Pace Center for Girls Ocean Exploration

“Hey Miss, what’s this? Doc Bruce, let me see that thing. Oooh, what is that?” That’s the excited cacophony of the girls from Pace as they wade in the water off Bailey Beach. Sanibel Sea School and the Pace Center for Girls in Fort Myers hit the beach last week for a day of exploration and learning. Pace Center for Girls provides at-risk teenage girls with the structure of a supportive education and counseling program that focuses on helping them to succeed in life. Sanibel Sea School and Pace have teamed together before and are enjoying the mutual learning that is so very gratifying about joint programs such as this. Thanks to a grant from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, Sanibel Sea School has been able to take Pace girls into the field as part of the “Fieldtrips for Every Child Program.”

This particular day, Doc Bruce and Pace science instructor Michelle Patterson led the girls through a program about man’s impact on the environment. Unfortunately for the ocean, it was a good day for the lesson, as the girls walked along the closed Bowman’s Beach and talked about the complexity of water quality issues. But one can’t fully appreciate a beach closure until you’ve had a chance to enjoy all that can be found in the near shore water. So the group ventured up to Bailey Beach and enjoyed seining for small fish. Then the girls happened across a shell bonanza in a small depression in the sand, reminding us of the element of discovery that distinguishes a fieldtrip from an outdoor lecture. Finding unexpectedly empty almost polished whelks and shark eyes to take home to sisters and moms, the girls were wide-eyed and eager.

In these moments we are reminded of how lucky we are to be custodians of this ocean environment. There is no lecture that can explain the wonder of a marine creature as well as the experience of finding it. And perhaps there is no way to truly value the ocean without ever exploring it. One day, very soon, these girls will be old enough to make a difference in environmental issues with their voice and their vote. We hope they choose to do so. And until then, they are making a difference in our lives with their joy and their whoops of surprise.

A Week With Manatees

Manatee Week campers pose with Fred, a life-size Manatee model.

Jack Moran hustles toward the mark during a surf paddling race.

Recently, the campers at Sanibel Sea School camp were treated to everything manatee. For the week, we put ourselves into the role of our adorable marine mammals, the manatee.

The week started with our standard east-end hike in the morning, allowing us to explore the beaches and discover what the sea had brought forth. In the afternoon, we seined for fish to keep and observe for the week in our team aquaria. During that trip, we caught some juvenile Lookdown fish; which we continue to catch still – an uncommon summer treat in the shallows of the Gulf beaches. The previous week, we had the unexpected pleasure of swimming with a manatee, but on that day we only had the chance to hopefully look for a mammalian encounter. We didn’t get to swim with them, but we did make some close-up observations at Jensen’s Marina later in the week.

We made dioramas and had the great diorama design competition. Dioramas are museum-type displays that exhibit an animal in its habitat. Through this competition, we better understood the habitat requirements of manatees and the spatial relationship of these great creatures to their environment. Among the fascinating things we learned is that manatees can eat up to 180 lbs. of seagrass a day! The winning designers got a manatee toy to keep at home as a reminder of our massive mammalian friends.

We took the buoyancy challenge. In this game we donned life jackets, masks and snorkels and tried to get to the bottom despite our floatation devices! Then we stripped off the floatation and worked to stay afloat. It gave us a whole new meaning to floating on the deep blue sea. Buoyancy is something we take for granted, but is a real challenge for marine mammals; either it is easy to float and thus breathe, or it is difficult to get to the bottom and eat. Oh the tradeoffs we make.

The crowning glory was Manatee Madness where we blitzed some Sanibel hotspots to conduct some slightly different public education. In preparation, we had made a life-size manatee cut-out from cardboard to better understand the real size of an adult manatee. Armed with informative posters, our cardboard Manatee, Fred and sidewalk chalk, we stormed Doc Ford’s, Bailey’s and Fresh Produce to spread the conservation word. We drew manatees on the sidewalk and left behind information posters to help us all to better understand our mammalian friends. Two of our campers also recorded the process on film which can be seen on youtube.com by typing “manatee graffiti” in the search bar.

