The North Port Police warned people about the dangers lurking on construction sites: enormous holes, slippery ground, and heavy equipment. These areas aren’t just off-limits; they’re genuinely unsafe. 

Walk in or dig there, and you’ll face felony trespassing charges. That shark tooth isn’t worth ending up in jail. The police really spelled it out: you might score some fossils, but you could end up cuffed. 

Bodycam video shows police warning the group about the dangers of construction sites. Police warned that they can contain large holes, water intrusion, unstable ground and heavy machinery.

“Don’t learn the hard way,” they said. Florida has plenty of spots for shark-tooth hunting that won’t land you in trouble, so stick to those. Why trade an exciting hobby for a criminal record?

The post Not Worth the Jail Time: North Port Police Arrest 5 Shark-Tooth Hunters on Private Property appeared first on Englewood Review.

I don’t know if it’s the same bird, but for years, at least one Great White Heron has been patrolling the environs around the McDonald’s at the River Road intersection. Between McD’s and some of the nearby fishing outfits just down the road, the pickins’ are pretty good and probably not very labor-intensive. Avian “due diligence” most likely gets the job done. If it’s the same bird, he was named Henry by the lady who operates the little stone crab store. Assuming it’s the same bird, I dubbed him McHenry.

Most birds make themselves scarce if you roll down your window, but not this guy. I suspect he has figured out that the almost imperceptible hum of an electric window amounts to a drive-thru for him; no fear at all. And he doesn’t have to round up the change for the Ronald McDonald House.

However, this year I noticed a little extra adornment as he begs for food: a green stripe on his face. Let me amend that. His or her face. Unlike some species, your car window is not a glass ceiling among this species. Experts say both genders truck out their finest feather finery in their annual search for companionship. 

So, I don’t know if McHenry is in fact McHenrietta. 

Canada geese are also hard to identify by gender. I know a guy up in rural Minnesota who stood in the middle of a country road and call out whatever his version of Henry was, only to find out later that Henry was a she. It was something to see that bird fly out of nowhere and land right on his shoulder for a handful of corn.

I also knew an animal-loving lady who had a fawn walking in and out of her house at will. 

Perhaps a story for another day.

The post Bird Watching Again appeared first on Englewood Review.

Right now, we’re facing an El Niño that could become the fiercest we’ve ever seen. Recent powerful El Niños stand out from those in the distant past, and evidence points directly to human-driven climate change. 

This research matters. Understanding how rising temperatures shape El Niño helps us anticipate changes in weather, agriculture, and ecosystems across the globe.

Deep in the waters around the Galápagos Islands, a giant boulder coral grew, almost unnoticed, for centuries. Each year, it added a thin layer of limestone. Like tree rings, each layer quietly tracked the ocean’s story. Inside its calcium carbonate skeleton, the coral locked away a chemical record, silent, steady, precise.

Scientists drilled into this coral to recover a slender core, piecing together the past. Under specialized lights in the lab, they examined the ratio of oxygen isotopes. Colder water meant more oxygen-18 in the skeleton; warmer water changed that ratio. Strontium was another clue: when the sea cooled, the coral swapped some calcium for strontium.

These chemical markers mapped out a timeline, one stretching across a millennium. For hundreds of years, the Pacific cycled through predictable El Niño and La Niña phases. But zoom in on the most recent layers, and the story shifts. Over the last forty years, temperature swings in the coral have shot up by 36%.

It’s unmistakable: the chemical record screams the truth. Human-driven climate change isn’t just nudging the warmth higher. It’s turning El Niño into a wild, unpredictable force, far more intense than anything seen before. The coral delivers this warning from the deep: our ocean’s biggest climate rhythm has grown unruly.

Click here for more information at Scientific American.

The post Ancient Corals Reveal Human-Driven Climate Change is “Supercharging” El Niño to Record Strengths appeared first on Englewood Review.

This area isn’t just random wilderness, as biologists have watched panthers here for over ten years, hoping for exactly this kind of moment.

When the cameras caught the mother and one of her now spot-free kittens again in July, northeast of Fort Myers, it told biologists something important. A mother raising young north of the river means the panthers aren’t just wandering; they’re setting up families, pushing past old boundaries. Adult males have drifted through central Florida for years, but it’s the mothers with their kittens that really matter for the species’ comeback.

Wildlife officials look to moments like this as signs of hope. The population of Florida panthers nearly disappeared, with only around 20 surviving in the 1970s. Now, the population has climbed to around 200, mostly hugging the Gulf Coast. It’s progress, but the cats still fight tough odds from busy roads and relentless development.

