Exploring Keewaydin Island for FMNP

While I take my Florida Master Naturalist classes to Keewaydin Island every year, the experience never gets old, and is always unique. My most recent trip last Friday was certainly no different (I can say it was the wettest trip I ever led thanks to late afternoon rains!)Keewaydin or Key island is an unbridged 8-mile-long barrier island off the coast of Naples, Florida. Over ninety percent of the island is managed by Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The island makes for an excellent outdoor classroom to teach about barrier island ecology as well as the importance of balancing resource protection with public access. My colleagues and I lead our students on a walking transect of the southern end of the island where they can see how quickly the island's different plant communities switch based on various environmental conditions such as elevation, soil types, wind exposure, and temperature to name a few. In a matter of a few hundred yards, we walked through a tidal mangrove creek, coastal strand community, primary and secondary dune system, and of course Keewaydin's beautiful beach.  Enjoy the pictures!

Arriving at the island

Examining the low energy shoreline of Key Island

Me pointing out the pneumataphores associated with black mangroves

Our ride to the island

Mangrove identification practice

Traversing through a mangrove creek

A quick lesson on how mangroves deal with salt in the estuarine environment

One of many fiddler crabs found

Got fiddler crab?

Moving into the coastal transition (aka strand) zone

Marco Island in the distance

The flower of the Prickly Pear Cactus

Examining the wrack line (looks like they found a Lightning Whelk egg case)

So many cool finds along the beach



A horse conch egg case on the left and a lightning whelk

Renee Wilson from Rookery Bay talks to the group about the "fish stunning" abilities of the Jamaican Dogwood tree

Florida's Top Omega-3 Fatty Acids-Seafood

One of the most recognized health benefits associated with eating seafood are Omega-3 fatty acids. These important substances are essential fatty acids that are required for healthy human development, but can't be manufactured by the body. They need to be obtained through food, and
fish and shellfish are considered to be the main dietary source.
Omega-3 fatty acids are important because help promote healthy brain and eye development in children and reduce heart disease in adults. U.S. health experts recommend a daily intake of 250 mg of Omega-3 fatty acids for the general population and 1000 mg for people with heart disease, and pregnant or breastfeeding women. Oily fish such as salmon, herring, and sardines are high in Omega-3 fatty acids. While these fish can usually be found in most retail stores in Florida, they are not caught or raised locally.
So how do some of Florida's top seafood species rank in Omega-3 Fatty Acids? The following list was compiled by seafood specialists with the University of Florida. Enjoy!

Approximate value for 4 ounces of raw, edible portions
Species	Omega-3  Fatty Acids (mg)
Amberjack	260
Bluefish	770
Catfish (farm-raised)	370
Clams	150
Blue crab	320
Stone crab (cooked 3 oz)	N/A
Flounder	210
Grouper	260
Spiny lobster	380
King mackerel	300
Spanish mackerel	1100
Mahi-Mahi	110
Mullet	350
Oysters	610
Scallops	200
Shark	870
Shrimp	490
Snapper	320
Swordfish	830
Tilapia	320
Tilefish	430
Yellowfin tuna	230

Source: Sullivan, A.L. and Otwell, W.S. 1991
A Nutrient Database for Southeastern Seafoods: A Comprehensive Nutrient and Nomenclature Handbook for Selected Southeastern Species. Composition of Foods: Finfish and Shellfish, USDA Handbook 8-15

To learn more about the health benefits of seafood visit:
http://seafoodhealthfacts.org/

FMNP Field Trip with Fish-Tale Marina



On Friday we took the 2nd field trip of our Florida Master Naturalist-Coastal Module. Thanks to the generous support of FishTale Marina we went out on one of their boats to do a little bird watching in the Estero Bay area. It was a great opportunity  to see several wading and waterbirds as well as learn about a variety of human-use issues in the area (e.g. poll & troll zones, shorebird nesting areas,  renourishment projects etc.). Of course, I can't leave out that we also saw manatees and dolphins! We couldn't have asked for better weather! After exploring the bay Captain Jay took our group to the southern end of Ft. Myers Beach where we did a little beach and lagoon exploration. We found crown conchs, blue crabs, fiddler crabs, lightning whelks, and worm egg sacks to name a few. Below is a list of birds we saw and several pictures from our trip. Enjoy!

(March 9th, 2012 Bird List)
Osprey, bald eagle, brown pelican, kingfisher, grackle spp., wood stork, great egret, reddish egret, snowy egret, great blue heron, little blue heron, tri-colored heron, white ibis, red breasted merganser, double crested cormorant, anhinga, ring billed gull, laughing gull, royal turn, ruddy turnstone, black vulture,  turkey vulture, palm warbler, and mocking bird.



Studens looking for a manatee spotted by some of the boat slips.

Joy giving the group an overview of what we'll be doing for the day.

Our class checking out some red breasted mergansers in Estero Bay.

Scouting out the mud flat up ahead for shorebirds

Joy explains to the group about proposed "poll and troll" zones to protect the bay's seagrass communities.

Captain Jay talks to our students about the dolphins commonly seen in the Estero Bay area

Just a few of our feathery friends we saw while out on the water
(brown pelicans, cormorants, ruddy turnstones, and laughing gulls)

The group checking out some dolphins in the bay.

Several bald eagles were spotted on Lovers Key. Joy is pointing out their next.

Lagoon and beach habitat on Ft. Myers beach

Exploration time!

I show the group a polychaete (marine worm) egg sack

A patch of shoal grass in the lagoon

A nice sized crown conch

Some young black mangroves that have established themselves along the shoreline

Nice lightning whelk!

Exploring the flats

Pneumatophores associated with black mangroves

Its not a field trip unless you get to hold a blue crab!!!!!!