We owe a special thanks to the folks at Jensen’s Marina for sharing their manatees with us and Dairy Queen for cooling treats on the way back home. Doc Ford’s, Bailey’s and Fresh Produce allowed us to make spectacles (and leave some behind) at their businesses all in the name of conservation education – we appreciate their partnerships. Next week on the quest of our other marine mammals, during dolphin week.

Sea Sawdust - For Better or Worse

For the last two months, the offshore waters of Sanibel have experienced a prolific growth of a phytoplankton known as sea-sawdust. This phytoplankton is a type of bacteria – a cyanobacteria, previously known as a blue-green algae.

Within the past two weeks some of these clouds of dying phytoplankton have moved onshore and into San Carlos Bay.

This particular type of cyanobacteria occurs throughout the world in tropical and subtropical waters; it is in the genus Trichodesmium and there are about 8 known species. It was first recorded by Captain Cook in the 18th Century off the Australian coast. It was so extensive he mistook it for a sandbar and was afraid he was going aground. It is light brown in color and in calm conditions colonies of this bacteria (each colony looks like a microscopic brown rice grain) are caught in the surface tension of the water and float. It does look very much like a sandbar and still fools captains today.

Like so many things, it has good qualities and some not-so-good qualities. First , the good.

Estimates suggest that Trichodesmium accounts for perhaps 18% of the total photosynthesis on the planet – which makes it a very important component to life on this planet as we know it.
It is also fascinating because it can absorb nitrogen from air. Typically ocean waters are fairly nitrogen-poor and Trichodesmium is probably an important avenue through which ocean water gets badly needed nitrogen to support marine food webs. It gets this nitrogen from thin air (which is actually 70% nitrogen) especially well in waters that have high phosphorous concentrations; which the ocean waters near SW Florida naturally have.

It is also fascinating in that it undergoes daily migration patterns. Up to close to the surface during the day to harvest sunlight and nitrogen and then it sinks down deeper in the ocean during the nighttime. Pretty sophisticated behavior patterns for lowly bacteria. But, when there is no wind, it gets caught in the surface tension and makes big rafts on top of the water.
Now for some of the not-so-good stuff. It makes compounds that are toxic. In Brazil, in 1962 a human illness was described and linked to Trichodesmium; it is called Tamandare’ Fever (for the Bay in which it was described) or Trichodesmium Fever. Its symptoms include throat and respiratory irritations, extreme fatigue, joint and muscle soreness and post-orbital soreness (the backs of one’s eyes feeling sore). Many of these symptoms are shared with common colds, so the extent of this disease is rather unknown. It also appears that the reaction is rather short-lived – so that symptoms may go away rather quickly. Very little in know about this ailment and research is being done to know whether the species we have also can be responsible for this disease or other health issues.

The other not-so-good thing is that is has a particular odor and when colonies are decaying they smell bad.

So, next time you inhale, thank Trichodesmium for providing 18% of the oxygen you are putting in your blood, try to ignore the smell of their colonies dying, hope we don’t have a species that is dangerous to humans, and remember that among the wonders of living on our Sanctuary Island is the constant reminder of how we are a part of our natural, marine world.

A Week with the Caloosa

Last week, Sanibel Skills campers found ways to link up with the past. We went to the time of the Mighty Caloosa…perhaps more than 250 years ago. We learned about those sophisticated people; we learned to tie Sheet Bend knots (sometimes called Weaver’s knots); just like the Caloosa used to make their seines nets. We made dippers from cockle shells and sticks. We honed our canoe paddling skills in honor of their canoe-paddling tradition. Many of us adorned our bodies with henna tattoos in patterns similar to those of the Caloosa. While paddling, some of us were treated to a long, friendly visit from a Bottlenose Dolphin and her calf.