This rare footage of a mother and her cubs doesn’t just document a sighting. It gives wildlife teams clear evidence: Florida panthers can stretch their territory, raising new generations where they once disappeared. That natural expansion isn’t just encouraging; it’s essential for the panthers’ future.

The post Is This a New Dawn for Florida Panthers? Rare Mother and Kitten Sightings Signal Hopeful New Era of Survival appeared first on Englewood Review.

Kayak anglers regularly transition between shallow flats, oyster bars, deeper grass beds, and channels. Each zone requires a different tackle, but a kayak offers limited space. Unlike bass tournament anglers who carry several rigged rods, kayak anglers must rely on a couple of versatile setups that adapt quickly and safely.

The Versatility of the Jig

Few pieces of terminal tackle offer more flexibility than the jig. It’s compact, effective, and safe, especially important in the tight quarters of a kayak. We discourage the use of multiple treble hook lures in our kayaks.

Shallow Water (6–24 inches)

A 1/16 oz jig head paired with a soft plastic tail allows for a slower retrieve, ideal for skinny water. With countless options for color, size, and action, a small box of jig heads and tails covers a wide range of situations.

For extreme shallows, switch to a weedless setup:
1/32 oz bullet weight
Wide-gap 1/0 hook
Rigged like a weedless bass worm

This lets you crawl a lure through grass and oyster edges without snagging.

Deeper Flats (3 feet and deeper)

Move up to 1/8 or 1/4 oz jig heads to reach the bottom. These heavier jigs fall faster on the pause, a motion that often triggers strikes as fish chase the bait into the grass.

Natural bait colors perform best. Our favorite DOA 3” shad tail colors include:

Rainbow Trout, Golden Shiner, Stark Naked, White, Clear, and Root Beer.

Jigs also shine when switching to bait. A shrimp or pinfish, chin-hooked on a jig head stays upright and looks natural on the bottom. Dragging a shrimp across sand holes has produced countless redfish for us.

If you bring two rods, make sure you rig one with a jig.

A Simple, Effective Live-Bait Rig

We often carry a few live shrimp and keep a second rod rigged for bait with:
2’ of 20 lb. fluorocarbon leader
1/0–2/0 live bait hook
Popping cork to maintain depth and keep the bait above the grass
Split shot for weight (various sizes)

A few swivels

A small split shot on the leader helps any bait get down quickly to keep birds from snatching it off the surface. Split shot also avoids the tangles common with sliding sinker rigs.

If you use a sliding sinker, give the line a pull after splashdown. This straightens the rig as it sinks and prevents most tangles.

If the shrimp run out, hook on a DOA shrimp and carry on.

Pack Light, Stay Ready

Kayak anglers aim to be ready for anything while carrying as little as possible. Re-rigging is sometimes unavoidable, but these two core setups dramatically reduce downtime.

A minimalist kit covers most situations:

• A handful of jig heads (1/16, 1/8, 1/4 oz)
• A baggie of soft plastic tails
• Small spool of fluorocarbon leader
• A few live-bait hooks
• Assorted split shot
• A few swivels

With these essentials, you’ll be prepared for nearly anything Southwest Florida throws at you while keeping your time focused on fishing, not fiddling with tackle.

Kimball and Les Beery, authors of Angler’s Guide to SHORE and KAYAK Fishing Southwest Florida, contribute these excerpts from both WATERPROOF books to promote the excellent fishing available in the Englewood area. They are available locally at Old Florida Gallery on West Dearborn, and for download at www.anglerpocketguides.com  & amazon.com.

The post Easy Riggings for Kayak Anglers appeared first on Englewood Review.

Enter the University of Florida team. Instead of relying on old-school methods, these researchers, led by wildlife ecologist Robert McCleery, tried something wild: robot rabbits. 

Not just any stuffed toys, these are solar-powered, rigged with internal motors and heaters to mimic the movements and body warmth of marsh rabbits, a favorite snake snack. The team released 40 of these mechanical bunnies around South Florida this month. The goal is simple: copy everything about a real rabbit that might catch a python’s attention, without the headache of caring for living bait.

And these robot rabbits aren’t just cute decoys; they’re high-tech spies. They have fitted each robot rabbit with a motion-sensor camera. The instant a python slithers in for a closer look, the researchers get an alert.

Mike Kirkland, who leads efforts against invasive animals for the South Florida Water Management District, summed it up: getting a noticeable number of pythons to approach these robot rabbits would be a real win, especially since these snakes are such experts at staying out of sight.

