Fishing is only one threat to Florida's most populous sea turtle. Oil rig spills make them sick. Plastic fishing line cuts their flippers. Boat propellers slice their bodies. They mistake garbage, especially plastic bags, for food. Heavy metals in their food sources and new diseases also cause illnesses in the aquatic reptiles. ...more

February 12, 2009

It's great news for conservationists, biologists and boaters. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's manatee count the week of Jan. 19 turned in - by far - the highest number of animals recorded since counts began in 1991, with a remarkable total count of 3,807 manatees statewide. ...more

February 1, 2009

Dusk descends quickly over the Celery Fields, and just as quickly the birders line up like paparazzi along Palmer Boulevard, their cameras trained on the shallow ponds immediately north. ...more

January 25, 2009

A multiagency effort to keep waterways safe during the Super Bowl is under way in the Tampa area. Among the collaborating agencies are the federal Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Hillsborough and Manatee county sheriff's offices and St. Petersburg and Tampa police departments. ...more

January 15, 2009

Wildlife authorities are asking for the public's help this morning in locating a rhesus macaque monkey that is on the loose. ...more

January 14, 2009

State officials say a Palm Beach County man's legs had to be amputated after being run over by a boat while diving near a popular Martin County park. ...more

January 11, 2009

HERNANDO COUNTY SPORTS BRIEFS ...more

December 31, 2008

Doctors at the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in southwest Florida are trying to save the life of a 3-year-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin found stranded Dec. 16 on Siesta Key. ...more

December 26, 2008

Meet Lex Brown, patas monkey trapper. Brown closely followed the saga of the 15 patas monkeys that escaped nearby Safari Wild in April and became his wily neighbors. ...more

December 19, 2008

A trapper has captured the last of 15 patas monkeys whose escape from Safari Wild eight months ago set in motion the events that led to the resignation today of Lex Salisbury, president of Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. ...more

December 18, 2008