This has been a big year for jellyfish. It seems like every few weeks they are making headlines by “invading”some Florida beach. Well, now they’re back. In southeast Florida. Apparently they’ve heard that the weather is nice in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. Moon jellies (Aurelia aurita) are hitting the beaches by the thousands. Though […]
July has brought a lot of Blue Button jellyfish to the Texas beaches. These beautiful jellies are quite harmless. Have you found Blue Buttons? Report your sighting by leaving a comment below this blog post. Visit my Blue Button sightings web page to see where else they are being found and to see more photos. […]
Most any stretch of beach in Florida with sea turtle egg-laying activity has volunteer caretakers who carefully monitor the nesting and keep careful records. The Coastal Wildlife Club in the Englewood, Florida area keeps track of the nests on the beaches in Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota Counties, including Manasota Key, Palm Island, Little Gasparilla Island […]
Lionfish are a colorfully striped fish native to the western Pacific Ocean. They are heavily protected by long, sharp, poisonous spines. And they are invading Florida waters. Lionfish seem to prefer rocky reefs, so are unlikely to be a threat to people enjoying sandy beaches, but they do seem to seriously reduce populations of native […]
I was disheartened this morning to read a story by Lisa Neff this morning in The Islander newspaper about black skimmer nesting grounds on Anna Maria Island being vandalized three times in the past week during the night. This is the time of year when many of our beautiful beach birds are trying to give […]
When I was in high school I found in the library a book about clouds. It was a big thick tome filled with color photos of clouds described and classified. A cloud bible it was. I’m quite sure I was the only one to have ever checked it out. I learned about stratocumulus, cirrostratus, mammatus, […]
Note: If the video keeps pausing to load, you can click through to watch it on YouTube and it will probably perform better. What if the “average” temperature of the water at the beach in Florida is 82 degrees? How is that information useful to you if you are vacationing in Florida in February when […]
Jason Cristofalo took some great underwater photos of some Cannonball Jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris) swimming off Cocoa Beach, Florida this week and was kind enough to share them with everyone. Here’s what he said in his email to me: I found your website (beachhunter.net) and thought you might be interested in these pictures and video for […]
Sea turtles leave the security of the ocean and crawl up onto Florida beaches at night during the summer to dig a hole and lay their eggs. Sometimes they crawl back to the water without digging a nest and without laying eggs. This is called a “false crawl.” Scientists want to figure out why some […]
I just had to share this awesome video posted by Pam on her ILoveShelling blog. Be sure to visit her blog to see the photos and read about her experience with the octopus mom.
