Florida Beaches. (very good service)

Read an article about the Siesta Key beach closing in the Herald Tribune.

To be clear: The beach itself is open (you can go lay in the sun and walk the beach). But you should not go in the water until the all-clear is given.

As a side note, there have been fish kills in parts Tampa Bay along the Courtney Campbell Causewayin the last day or so. Scientists believe an algal bloom is responsible. This may have been brought on by high temperatures and cloudy weather, but is expected to dissipate soon.

Ahh! Summertime in Florida.