10 Gulf oil spill animals could go extinct

Mother Nature Network has a slide show of 10 animals they say are "at risk for extinction" from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

For a handful of species, however, the spill may be the final nail in the coffin. The situation is so dire that one major online gambling site has begun allowing bets on which Gulf animals are most likely to be declared extinct first.

Among the list are:

- Great Lakes Piping Plover (picture): their foraging areas are coastlines that washed up oil now covers.

- Smalltooth and Largetooth Sawfish: while the largetooth "may already be extinct in the region," the smalltooth nursery areas are in the oil spill's path.

- Manatees: the oil is spilling into these endangered animals' summer habitat off Florida which could prompt a "massive" rescue and removal effort.

Read the full story: 10 animals at risk of extinction from Gulf oil spill

Photo from Steven Senne / AP

Gulf hotels offer oil-free or your money back

USA Today reports that several Gulf Coast hotels are now offering oil-free beaches guarantees.

This is in the wake of the BP oil spill which is still currently spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico and affecting some beaches bordering the area.

"It's frustrating to get the word out that the beaches are fine," says Park Brady, CEO of ResortQuest International, one of the largest operators of vacation rental companies on the coast.

ResortQuest, which typically charges a 15% deposit and full payment shortly before arrival, is issuing full refunds if customers can't use the beach. "It eased a lot of fears," Brady says.

Read the full story: Gulf Coast hotels roll out oil-free beach guarantees

Photo by Michael Spooneybarger / AP

Explore underwater paradise with the whole family

The Star-Telegram reports on five global snorkeling spots where exploring the beauty of underwater paradise is a family-friendly affair.

Along with three places in the Caribbean, Alaska and Florida are also mentioned.

Ketchikan, Alaska. Zip on your head-to-toe wet suit and explore the colorful and diverse marine life in the chilly waters of southeastern Alaska. Local water temperatures reach 65 degrees in midsummer. Participants must weigh at least 90 pounds. Waters are calm; some tidal pools are shallow. Later, join a half-day boat tour from Ketchikan Outdoors and cruise to a remote island for a picnic among wildlife.

Read the full story: Seaside getaways

Photo from Getty Images / Thinkstock

Gulf oil spill volunteering

Peter Greenberg Worldwide has a comprehensive guide for Gulf oil spill volunteering.

Volunteering is a noble way to spend a vacation but during this oil spill disaster make sure you have a solid volunteer offer before going to any of the areas affected.

Each state has its own resource where potential volunteers can register their information. Registration does not mean you’re guaranteed a volunteer position. Participants will be contacted only on an as-needed basis and local candidates will be considered first. If you do reach out to an organization to offer help, please make sure it’s connected with its state service commission.

• United We Serve/National: www.serve.gov/oilspill.asp
• Mississippi: www.volunteermississippi.org
• Alabama: www.servealabama.gov
• Florida: www.volunteerflorida.org
• Louisiana: www.volunteerlouisiana.gov

While local officials appreciate that visitors want to come and help, there is logic behind the limitations. Louisiana Service Commission Executive Director, Janet Pace, explains, she does not want to “put a good-hearted, well-meaning volunteers in harm’s way,” without a better understanding of the health hazards associated with the oil.

PGW also gives alternative ways to help like: coastline monitoring, adopting a pelican, and helping out the people affected.

Read the full story: BP Oil Spill News: Volunteer Guide - Helping Gulf Oil Clean-Up Efforts

Photo from PeterGreenberg.com

Oil turns FL beaches black

CNN reports on the miles of oil from the BP Gulf Coast oil spill now coating the beaches of Florida's panhandle.

The famous white sand beaches around Pensacola are now black with oil and the water is unsafe to swim in.

More than two months after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Pensacola awoke Wednesday to the largest onslaught of black crude on Florida's coast, as more than nine miles of white shoreline and beaches were soaked with syrupy oil.

A health advisory has been issued by Escambia County for parts of Pensacola Beach and Fort Pickens.

"It's pretty ugly. There's no question about it," Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said. "It does break your heart."

Tourists are canceling their reservations to the normally bustling summer tourist area.

Read the full story: Oil soaks miles of Pensacola Beach

Photo from James Amerson / CNN iReport

Earth Day = green travel

Smarter Travel reports on green travel for Earth Day.

Tips to be greener include:

• use less paper napkins
• walk instead of drive
• reuse hotel towels
• use reusable water bottles
• visit a farmer's market
• take shorter showers
• stay in an eco-friendly hotel

This month, resorts are offering a variety of eco-programs and deals. Opt for Santa Fe's Eldorado Hotel & Spa and save 15 percent with a "go green save your green" deal. The San Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort offers free eco-education activities until April 24. (Dolphin Monday, anyone?) In California, Loews Coronado Bay Resort invites families to explore a state beach with an environmental educator and then help with a beach cleanup. The Hyatt Regency Monterey lets you buy a tree sapling with proceeds to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Or book in April with Planeterra and receive a 10 percent discount on all volunteer travel.

