#Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

[ncfcatalyst]

Shell shock: unprecedented increase in sea turtle nests

Between August and October a remarkable surge in sea turtle nestings shattered previous records, surpassing the last record set in 2017 by an astonishing 40 percent. While the numbers evoke celebration, marine experts caution that behind them lies a more complex narrative. The extraordinary surge in sea turtle nestings marks a significant milestone in conservation efforts for these majestic…

[herpsandbirds]

Florida Keys Mole Skink (Plestiodon egregius), family Scincidae, found in the Florida Keys, FL, USA

photo via: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Horseshoe Crab

Habitat: The ocean floor and coastlines

Strengths:

The body is covered by a thick, hard shell

Excellent eyesight and a wide field of vision

When underwater, they can use jet propulsion to move away from predators quickly

Weaknesses:

Very small pincers and a small mouth

Tail is very sensitive and easily injured

Slow moving and clumsy over land

Photo by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

[blueiscoool]

$1 Million Worth of Gold Coins Stolen From 18th-Century Shipwrecks Found

After an extensive investigation, Florida officials recovered dozens of gold coins valued at more than $1 million that were stolen from a shipwreck recovery nine years ago.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced in a news release Tuesday it had recovered 37 gold coins that were stolen from the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks.

The fleet of Spanish ships sailed from Havana, Cuba and headed to Seville, Spain on July 24, 1715. The journey was short-lived, as a hurricane wrecked the fleet just seven days later off the coast of Eastern Florida.

The first ship was discovered in 1928 by William Beach north of Fort Pierce, Florida, about 120 miles south of Orlando. Since then, gold and silver artifacts have been recovered offshore for decades following the first discovery.

In 2015, a group of contracted salvage operators found a treasure trove of 101 gold coins from the wrecks near Florida’s Treasure Coast, about 112 miles west of Orlando. However, only half of the coins were reported correctly. The other 50 coins were not disclosed and later stolen.

The years-long investigation by the state’s fish and wildlife conservation commission and FBI “into the theft and illegal trafficking of these priceless historical artifacts” came to a head when new evidence emerged in June, the news release said.

The evidence linked Eric Schmitt to the illegal sale of multiple stolen gold coins in 2023 and 2024, officials said. Schmitt’s family had been contracted to work as salvage operators for the US District Courts’ custodian and salvaging company for the fleet, 1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels, LLC. The Schmitts had uncovered the 101 gold coins in 2015.

During their hunt for the coins, investigators executed multiple search warrants and recovered coins from private residences, safe deposit boxes and auctions, the news release said. Five stolen coins were retrieved from a Florida-based auctioneer, who unknowingly purchased them from Schmitt.

Investigators used advanced digital forensics to nail down Schmitt as a suspect in the case. In most cases, digital forensics can recover data stored electronically on devices such as a cell phone, computer system or memory module.

With the help of advanced digital forensics, investigators identified metadata and geolocation data that linked Schmitt to a photograph of the stolen coins taken at the Schmitt family condominium in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Authorities said Schmitt also took three of the stolen gold coins and put them on the ocean floor in 2016. The coins were later found by the new investors of the fleet’s court custodian and salvaging company.

Throughout the investigation, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission worked closely with historical preservation experts to authenticate and appraise the recovered coins sold by Schmitt.

Schmitt is facing charges for dealing in stolen property, the release says.

The company commissioned to salvage the shipwreck said in a statement it “was shocked and disappointed by this theft and has worked closely with law enforcement and the state of Florida regarding this matter.”

“We take our responsibilities as custodian very seriously and will always seek to enforce the laws governing these wrecks,” the statement read.

Recovered artifacts will be returned to their rightful custodians, the news release said. But the investigation is far from over: 13 coins remain missing.

[sherrylephotography]

My photography @sherrylephotography

April 2023

Florida is home to several species and subspecies of cooters: the river cooter, Florida cooter, Florida red-bellied cooter and Suwannee cooter. I took this photo in the Everglades. I really like the vivid markings of yellow and orange.

information from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission.

