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 were allowed to use. A double-crested cormorant dove by our boat and caught several fish. We were able to use a ladder to enter the waist deep water. With our dip nets we were able to observe spider crabs, shrimp, pipefish, hermit crabs, sponges, whelk egg cases, fish, sand dollars and seagrasses such as shoal grass and turtle grass. The Marine Science educators collected some of these in handheld tanks to share with us on board. After we boarded the boat for our return trip, a bonnet shark joined us. On our return trip we passed by shoals of schooling fish and reflections of towering clouds. The beautiful St. Peterburg skyline rose before us as we prepared to dock. Please support the Tampa Bay Watch mission of fostering a healthy Tampa Bay watershed through community-driven restoration projects, education programs and outreach initiatives.
Author: Kevin Van Dien
Alafia Banks Bird Sanctuary Boat Trip
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, Little Blue Herons, Cormorants and other shorebirds. After a lovely couple of hours on the river and bay, they enjoyed lunch together at Jerry’s Dockside. We can’t thank Barbara and Dave enough for continuing to make this tour available to us!
Rainbow River Turtles with George Heinrich
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 might have been an otter snack. The group ate their picnic lunches at the state park, then headed back downstream. A few Friends donned masks, snorkels, and fins and pulled their kayaks behind them as they swam the final stretch–delighting in seeing longnose gar and other fish below them. The fee for this floating field trip allowed us to donate $250 to the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust. Thank you, George, for sharing your expertise with us!
If you’re interested in learning more about George’s ongoing research, check out his Suwannee cooter work here and his findings on gopher tortoise nesting here.