Read the full story: Traveling green on Earth Day

Photo from hotelplanner.com

Celebrate Earth Day in FL Bay and Everglades

National Parks Traveler recommends celebrating Earth Day in Florida's Bay or Everglades National Park.

A private fund called Florida Bay Stewardship has been set up to help benefit the bay and Earth Day (April 22) will kick off the celebrations.

Events include boat and kayak tours of the bay, an Eco-Mariner course, and free cake.

Read the full story: Celebrate Earth Day in Florida Bay and Everglades NP

Photo by NPS

Endangered coastal spots to see

Coastal Living via CNN reports on nine environmentally-sensitive coastal tourist spots that could disappear in the near future. Among the sites are:

INSIDE PASSAGE, British Columbia: Much of the storied Inside Passage route between Washington and Alaska looks as it has for centuries. Unfortunately, visiting cruise ships trail a hazardous mess in their wake. On a typical week long journey, passengers produce sewage, gray water, and many tons of trash.

EVERGLADES, Florida (picture above): The Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, with 1.5 million acres of marshes, estuaries, and prairies, and shady stretches of pine, cypress, and mahogany. Decades ago, the Everglades' freshwater flow was altered to accommodate agriculture, growing cities, and safety concerns. The dams and diversions starved and polluted the delicate ecosystems and the species that relied on them.

ROATAN, Honduras: Divers and snorkelers rave about the majesty of Roatán's biodiverse waters and coral reef system. [Warming oceans], Coastal development, illegal fishing, and reckless divers have taken a toll [on the delicate reefs].

Read the full story: 9 coastal wonders to see now

Photo from National Parks Service

Hiking Florida

The Miami Herald reports on hiking the Florida Trail.

Reporter Dave Griswold recounts his winter trip:

I had decided a couple months earlier to start exploring more of South Florida's wilderness. The Florida Trail, started in 1969 by volunteers, winds up from Big Cypress National Preserve to the Panhandle. In South Florida, it's just about the only trail for overnight hiking.

Winter and spring in Big Cypress are when the wildlife is most concentrated around shrinking water sources, with ranks swelled by migrating birds. You avoid the hazards of the summer and fall seasons, which include myriad biting insects, water in places to your waist, torrential downpours, heat and humidity.

Read the full story: Away from the beaches

Photo Florida Trail Association Big Cypress Chapter

75 years of Florida parks

The Miami Herald reports on 75 years of Florida state parks.

[The] park service runs a remarkably varied collection of preserves. In one Florida park (Paynes Prairie), bisons run free along with descendants of horses brought to Florida by the Conquistadors. Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is completely underwater. Human "mermaids'' frolic in Weeki Wachee Springs. Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero preserves a complex settled in the late 1800s by people who believed they and the rest of the universe existed in a giant sphere inside the earth.

And then there's Torreya, on the un-Florida-like 150-foot-high banks of the Apalachicola River and home to the parks' only rentable yurt, a tent-like abode more common in Mongolia.

Read the full story: Mermaids & manatees: Florida state parks celebrate 75 years

Migratory birdwatching in Florida Nat. Park

The Miami Herald reports on the winter migratory birdwatching paradise in Florida's Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville.

The rattling karr-roo-oo sounds came from every direction. From the sky. From clumps of grasses and bushes. The calls of sandhill cranes filled the air above the expansive wetlands of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.

Some 8,000 red-crowned, pewter-gray sandhills had commandeered the marshes. Mixed with the sandhills were a dozen similarly red-crowned whooping cranes, but taller and marked with black and white feathers. Whoopers, an endangered species, are one of the rarest birds in the United States.

Read the full story: Birdwatchers are in store for a rare treat

Photo from Florida State Park Service website

Florida coral reef revived with scientific help

The Miami Herald reports on the success of "farm-raised" coral helping to revive decimated reefs.

For the first time, stands of "farm-raised'" staghorn transplanted to Molasses Reef off Key Largo were caught in the act, providing critical proof that corals cultivated in underwater nurseries can not only survive but do the wild thing.

For researchers, it has raised optimism that they might actually have a shot at slowing, maybe even reversing, decades of staggering loss. Staghorn and elkhorn -- large and spectacular branching corals that once grew in sprawling forests -- have declined by as much as 97 percent along a reef tract stretching from Palm Beach to the Dry Tortugas.

Read the full story: In the Florida Keys, staghorn, elkhorn coral making a comeback

Photo by Timothy O'Hara/The Citizen

Florida Sea Turtle nesting season

Blog the Beach reports on the Florida Sea Turtle nesting season.