[microbes-in-hats]

Karenia brevis

Photo credit: (Davis) G. Hansen et Moestrup 2000 (Gymnodinium breve Davis, 1948; Ptychodiscus brevis (Davis) Steidinger 1979) / Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

The state of Florida is in violation of the Endangered Species Act and must develop a plan for addressing the pollution that led in recent years to an unprecedented die-off of manatees, a federal judge has ruled.

The litigation is centered on state wastewater discharge regulations that have failed to control nutrient pollution in the Indian River Lagoon, a 156-mile estuary on Florida’s east coast that is among the most biodiverse on the continent. The pollution has led to ongoing water quality problems and seagrass losses in this crucial manatee habitat that in 2021 and 2022 left the beloved sea cows starving. Nearly 2,000 manatees died in Florida in that period, a two-year record.

Conservation groups said the deaths represented more than 20 percent of the state’s population. The calamity prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to resort to providing supplemental lettuce for the emaciated manatees in the lagoon. Each animal requires some 70 pounds of seagrass daily.

Manatees are listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened. The litigation, brought by the conservation group Bear Warriors United, accuses the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) of unlawfully “taking” manatees under the law by promulgating wastewater discharge regulations that have allowed flows from wastewater treatment plants and septic tanks into the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) to continue. These discharges are responsible for the nutrient pollution at the heart of the manatee die-off, according to the litigation.

“As Defendant’s witnesses testified, FDEP is taking important, necessary steps to remediate the polluted waters of the IRL. But that is not enough,” Judge Carlos Mendoza, a U.S. District Court judge for the Middle District of Florida, wrote in an April 11 order. “The North IRL is in such a deteriorated state that the required remediation will take many years, as the state itself has acknowledged. And during that remediation, wastewater discharged pursuant to the FDEP’s regulations will continue to indirectly take manatees in the North IRL.”

Mendoza ordered the state Department of Environmental Protection to obtain what is called an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act, which allows animal deaths when they are associated with otherwise lawful activity. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues the permit after the submission and approval of a Habitat Conservation Plan aimed at mitigating the deaths. 

The Department of Environmental Protection told Inside Climate News in a statement that it disagreed with the ruling and was considering next steps. The department said the state had put nearly $747 million in recent years toward projects designed to remove 2.3 million pounds of nitrogen and 418,000 pounds of phosphorus annually in the Indian River Lagoon region.

[offender42085]

Post 0641

Samuel Reager, Florida Q34193, born 1997, incarceration intake March 2018, age 20, sentenced to life

Murder, Robbery, Armed Trespass

As a message to any would-be law enforcement attackers, a circuit judge in March 2018 sentenced Samuel Reager to spend his natural life plus more than four decades behind bars.

Reager was sentenced for the August 2015 shooting of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Officer David Brady in an open-water gunfight. Reager then stole Brady’s patrol boat and attempted to run over him with it before fleeing with his co-defendant, 22-year-old Lachlan Akins, and running the boat aground near the Cove neighborhood of Panama City, triggering a massive manhunt.

Reager was convicted Feb. 9, 2018 of first-degree attempted murder of an officer, armed robbery and armed trespassing. Circuit Judge Brantley Clark Jr. sentenced him to spend his natural life, then 45 years in prison. The sentences are consecutive, meaning if for some reason the life sentence was overturned, Reager then would begin the 45-year sentence with no credit for time served.

Reager did not speak during the sentencing, staring blankly into the distance as his father and Brady’s family members addressed the court.

After hearing the sentence, Brady thanked Clark and the prosecution. Brady said he was relieved by the sentence and hopes it sends a message to anyone thinking about harming law enforcement.

“We’re human like everybody else,” Brady said. “We have families, and we love our community. That’s why we do this job.”

Clark said law enforcement and their families know the dangers they face on a daily basis, but that does not excuse those who carry out an attack on an officer.

“No one should expect to be ambushed on the job,” Clark told the court. “Something as simple as going to a boat for a welfare check, an officer should not have to fear being shot at.”

3s

Last reviewed April 2025

[responsiblelemon]

"The project, led by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), is an example of what it often takes to save imperiled species in a world changed by humans. Conchs are now so rare that putting an end to overfishing isn’t enough. To survive, they need scientists to play matchmaker."