We went to sites known to have had Caloosa inhabitants and seined just as they probably did hundreds of years ago. While there, we were lucky enough to find some net weights fashioned from clam shells. Doing and finding have a way of bringing history to life – more than one gasp was uttered when artifacts were found and shared.

And, all week we spent time looking for natural objects that might be useful in the lives of our Sanibel predecessors. All this searching paid off on Thursday. That afternoon, we had a large game on the Bailey Tract. After a long hike, two Sanibel Sea School tribes met and traded items of value or utility. Then they went their separate ways and used their collections to make small totems along the paths that would have made any Caloosa’s spirits soar. After a hard decision, the totem judges deemed the Seahorse Tribe as the best totem builders of the week.
But each day, after lunch, we did deviate from the early inhabitants and hopped aboard our fiberglass and foam surfboards for our daily surfboard paddling at the end of Buttonwood ; fun, exercise and spirited competition.

For the finale, parents, families and friends joined us for milk and cookies and a Friday night beach walk and seining on San Carlos Bay. There is just nothing like wrapping up a fun-filled week with a night-time swim down on the east end of our little island.

Next week, we will come back to the present and experience a few things about Manatees.

The Offshore Blues

Some of the Sanibel Sea School staff were recently 35 to 40 miles offshore from Sanibel Island. We were there to explore, experience and collect phytoplankton samples for research conducted at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institue.

In the Gulf of Mexico, being 35 miles offshore is where and when we firmly step right in to the food chain. Radios only work if someone happens to be close by, and they rarely are - cell phones long ago lost coverage. You got yourself there; you get yourself back. A little risk, but the trade-off is immense. A quick trip to our distant planet - the pelagic world. Where flying fish skitter for a 100 yards in the wake of the boat. Where sky and sea blend on the horizon. The wildest of untouched spaces here on our ocean planet. It can be a little scary being alone with the ocean, but yet very re-affirming. We live on an ocean planet, but rarely get the opportunity to go out experience the vast majority of that 70% of our planet. It sure is nice to go out into the wild ocean from time to time - just to know it is still there; still wild and still vast.

Try to do something today to help be a better steward of the planet.

Science and Fun at Sanibel Skills Camp

Last week, Sanibel Skills camp offered by Sanibel Sea School was true to the mission of Sanibel Sea School; it was a blend of science, learning and old fashion fun.

The theme was tarpon week and we learned a lot about one of our locally prized game-fish, the tarpon – sometimes called the “Silver King”. Among the things we learned is how scientists track the movements of tarpon using high tech transmitters that track the locations of fish using satellite technology. We also learned how scientists can determine the age of fish by analyzing growth rings in their ear bones – a process very similar to the one used to age trees through growth rings.

At the end of the week, many of us blended our new science knowledge and a little artistic ability to make models of tarpon ear bones using Sculpey clay and then made necklaces using the cross-sections as pendants. So if you see local kids running around with colorful pendant necklaces of concentric rings, be sure to ask ‘em how to age a tarpon.

We also honed up on our boat driving skills by piloting small boats with electric motors around the waters adjacent to the Sanibel boat ramp. One brave second-grade camper, Sam Gruss even captained his first boat under the Sanibel causeway! And of course, what good nautical drill would be complete without a soaking cannonball and a long swim back to shore. Another waterman skill we practiced was castnet throwing. And, many a mojara were caught and released unharmed during the fun.

Snorkeling skills were a giant hit. The clear waters allowed us to find many fabulous shells on the sand bar system of the east end of the island, and one group was treated with a rare underwater sighting of a large sea trout in the waters off Bailey Beach. One group even went on an epic, long float snorkel, flowing with the tide around Woodring Point – they were treated by giant Lightning Whelks and even the shell remains of a whopping granddaddy stone crab. This is pretty exciting stuff - to flow with the warm summer tide as a part of the ocean world that surrounds us and just discover.

