Shell Ambassador/Bird Steward/Florida Master Naturalist!

Just when mini me thought she had done it all on the beach she found more!

Did you know you can be a:

• Shell Ambassador -  wear ambassador apparel (blue shirts with yellow lettering) to the beach,  enjoy the surf, sun, and shells, and also be available to answer questions and identify shells

• Bird Steward - watching over the skimmer colony at St Pete Beach. Stewards educate and watch out for unnecessary human interference with these nesting birds

• Florida Master Naturalist! Adult education to learn more about Florida's environment - 3 modules: coastal, upland and freshwater.

Our 5 day FMN course had us out on field trips for 3 days.  Here's what we did (no cameras on us for fear of getting drenched, but these are good respresentative pictures from the area):

Source: pbs.twimg.com/media/CHz0GPVWcAA68WS.jpg

Seining (fishing with a drag net being careful of the seabed!) and dipping for all sorts of critters in Tampa Bay - including very tiny seahorses and shrimp

Canoeing and Kayaking on South Paddling Trail through Mangroves of Weedon Island situated on Tampa Bay

The beach at Fort De Soto in the channel where Tampa Bay meets the Gulf of Mexico. We tracked loggerheads and learned about Black Skimmers before being defeated by thunder, lightening and a heavy downpour. Never stay on the beach when lightening is present!

Source: http://paddleflorida.net/weedon-island-paddle.htm#thumb

Dolphin skull;

 FMN Coastal Systems Course

T. Arenholz

For a really cool fish that lives in these swampy waters check out the Mangrove Rivulus marmoratus - it can live out of water for 60 days - read how here.

St Pete Beach Skimmer Colony

We have a nesting colony of skimmers at St Pete Beach - such fun to see them on morning turtle patrol!

Source: Arthur Morris; BirdsAsArt.com

Young skimmers wander from the  nest shortly after being born. The warnings signs are particularly important because when the chicks sense danger, they attempt to look inconspicuous by lying flat on the beach, even kicking up sand to make a hollow to lie in; hence they can be hard to see for us humans and those beach rakers.  We have to be especially careful on turtle patrol!

Adult skimmers have an uneven bill so to feed the bird flies low, with the long lower mandible plowing the water, snapping the bill shut when it contacts a fish.










On July 5th, our beach patrol consisted mainly of picking up trash left over from the many, many fireworks of the day before.  Made with seaweed I understand this sentiment, but then how can one go on to leave so many beer bottles and fireworks boxes on the beach?? So all us turtle/bird/shell/master naturalists have plenty to do!