The Everglades isn’t just beautiful it’s crucial to sustaining so much life! It’s home to endless animals, birds, marine life, insects, and flora. And, it provides drinking water for 7 million Floridians – that’s one out of every three Floridians. The area’s survival has become on the forefront of importance to officials in recent years […]
West Indian Manatee: The Everglades’ Resident Gentle Giant
The West Indian manatee is certainly a local favorite, these gentle creatures having affectionately earned themselves the nickname of “sea cow.” The West Indian manatee can be further classified into two subgroups, the Florida Manatee and the Caribbean Manatee, both of which are currently on the endangered species list. The West Indian manatee is a […]
Roseate Spoonbill
The roseate spoonbill has long been considered one of the most beautiful birds in the entire world, largely due to its eccentric coloring. Like flamingoes, roseate spoonbills are almost entirely pink, with different shades of varying depths covering most of their bodies. Like the flamingo, roseate spoonbills gets their intense coloring from their diets, which […]
The Importance of Mangroves in the Everglades Ecosystem
Mangroves are one of the last true natives in Florida, with an estimated 469,000 acres of mangrove forests found throughout the southern coastal areas of Florida. Because they thrive in saltwater and brackish water environments, they have made a comfortable home here since prehistoric times, and today, though there are more than fifty species of […]
Obama Shows His Support for the Everglades
Good news for the Everglades this week, with President Obama having announced on Monday, February 2nd that he is proposing to spend $195 million on Everglades restoration projects starting in 2015. This is quite a jump from last year’s proposal, showing that Obama will support the Everglades restoration project throughout the remainder of his presidency. […]
Osprey
The osprey goes by many names – fish hawk, sea hawk, fish eagle, and river hawk – but all names seem to call out one particular characteristic of this powerful hunting bird, the fact that its diet is comprised almost entirely of fish. While this is certainly not the only unique characteristic of the osprey, […]
New Invasive Species Poses Serious Threat to Florida Wildlife Natives
Though the Burmese python is arguably the largest and most well-known invasive species in the Everglades, it is actually not the species that poses the greatest threat to the wildlife natives of the area. The biggest threat comes in a much smaller package – the Argentine black and white tegu, a species of lizard that […]
The American Alligator Vs. The American Crocodile
American alligators and American crocodiles have a few things in common, the most important being that both creatures strike fear into the hearts of people and small dogs throughout Florida and the Southern United States. Both alligators and crocodiles are some of the most feared and respected predators on earth, both with coveted spots very […]
Rick Scott Announces Increase In Everglades Restoration Budget
In January of this year, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that he would be adding $130 million to the annual budget request to continue work on restoring the Florida Everglades. The budget request is a $60 million increase over last year, and is merely the beginning of an $880 million plan for restoration approved by […]