For Doc Bruce, the highlight was our discovery of juvenile Bonefish (Albula vulpes) on the east end of the island. To his, and several Sea School staffers squealing delight, a group of campers caught bonefish in their seines. Bonefish are among the world’s most highly prized gamefish and are very uncommonly found in SW Florida. Amongst the old timers there are only three known records of bonefish caught in these waters. They do occur in the Florida Keys and along the southeastern coast of the state, but have never been recorded by the scientific community this far north in the Gulf. In fact, very little is known about the reproduction and juvenile stages of this species. We collected several specimens for ongoing studies and will ship them to the Florida Wildlife Research Institute for age and genetic analysis. This research is being conducted there in collaboration with fisheries scientists at Mote Marine Lab.

Someone once said that it takes a village to raise a child. We are grateful to the many folks who help us each week put on Sanibel Skills Camp. The Lighthouse Café continues to quench our thirsts with ice, our Gheenoes were provided by the Gheen Manufacturing Company, The Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge loaned us their big seine to sample for more bonefish, and Ralph Woodring allowed our snorkelers access to Tarpon Bay for epic snorkel drifts.

And, by the way, be sure to check out the CBS Early Morning News Show (from New York) between 8:00 and 9:00 am on the 24th of July to see national television news coverage of what our kids are doing down on the east end of the island!

Summer Starts With a Blast - Gopher Week

Sanibel Sea School launched Sanibel Skills summer camp last week, the first of eleven weeks for the 2007 season. It was Gopher Tortoise Week and campers were treated to all sorts of reptile experiences. Elke Podlasek of the Island Cow brought in some of her daughter Amanda’s private reptile collection. Campers got to see and hold a range of tortoises and bearded dragon lizards. They also got to see the iguanas that normally reside at the Island Cow. Among the beautiful tortoises of all shapes and sizes, campers got a rare opportunity to see a young Galapagos tortoise that the Podlaseks are fortunate to have a permit to raise.

Campers also got to visit our own Sanibel Island Gopher Tortoise burrows with Dee Serage-Century of Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. Under Dee’s guidance they planted some native plants for foraging tortoises. Campers were then invited to see the reptile drift fences in the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge where biologist Cheryl Parrott told the students about an ongoing reptile study. She showed campers how snakes are measured, how their gender is established before releasing them to the wild. And then campers built Sanibel Sea School’s own little drift fence.

Sanibel Sea School’s snake Pepper grew a bit over the five days and all the kids got to watch him eat up close. But it wasn’t a reptile that stole the show this week. A pregnant male seahorse decided it was time to have babies Friday morning at about 9:30 a.m. and much to the amazement of staff and campers, the male began to give birth to tiny seahorses. Everyone got to see this wonderful event before dad and babies were released to the wild. If this writer were truly reporting from a Sanibel Sea School summer camper’s perspective though, she must confess that surfing and surfboard paddling were the best part of Sanibel Skills camp. When all is said and done, kids want to come out of the water and dry off so they can see and learn amazing things and then as quickly as possible go in the water again! Thank goodness for islands, these wonderful ecosystems surrounded by ocean with so many amazing things to see and learn about.

Thank you to everyone who made Gopher Tortoise week a success: Marcel Ventura who gave us a paddle board, Francis Bailey who donated backyard picnic tables, Billy Kirkland and Richard Johnson who hauled the tables back to the island, Pat MacIntosh and Costco who also gave us a backyard dining table, the Plank-DiCarlo family for the large screen monitor that allowed us to see Pepper eating so well, Ann Moran for the digital ocular camera that captured Pepper’s image, Cheryl Parrott of Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge for letting us take a look at the drift fences and snakes, the Podlasek family for an experience with the most beautiful tortoises and lizards any of the staff had ever seen and some delicious muffins, Ralph Woodring for the opportunity for Dr. Bruce Neill to round up the seahorses on a late night expedition, Dee Serage-Century and SCCF for a look at gopher tortoise habitat, Roy Massey of Ace Performers who donated old sails for the backyard sunshade canopy and used windsurfing boards to paddle, Dick Meunch for a donation of hotdogs and lastly, the intrepid gopher tortoise who decided a month ago to build a burrow in the Sanibel Sea School backyard just in time for summer. She or he is happily unmolested and still a backyard friend.

