The mangroves lured me in to look underwater. I was underwater, snorkeling at last in good mangroves in Belize. It took a bit of doing. I’ve looked at the mangroves underwater a few times in an …

The other day, I was at the barn sharing time with a herd of horses when a gaggle of turkeys strutted through the pasture. A few of the horses thought the turkeys were equine-eating creatures and …

Flooded sidewalks in Placencia during a week of heavy rain. Bucko and I have found a place in the world that we keep returning to, for longer stays each time, and more to come I’m sure. Placencia, …

Editor's note: This is the second in a series of 10 articles about whales, spaced out every other Monday during the season of right whale visitors, which once again are arriving at our shores for …

A large gator can often be seen near the fence protecting it along the south Greenway. Now that I am happily able to walk distances again after my successful physical therapy I took my new skill to …

Tourists and locals enjoyed the beach on a sunny Sunday. Recently I walked for more than an hour on the beach, something I haven’t done in more than a year. It was a glorious fall day, cool and …

Editor's note: Among other accomplishments, Lauri deGaris is a marine biologist. As the right whale visiting season approached, her thoughts turned to whales, and she thought she should write …

One purpose of my recent road trip to New Hampshire with my brother Ken was to locate our grandparent’s gravestone, our grandma’s old house, and any other bits of family history we could …

There are some travel plans that turn out perfectly and others that fall far from the mark. I’ve had my share of both. But sometimes a trip seems to run itself on serendipity when good things just …

I am always impressed by the devoted animal caretakers in our midst. For a while now I have been volunteering with Jonathan Howard at the Ark Wildlife Care and Sanctuary out in Hilliard and I …

By Lauri deGaris It is time to gather the gifts of summer, it is time for harvest. Since the earliest of times, all cultures have woven reeds and grasses that grow strong during summer into baskets …

The ducks of Long Island, New York were famous back in the day when this state was the largest producer of duck eggs and whole birds in the country. In the 1940s there were said to be 90 duck farms …

By Mike Lednovich Two hotels are seeking to connect access with each other by constructing a walkover on a 17-foot high secondary dune that would require taking down trees and the possible relocation …

By Linda Hart Green I grew up with “sand between my toes,” as my parents used to say. The New Jersey shore was my second home. My mother told me that on my first car ride to the shore as a tiny …

Spoonbills feeding in the marsh on Heritage River Road just off Heckscher Drive, Jacksonville, Florida. From Amelia Island down to Heckscher Drive is a favorite drive for Bucko and me. I often called …

  Palmettos and pine trees line the Loop Road in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Most weeks these days I drive out to the ARK off Highway 121 in Hilliard to volunteer and I have now …

By Lauri deGaris The fall equinox is fast approaching, it arrives Sept. 23, 2023. Days are growing shorter. Signs of fall can be observed all around. On the island, the salt marsh is my favorite …

I guess I’m like a Florida Gator after all, not the sports type but the type that feels most alive in a warm watery domain. I especially enjoy swimming in the blackwater rivers of our state, where …

By Pat Foster-Turley On our Big Bend road trip a couple of weeks ago Bucko and I followed signs in Panacea to a place that sounded vaguely familiar to me, the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab and Aquarium. I …

Tokitae Totem (Photo/Sacred Seas.org) By Lauri deGaris I wept when I learned Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut or Tokitae, resident Orca from the L-Pod in the Salish Sea, died August 18, 2023 at Miami Sea …