Latest News Releases
Members of Friends of Pinellas Master Naturalists joined the Tampa Bay Watch Sandbar Snorkeling Excursion on June 27, 2026. We boarded our boat from the marina slip near the St. Petersburg Pier. After a short ride over shimmering calm water, we stopped by a sandbar east of south St. Petersburg. We could see the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the distance. The crew anchored in the sand, carefully avoiding the seagrass beds. Snorkeling flags were set out marking the area we read more
On May 5, ten Friends boarded a pontoon boat on the Alafia River to join Barbara and Dave Howard for a tour of the Alafia Bank CWA islands to see nesting birds. In addition to being “our” Friends, Barbara and Dave are also active members of Friends of the Tampa Bay Wildlife Refuges–a group very worthy of our support. During the boat tour, our group saw nesting Brown Pelicans, Ibises, and Roseate Spoonbills. They also saw Oystercatchers, Great Blue Herons, read more
On April 24, nine FPMN members enjoyed wading, kayaking, and snorkeling the upper section of the Rainbow River with George Heinrich, turtle expert extraordinaire. George gave us a turtle ID overview before we launched our kayaks. Between KP Hole Park and Rainbow Springs State Park, we spotted dozens of cooters, sliders, and softshell turtles. On our journey upstream we stopped to enjoy a watery stroll along Gissy Spring Run, where we found the remains of a small musk turtle which read more