To all Sanibel Sea School campers from last week, guess what was finally caught in our drift fence this weekend after you left? A black racer snake! Yarrrgh! Nature just won’t be rushed, will she? Next we’re going to be talking about fishing and snook! For more information on Sanibel Skills Summer Camp call 472-8585.

Can You Take Your Sea School Experience Home With You ?

Holly Bloomfield took what she learned from Sanibel Sea School back to Ontario and made a second grade science fair project about mangroves. Her project was selected to be among the winners for her region in Ontario. Congratulations Holly!

Is That a Snake on the Beach???

This time of year, we get that question a lot at Sanibel Sea School. And yes, perhaps if you are prone to see snakes, or even a little fearful of snakes, one might think this specimen to be a snake. But snakes are not really all that common on Sanibel Island's beaches.

These are really strings of egg cases from the gastropod mollusk, the Lightning Whelk. Gastropod mollusks are those invertebrate animals that form a single shell in which they live. They increase the size of the shell as they grow; they are sometimes called univalves. Lightning whelk females create these strings of individual egg sacks and attach them to the bottom of the ocean. The developing animals within them make a small shell known as a protoconch and when they are ready to be out on their own they crawl out a small hole in the egg case and into the sandy bottom where they live and grow into larger, juvenile lightning whelks.

The egg cases become dislodged from the substarte and wash ashore this time of year.

Unfortunately, some of the egg cases wash ashore before the young have had an opportunity to crawl out of the egg cases. When this happens we are blessed with the opportunity to dissect the individual egg cases and collect the tiny protoconchs. Often each egg case has between 20 and 35 protoconchs and many strings of egg cases have 50 individual egg cases. This tells us that mnay of these females have between 1000 and 1750 offspring!

So, go ahead and pick up that egg case, look to see if you can find one with dried protoconchs. You might just be blessed with another treasure from the sea!

Who Says a Bus Ride Can't Be Fun

Often times, we cruise the island of Sanibel and Captiva while exploring the natural sresources of our islands. It gives us an opportunity to check out new places and seem more interesting things.....oh yeah, and have some fun along the way. Conner and Emily Button and Max Fontaine monkey around between stops aboard the bus.

It is not Just the Sea

Barbara has en early morning encounter with "Spot", a leopard gecko that lives in Sanibel Sea School. Following that encounter, Barbara was off to the field to better understand and appreciate the history of Sanibel Island and importance of mangroves to our island ecosystem.

Who says Grandmas don't like to pet the reptiles??

And Somtimes we have Some Fun !

Today, we had a mermaid at Sanibel Sea School, she is Eve Plank, also known as MP - the mermaid princess. She and her brother, Jesse "Ventura" Plank took a little break from all the hard field work and learning to pose for some pictures. In the morning, a long hike on the Baily Tract led these young detectives to realize that the plant communities on Sanibel Island are ADAPTED to fire. They even thrive on fire. And, not only are the plants adapted to fire, but many of the animals as well.

And for fun, we watched several alligators enjoy the freshwater environments of Sanibel Island.





What happens when kids are hungry?




At Sanibel Sea School, we feed them a good, healthy lunch and magically they change back to the ever-so-wonderful kids that we knew from the morning.


Now, out to open some coconuts and then back to the field to study Lightning Whelks and their egg-cases.




The fun never stops on a field trip!

Seeing Nature Eye to Eye

Sometimes if you creep up nice and slow, you get an opportunity to view nature up front and in a personal way. Recently, Doc Alice Pittman and George Weed had a personal encounter with a Great Blue Heron at Blind Pass. It was hard to tell whether we were more interested, or if the heron was more interested in us. Either way, we had a great visit with the bird out on the flats on a warm sunny day.

