With several complaints about anglers spearfishing near the reefs on Navarre Beach recently, residents and visitors are being reminded that spearfishing is prohibited in that area, per Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules.
It is widely known that famed Apache warrior Geronimo was imprisoned with other male members of his tribe at Fort Pickens. Many people, however, are unaware that opportunistic residents of Pensacola successfully petitioned to keep the group, which was originally headed to St. Augustine, at Fort Pickens. That change forced the Apache men into a painful separation from their families, who were transported as planned to Fort Marion, where they were held with hundreds of other Apaches as prisoners of war.
The primary Wave Runner jet ski used by the Navarre Beach Fire Department will now be easily identified as search and rescue when on the water, thanks to a local business. The NBFD recently had fishing lures and lines tossed its way while searching for a missing swimmer last month, and decided to upgrade their water rescue vehicles with flashing lights to make them more identifiable as fire department personnel.
Line entanglement can pose a great risk to sea turtles. For this reason, local marine life experts say that anglers should know proper protocol for accidentally hooking a turtle, especially when fishing from a pier.
A recent trend of stingray incidents on Navarre Beach conjures memories of this writer’s own run-in with a ray – and better yet, of the advice on how to avoid being injured by these sea creatures.
Pensacola Beach’s record-setting number of sea turtle nests this season are starting to hatch. Three of the 20 nests have hatched, confirmed Mark Nicholas, a biologist with Gulf Islands National Seashore.
A family with plenty of beach experience and encounters with marine life, the Damrons didn’t get overly excited when they first saw a fin moving through the water and coming toward them last Thursday on Navarre Beach.
This year’s Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) serving at the Gulf Islands National Seashore included five Navarre High School students, along with other teens from Gulf Breeze and Pensacola.
Recreational season for gray triggerfish and greater amberjack opened today in Gulf of Mexico state and federal waters. The commercial harvest of gray triggerfish also reopened today in Gulf state and federal waters.