Sea turtles come back to the same beach where they hatched to lay their eggs. I found this nest [picture left]on Caladesi Island several years ago. It is a good example of the hard work that goes into protecting the turtle nests from predators and vandals. If you are walking down the beach and you see a yellow sign like the one in the photo next to some wire on the ground or if you see wooden stakes connected with yellow tape, you’ll recognize that as a sea turtle nest.

Read the full story: Sea Turtle nests in Florida

Six global conservation efforts

The Christian Science Monitor reports on six conservation efforts around the world and most in popular travel spots:

Costa Rica: has protected 1/4 of its land.

The Philippines: home-grown conservation is stemming rampant deforestation and illegal poaching.

Vancouver Island: reintroduction of sea otters has created new problems of sea urchin and abalone decline.

Florida Everglades: might never recover due to destructive non-native species.

Congo, Rwanda, Uganda: Mountain gorillas now with a 14 percent population increase live in the shared borders of all three countries and have survived civil war and poaching.

Madagascar: Deforestation and poverty is destroying habitats of native species such as the lemur (picture above) but carbon offset trading could save the forests that are now being bought by companies such as Dell and turned over to international conservation organizations.

Read the full story: Where they rebuild nature

Solar city for sunshine state

Reuters reports on the proposed solar-powered city in Florida.

The aptly named "Sunshine State" will the first to experiment with a solar-only powered city to be named Babcock Ranch.

A local utility and real estate company are planning to build the largest photovoltaic plant and subsequent city at an estimated cost of $2 billion near Fort Meyers in southwestern Florida.

A spokesman for the project said it will be the first solar-powered city because it will use only solar power during the day and produce more solar power than it needs and so will be a net exporter of solar power.

In addition to having its electricity generated from solar energy, the entire city is expected to have wireless Internet access and electric-car chargers.

Read the full story: Florida to get first solar-powered city

Everglades scourge: Asian swamp eel

National Parks Traveler reports on a threat to native species in Florida's Everglades; the introduced Asian swamp eel.

This exotic fish, pictured right, was most likely introduced by someone carelessly dumping their aquarium pets into the waters claims NPT.

"That is bad news, indeed, for the Everglades ecosystem. The swamp eel is a voracious feeder with a generalized diet that includes food critical to the survival of wading birds, fish, and many other native species of the Everglades. The results could very well be catastrophic if swamp eels were to become abundant enough."

Read the full story: Creature feature: meet the Asian swamp eel

Grab a pedal-powered ride in Pensacola

The Ecolocalizer blog reports on the new pedicabs in Pensacola, Florida.

Foot Taxi will offer tourists rides on eight pedicabs around the old downtown area.

"'It’s a completely ‘green’ way to get around,” [said co-founder Joe Abston]. 'The last thing we wanted our business to do was add to a global environmental problem.'"

The rides are free, but riders encouraged to give the peddlers tips.

Read the full story: Pensacola goes pedicabbing

Florida's Everglades restoration in question

The Miami Herald reports on the $7 billion restoration of Florida's Everglades that hasn't made any progress according to a new study.

The National Resource Council report released on Monday claims that government bureaucracy has tied up the progression of many of the restoration projects in the Everglades and finds the wildlife and vegetation has continued to decline:

'''We've invested in all this science and this engineering development and we still don't have one completed project. Well, how can that be?,'' said William Graf, chairman of the 13-member committee that wrote the report. 'I think the conclusion is we don't have the political and public will to do it.'"

Read the full story: Report blasts slow progress on Everglades restoration

FL taxis going green

USA Today reports that Key West's tropically-colored pink taxis are turning green.

The Florida island's famous pink taxis (seen at right) will not be getting a green paint job - but will be converted into hybrids.

The taxi company Five Sixes Taxi, has bought 10 hybrids that they estimate will get 38 mpg as opposed to 12 mpg the old vehicles got. They are in the process of replacing all their old taxis with the hybrids.

Read the full story: Key West's famous taxis get a green makeover

Everglades-named bird wiped out

The Miami Herald reports on the disappearing Everglades Snail Kite.

Writer Curtis Morgan sets the somber tone for the story in the first sentence: "It's never a good sign when an animal disappears from the place that gave it its name."

The kite's numbers have dropped dramatically and the recent droughts and water management projects haven't helped.

Local Indian tribes say federal wildlife protection schemes have failed in the Everglades and are to blame for the kite's demise. The Miccosukee Tribe points to the protection of another bird - the Cape Sable seaside sparrow - that indirectly helped kill-off the kite. Planned flooding to help protect the sparrow in certain areas in the Everglades drowned one of the kite's main food sources, the apple snail.

Read the full story: A rare bird all but vanishes from Everglades