Then back to Sanibel Sea School for some serious art as we continue to talk about estuaries and the amounts of salt in estuary waters.

And, what lunch would be complete without visiting the corn snake, Pepper? We all enjoy a chance to feel his smooth, cool skin. There is just something about a snake that kids (and most of us adults) just can't resist.

Followed by the freshest coconut in the world. Just the right combo to fuel young minds for an afternoon of exploration.

Sanibel Sea School because Every Day Should Be a Field Trip.

Doing the Quadrat Hula

Who says we don't have fun on research days at Sanibel Sea School. However we now know what Hula Hoops are round and light-weight. There is a special challenge to making a 0.5 meter pvc quadrat fly around your waist; and when you fail it is often a little hard on the toes.

Yesterday was our bi-weekly sampling of a small bivalve mollusk, Donax, also called coquina. At Sanibel Sea School, we monitor empty Donax shells to help better understand the population health.

And after counting tiny little shells on the beach, most of us have some extra energy that we just have to get out of our systems. Energy, creativity and pvc quadrats makes the perfect combination for quadrat hula hooping. And, who says hard science can't be fun?

Later that day, we took a hike on the Bailey tract and were luck enough to find three alligators along with countless other creatues.

Mud Forests

Mangrove forests are integral parts of the marine ecosystem. In some partrs of the world, they are called forests of mud. Here we pay homage to the spirits of the mud forest, or at least we appear to as we listen for the sounds of the mud flats.

Mrs. Pollard's 4th grade class from Canterbury School had a blast discovering the mud flats, and finding out just how sticky they can be at low tide. Easy way to loose a croc. Better a croc than a student. We also delighted to learn that sea horses share that rich habitat. And, we became trackers to discover what creatures had been here before us, including racoons and several species of wading birds.

And what better a way to relax after lunch and show our island lifestyle than making some shell jewelry? We tied hemp fibers into braclets, chokers and anklets adorned with some of Sanibel's famous bivavlve shells. The toe is the very best place to hold the fibers while tying up a bunch of knots.

Not a bad way to spend the last day before winter break, or for that matter any old school day. There is just something about a field trip. Makes everything fall in to pace. Easy to remember the fun, hard to forget the facts and way to learn about the ocean.

A Cold Day at the Ocean Always Beats a Day in School

Ms. O's fourth grade class from Canterbury School braved the winds and rain of winter weather of Florida to spend the day at Sanibel Sea School. Their efforts were rewarded with many great and exciting island adventures.

We tasted mangrove leaves, slipped in mud flats, found fiddler crabs, honed our skills of observation, added some new vocabulary words...was that ephemeral?

And in the seine, in the rain, we were lucky enough to catch several magnificent sea horses.



Mr. Murphy found a strange new creature never before seen to science and delighted us all with this important scientific discovery.

Sometimes it is easier to pay more attention on a field trip, in the field, in the cold, in the rain rather than sitting in a desk in a warm classroom on a wintery day. Go Figure.

At Sanibel Sea School, every day is a field trip.

A Cold Blustery Day in Florida

Yes, even in SW Florida we have cold blustery days. But at Sanibel Sea School, our intrepid adevnturers go out to learn about and explore our natural bounty. Yesterday, the Robbins family of Carbondale, Illinois braved the elements to explore the mangrove communities on the north side of Sanibel. One of the things we learned is that mangrove forests, which grow in the intertidal zone are a great place at low tide to escape the howling winds and have some importnat, serious fun.

We also leaned that mangrove forets support a plethora of other organisms, ranging form worms to molluscs, crabs, fish, birds and even racoons.

And sometimes different species of mangrove trees can be told from one-another based on the taste of their leaves! Black mangroves secrete salt from their leaves, while red mangrove's leaves are not as salty.

Jany Robbins demonstrates the leaf tasting procedures.