[beardedmrbean]

Searchers found the body of a 4-year-old girl who wandered away from her family's vacation rental in Florida, officials said Friday.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boat came upon the remains of Evelyn K. Geer on the edge of a canal in Port Charlotte, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.

That location was behind a home the family had rented from VRBO, the sheriff said.

“We are heartbroken to confirm that the body of 4-year-old Evelyn K. Geer has been discovered,” according to the sheriff’s statement.

“FWC located her about an hour ago while searching by boat. Please keep the family in your prayers as they go through this unbearable time,” the sheriff's office added.

The sheriff sent the department's bloodhound to search for the diaper-clad girl around a neighborhood bordered by Barksdale Street, Cochran Boulevard and Collingswood Boulevard, about 30 miles north of Fort Myers, officials said.

Cochran had been closed during the search but that street has since been reopened to traffic.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Round One: Roots & Relics

Pelican vs Horseshoe Crab

Habitat: Coastal beach

Photos by JJ Harrison and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

[tampabaycontests]

Enter To Win a Florida TrophyCatch Fishing Experience

Win the trip! The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is sending one lucky winner, and their guest, on a fishing trip of a lifetime. Register today for your chance win this TrophyCatch Trophy-Prize Package. Home to the biggest and boldest Florida bass, it’s an exhilarating challenge for anglers of all levels. Discover why Florida is the Trophy Bass Capital of the World. ENTER HERE

[news-wtf]

It described the large male bear as “stressed, depressed, lemon zest” and urged the public not to approach a black bear at any time, “especially those that are showing aggression like this big fella”.

Rangers from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) were dispatched to investigate after a call from the sheriff’s office reported “crowds of onlookers stopping to take photos of the bear”, which was sitting beside a telegraph pole.

An FWC spokesperson said in a statement that by the time its officers and biologists arrived, “the bear had dispersed and walked off into the adjacent woods”.

It said that, based on images shared with staff: “The bear did not appear to be injured. It may have just been overheated and was resting before moving on.”

[home-inspiration-blog]

Residents in this Florida neighborhood are under attack -- from hawks

A Florida woman has a unique problem outside of her Sarasota business. A pair of nesting hawks is attacking anyone who walks through the front yard. “Everybody, the minute you go in the walkway here, you get attacked,” business owner Odalys Hayes said. Hayes called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to come investigate, only for the birds to attack an FWC officer who…

[naturecoaster]