Of course, there’s a final touch if the robots don’t quite fool the snakes at first. Researchers are ready to spritz them with rabbit scent. Sometimes, you need a little perfume to seal the deal.

Click here for more information.

The post Bionic Bunnies: Florida’s Wild New Weapon Against Invasive Pythons appeared first on Englewood Review.

We caught up with Amber Kaleda, who owns B&B Pet Resort with her husband, Robert. She still sounds surprised about the recognition.

“I mean, we’ve only been open for a year and a half. To even get nominated here in the Englewood-Port Charlotte area felt huge. When we found out we’d actually won regionals—wow, that was exciting. We’re going for the whole state next year. Go big or go home, right?”

Amber says the entire experience has been a whirlwind. “We’re a small, new place, so getting nominated surprised us. But you know how this town is; word-of-mouth travels fast. Referrals have really kept us going.”

When asked where the idea for a pet resort came from, Amber explains, “We’re animal people. We have three dogs of our own. There’s just not much like this around here, and people want to travel and feel safe knowing their dogs are cared for. We only board dogs, and we do daycare too. With bigger places, it can feel less personal. Here, we treat them as if they were at home. That was always my vision: to make sure the dogs are comfortable and people don’t worry while they’re away.”

Amber knew this business idea would be great for the area. A lot of pet owners don’t feel comfortable leaving their dogs at some enormous facility. Even if the care is good, they want that personal touch. 

“We see a lot of first timers,” she says. “People who’ve never left their dogs anywhere but home, who always had a sitter come by. That’s what we’re aiming for. When people leave their dogs with us, we want them to know we’ll treat them like family. Same way as they do at home.”

Does she ever get unusual requests from clients? Amber answered with a laugh. “Oh, all the time, like, ‘Can my dog sleep in the bed with you?’ That sort of thing. And yeah, we do stay there overnight because lots of people don’t want their dogs left alone. I totally get that. I’ve boarded my own dogs before.”

Amber and Robert really set their place apart by always having someone on hand. Amber put it simply: “Sometimes, we even let the dogs sleep with us if that’s what they’re used to.”

And what’s B&B really like for the dogs? Amber calls it “Disneyland.” She smiled, saying, “It’s like going to grandma’s house. The dogs are on vacation, too. That’s what we wanted, not some stressful vet visit or just sitting in a kennel. They get a lot of free time, day and night.”

Here’s to Amber and Robert, the team behind B&B Pet Resort. They’re making Florida a happier place for dogs and their owners.

Location: 13425 Muriel Ave in Port Charlotte, serving Englewood, Port Charlotte, and nearby areas. (941) 212-1778 and check out their website at bandbpetresort.com.

The post Paws Up! B&B Pet Resort Crowned ‘Best of Florida’ for Ultimate Pup Pampering appeared first on Englewood Review.

King tides are more than just a spectacle; they’re an escalating problem in places like Englewood and all along the Gulf Coast. While Southeast Florida cities like Miami grab the spotlight with constant “sunny day flooding” headlines, researchers from Climate Central point out that the Gulf Coast has seen a real jump in high-tide flooding days in the past twenty years.

Why do king tides happen? It starts with astronomy: during a perigean spring tide, the new or full moon lines up perfectly with the sun and swings closest to Earth. That’s when gravity gives us the most dramatic tides. But it’s not just that. Layers of local factors, seasonal winds, warming waters expanding, Gulf currents, all pile on, raising the baseline water level along Florida’s shores.

What happens during a king tide on the Gulf Coast? The most common scene is “sunny day flooding.” Streets, parking lots, docks, you name it, they get a sudden, salty soak, even when skies are clear. This flooding only lasts a few hours around peak tide, but the water can do plenty of damage in that time, especially if rain or storms stack on top. And king tides reveal the weak links in coastal infrastructure, a preview of what rising sea levels will make routine.

Englewood experiences king tides, with the peaks usually in fall, when the moon pulls the hardest. If you want tide charts for Lemon Bay or detailed local predictions, go right to NOAA’s Tides & Currents portal.

For 2026, monitor these high-tide windows:

– September 8–15 (New Moon)
– September 24–October 15 (Full and New Moons)
– October 22–November 12 (peaking around October 27’s full moon)
– November 22–29
– December 22–27

If you live in or visit the Florida Gulf Coast, keep in mind that king tide flooding is saltwater. Salt eats away at anything it touches, especially cars and infrastructure, and it behaves differently from a rainstorm.

