Beach Archive

Each year, beginning in February and ending in late summer, the Gulf Islands National Seashore provides an important habitat for several species of ground-nesting shorebirds including least terns, snowy plovers, Wilson’s plovers and black skimmers.

During the first month of the Trump presidency, more than 1,000 park employees were laid off as part of the administration’s plans to reduce the size of federal agencies and their workforces.

The Department of Government Efficiency, known as “DOGE,” is responsible for the layoffs and has been advising the president on which federal programs and budget areas to cut as a way to slash federal spending.

While Navarre Beach Lifeguards’ junior lifeguard program doesn’t hit the beach until summer, tryout registration for the program is now open.

The 2025 junior lifeguard tryouts will be held April 26, May 3 and May 26. All tryouts are at 8 a.m.

Gulfarium C.A.R.E. Center is accepting applications for their 2025 Summer Internship Program right now.

The deadline for applying for Session two (June – August) is March 15 and Session three’s deadline is May 15. Session three extends from August to October.

The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) is excited to announce a groundbreaking collaboration between the Underwater Museum of Art (UMA) and the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation (FCSF) that will introduce a unique addition to the UMA’s seventh annual installation. The Menina of the Reef: An Infinite Message (La Menina del Arrecife: Un Mensaje Infinito) sculpture by Spanish artist Antonio Azzato will be fabricated and deployed in the summer 2025 to raise awareness of FCSF’s mission to provide support and peace of mind to cancer patients in Florida.

Opened in 1960, Navarre Beach Bridge is one of Navarre’s most iconic landmarks. While the bridge’s age has made it a staple of life on Navarre Beach, the years have brought on issues of wear and tear. At a Santa Rosa County Commission meeting Thursday, Feb. 13, District 4 Commissioner Ray Eddington, who represents Navarre, informed the board he was interested in finding ways to pay for a new bridge, which is estimated to cost between $150 million and $300 million.

Students from Navarre High School brought back some hardware from a science competition hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi Feb. 1.

A Navarre Beach hotel development planned for 8469 Gulf Blvd. might be on the chopping block.

If you have driven over Navarre Beach Bridge at any point since November, you may have noticed an ongoing construction project at the causeway seawall.

According to assistant county engineer John Studstill, the project is an emergency repair to reinforce the seawall on the causeway.

The Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park is welcoming two new arrivals. The aquarium, located on Okaloosa Island, recently announced that two rescued manatees were brought to the newly renovated manatee habitat. Their names are Lil Joe and Inigo.

The manatees coming to Northwest Florida is the culmination of a three-year vision that began in 2022, when Patrick Berry, CEO of the Gulfarium, first spoke with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service about creating a haven dedicated to nurturing manatees in need of long-term care.