Hernando Audubon Meeting, Thursday, April 24: Managing Florida’s Wild Places: Creating Habitat for Northern Bobwhite (Quail), with Speaker Steve Brinkley. Steve will be talking about the successful management of public lands for species like the Northern Bobwhite (Quail), including the use of prescribed burns. He spent seven years studying Northern Bobwhite at Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and has worked for 12 years as a Wildlife Biologist/Land Manager in the WMA system. Currently, he is a District Biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in the Wildlife and Habitat Management Section, overseeing numerous FWC areas. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. (until 9 p.m.) at Brooksville Woman’s Club, 131 S. Main Street, Brooksville. Free, all are welcome. Make reservations here: https://www.mobilize.us/audubon-chapters/event/698882/ For information, contact Tom: tomstclair8@gmail.com or 904-303-0919. Hernando Audubon birding trip to see Florida Scrub-Jays at Greenway Triangle, Ocala, Thursday, April 3, 8 to 11 a.m. We will have an opportunity to observe management techniques used to maintain habitat for Florida Scrub-Jays. These birds are unusual in that the young raised in previous years remain with their parents to help tend to future generations. The trip size is limited, so please make reservations with Ken: klarsson55@gmail.com or 352-346-4132. Hernando County Audubon April 2025 Activity Schedule Hernando Audubon birding trip to Croom Tract of Withlacoochee State Forest, Saturday, April 5, 6:45 to 9 a.m. Meet on the south side of Croom Road (CR-480) at the horse corral at the intersection with Forest Road 7. This is 7 miles east of US-41. Find Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman’s Sparrow, and other resident forest birds and look for early spring migrants. Make reservations here: https://www.mobilize.us/audubon-chapters/event/665945/ For more information, contact Bev: bevalhansen@gmail.com or 352-686-0460. Hernando Audubon birding and butterfly trip to Weekiwachee Preserve North Loop, Saturday, April 12, 8 to 11 a.m. April is a prime time to view butterflies. Meet in the parking lot near the playground equipment at Linda Pedersen Park at Jenkins Creek, 6300 Shoal Line Blvd. (CR 595), in Spring Hill. We’ll explore trails in the northern section of the preserve looking for both migrant and resident birds as well as butterflies that should be flying in good numbers at this time of year. We’ll walk about two miles on forest trails, but participants can cut it short if desired. There are restrooms and drinking water in the park. Make reservations here:https://www.mobilize.us/audubon-chapters/event/666262/ For more information, contact Clay: cjbird@bellsouth.net or 352-592-4949. Hernando Audubon birding trip to Big Pine Tract, Saturday, April 19, 8 a.m. The entrance to the Big Pine Tract is 1 mile north of where Old Crystal River Road intersects with U.S. 41, just north of Brooksville at 12060 Old Crystal River Road. Meet in the parking lot, which is on the east side of the road. We will walk the upland trail through the longleaf pine habitat. The trail eventually leads down to the lowlands and into a lovely oak hammock. There is a forty-foot change in elevation making for a variety of vegetation and birds. Expect to see many woodpeckers, hawks, Great Crested Flycatchers, Summer Tanager, and other birds. The walk is about 2 miles. There is a restroom, but no drinking water. Make reservations here: https://www.mobilize.us/audubon-chapters/event/666296/ For more information, contact Bev: bevalhansen@gmail.com or 352-686-0460. Hernando Audubon Beginning Birding, Friday, April 25, 8 to 11 a.m. Meet on the deck behind the building at Chinsegut Conservation Center, 23212 Lake Lindsey Road, Brooksville. Learn to identify birds at feeders and during a short walk. There will be binoculars available for use. Make reservations here: https://www.mobilize.us/audubon-chapters/event/660432/ For information, contact Linda: lindalark85@gmail.com or text 352-428-2629. Hernando Audubon Kayak Trip on Chassahowitzka River, Wednesday, April 30. Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the parking lot of the Chassahowitzka River Campground near the boat launch. This is located south of Homosassa Springs and west of U. S. 19 at 8600 W. Miss Maggie Drive, in Citrus County. We will kayak the Chassahowitzka River for approximately two hours and expect to see various herons, egrets as well as Limpkins and nesting Ospreys. We hope to see migrating birds as they fly north to their breeding grounds. If lucky, we may also see manatees and river otters, which are always a highlight of this trip. This outing is limited to experienced kayakers who can bring their kayaks to the river. Participation on this trip is limited, so please reserve a spot with Tom: tomstclair8@gmail.com or 904-303-0919. Read the full article

[rjzimmerman]

Since this article was published, another panther was struck and killed, bringing the total to 25 killed by vehicles out of 31 total deaths.

Excerpt from this story from the Tampa Bay Times:

A 10-year-old female on a county road in Hendry County.

A 2-year-old male in Collier County.

A 4-year-old female on a busy Interstate 75 in Broward County.

These Florida panthers were each killed by cars this year in one of the deadliest spans for the endangered animals since 2018. Through Friday, 30 panthers had died, and 23 were caused by car strikes, state data show.

Four of the year’s panther deaths are listed as “unknown,” and a male panther was hit in February by a train in Glades County.

The most recent panther death was announced Monday night by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The remains of a male panther, likely 3 or 4 years old, were collected Friday on the side of State Road 29 in Collier County, the agency announced. That was just five days after a female was found dead off Interstate 75 in Lee County.

The suspected cause of death for both panthers? Car strikes.

The number of panthers killed by vehicles so far this year is similar to recent years, with 25 deaths in 2022 and 21 a year before that. The peak was 33 car strike-related deaths in 2016, according to agency spokesperson Lisa Thompson. Historically, as the panther population increased, the number of panthers killed by collisions with vehicles has also increased — but it’s hard to draw conclusions with a year’s worth of data, she said.

Environmental groups were quick to attribute the grim milestone to the blistering growth and development in southwest Florida, where the vast majority of the estimated remaining 200 panthers roam the wild.