Environmental Reporting

Anna Maria Elementary students are drawn in by Guy Harvey Academy of Arts and Sciences. Your browser does not support the audio element. ▶ 0:00 0:00 🔈 There aren’t many elementary schools just blocks from the beach, and fewer still with a waterfront campus. But Anna Maria Elementary in Manatee County is just such a place, ideal for Florida’s first Guy Harvey Academy of Arts and Sciences. It’s a collaboration between the iconic artist and

Eaglet deaths on Lido Key prompt an Audubon volunteer to try and raise awareness about danger to birds of prey. Poisons intended to kill rodents around homes and business contribute to the deaths and critical illnesses of birds of prey in Sarasota and Manatee counties, experts say. The toxins don’t kill rats or mice immediately, but rather allow the animals to linger long enough to be eaten by an eagle, hawk or other predatory bird

Sarasota and Manatee counties aim to spend as rising water temperatures and the legacy of Piney Point threaten positive momentum. Sarasota Bay’s water quality has begun improving, though threats remain from warming sea temperatures, stormwater runoff and the legacy of more than 200 million gallons of polluted waste released from the Piney Point phosphate plant in 2021, officials say. One of the first signs of good news for the system that extends from Tampa Bay

Water quality and seagrass health play a big role in marine mammals’ survival anywhere in the state. Red tide in the water and in the air contribute to manatee deaths on Florida’s west coast, setting the region’s waterways apart from other troubled areas of manatee mortality in Florida, researchers say. In the long run, the loss of seagrass connects both coasts’ investigations into the marine mammals’ well-being, but, according to Dr. Thomas K. Frazer, dean

Acreage of underwater meadows have been in decline since 2016, raising concerns in an area with a lot floating on a healthy ecosystem. On the surface, it’s a shimmering magnet for outdoor enthusiasts and those seeking the good life. Just a few feet below, though, one of Sarasota Bay’s driving forces is suffering. Seagrass, essential to the health of marine ecosystems such as the one linking mainland Sarasota and Manatee counties to their barrier islands

Study of marine mammals takes advantage of their full-time residency in area waters Sarasota Bay regularly attracts its share of visitors in the form of weekend boaters, fishing enthusiasts and sightseers. But it’s also a multigenerational sanctuary for bottlenose dolphins, many of which exhibit human-like tendencies that form the basis of scientific study by the Chicago Zoological Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, the longest running examination of a dolphin population in the world. More than