Hurricane Gustav's eye stayed far from Southwest Florida, but the storm's waves and surge dampened the region's best sea turtle nesting season in years. ...more

September 5, 2008

Silently and steadily, a tragedy is unfolding beneath the ocean's waves: Coral reefs around the world are disappearing. According to some projections, there could be few, if any, left by the end of the century. ...more

June 29, 2008

SEBRING — Four tracks mark rip from near the sidewalk, through a lawn and into the dry sand that was once part of Lake Jackson. Multiple pontoon boats were beached just south of Veterans Beach. They're a usual sight for the lake as it hits all-time historic low levels, but the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sees a potential problem here. Officer Erika Zimmerman said these days she often catches some boaters trying to drive their trucks and trailers into the shore of the lake bed to pull the boats out, and sometimes just for the fun of it. What ends up happening, she said, is that they rip up the vegetation, spread oil and gas on the lake bed, leave deep treads and end up polluting the lake once the water returns to that area. Often, they get stuck and have to be dragged out of the bed, she said. ...more

June 23, 2008

Jamie Conlan and Daria Barnhart spent their vacation this past year slathering mortar over concrete-block walls in the hot sun, helping tsunami victims in southern Thailand build new homes. ...more

January 6, 2008