Tips for Driving During King Tides:

– Don’t drive through flooded streets. Saltwater destroys engines, fries electronics, and rots your car’s undercarriage.
– If you drive an EV or a golf cart, absolutely avoid saltwater. A flooded battery can trigger a fire—not worth the risk.
– Always move your car to higher ground before the high tide hits. Get it out of low driveways or underground garages.
– If you absolutely must drive through shallow water, go at a crawl. Moving fast creates a bow wave, pushing water deeper into your car—or someone else’s yard.
– If your car gets wet, hose down the undercarriage with fresh water right away to slow down rust and keep your brakes working.

Tips for Living Safely with King Tides:

– Treat all floodwater as contaminated. Saltwater bubbling up through streets and drains carries pollution, chemicals, bacteria, and debris. Don’t let kids or pets wade in, and always wash off with clean water and soap if you touch it.
– Bring in trash and recycling bins right after pickup—otherwise, they’ll float away or clog storm drains.
– Protect at-risk homes and businesses with sandbags, flood panels, or even check valves for your drains to stop tidal water backing up through plumbing.
– Watch your step. Rising tide pressure can pop manhole covers off, creating hidden, dangerous holes below the surface.
– If you’re boating, check bridge clearance. King tides shrink the space under fixed bridges, so consult up-to-date tide charts before you go out.

King tides aren’t avoidable, but a little preparation keeps you, your car, and your property safer, and reminds us of what a changing coastline really looks like.

The post Cosmic Tug-of-War: How King Tides Are Quietly Flooding Florida’s Gulf Coast appeared first on Englewood Review.

No-see-ums, also called biting midges, sand gnats, or punkies, belong to the Ceratopogonidae family. They’re true flies, lumped into the order Diptera, and their impact on Florida goes way beyond a simple itchy bite. 

Over centuries, these tiny creatures have shaped survival strategies, repelled entire colonial attempts, and forced people to invent new ways to cope, both economically and scientifically.

Historical Context and Human Impact

No-see-ums weren’t just a nuisance; they were a force of nature. Florida’s indigenous peoples, including the Calusa and Timucua, learned to endure the constant midge assault. They slathered on thick layers of mud, ate wild garlic, and kept smudge fires burning with green wood and damp plants, all to build a smoky barrier against the onslaught.

When the Spanish arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries, they walked straight into swarms so thick you could barely breathe. These insects didn’t just irritate; they stopped agriculture in its tracks and made building permanent settlements nearly impossible. 

People continue to wrestle to this day with the consequences of tampering with Florida’s environment. When Hurricane Ian slammed into the coast in 2022, storm surges washed islands like Sanibel and Marco Island over, turning freshwater marshes salty almost overnight. That brackish water set off a population explosion of no-see-ums, a reminder that these insects thrive when humans disrupt their fragile habitats.

Taxon and Morphological Facts

Florida is a hotspot for no-see-um diversity. Out of the 5,000+ Ceratopogonidae species worldwide, Florida alone hosts at least 49 or 50, mostly in the genus Culicoides. Adults barely measure 1 to 3 millimeters. They’re so small they slip right through ordinary window screens, which only work for bigger mosquitoes.

Only female no-see-ums bite; they need the protein in blood to develop eggs. Males (and females in between blood meals) stick to nectar and plant sugars. 

Here’s something strange: some non-biting relatives in this group are the main pollinators for cacao. No-see-ums have a hand, or rather a wing, in your chocolate bar.

The Science of the Bite

A mosquito slides a tiny needle into your skin and finishes in seconds. Not so with the no-see-um. The female’s mouth is a vicious set of saw-toothed blades. She lacerates your skin, hacking through to create a small pool of blood. While she’s at it, she squirts out saliva loaded with anticoagulants, keeping your blood from clotting and sparking a strong histamine response. Then she drinks for two to five minutes, and you’re left with a red, raised welt that can itch for weeks. As many of us know, a no-see-um bite sticks around far longer than a typical mosquito bite. That pain is memorable.

Life Cycle and Ecology

No-see-ums undergo a full, four-stage metamorphosis:

Egg—white, sausage-shaped, laid in clutches of 25–450 in damp places.

Larvae—white and legless, they avoid open water and thrive in moist mud, marshes, mangroves, or decaying plant matter.

Pupae—they anchor themselves in wet soil or mud, lying quiet before the final change.

Adults—not strong fliers; wind over 5–7 mph grounds them. They’re worse around dawn and dusk, when humidity is high.

Medical, Veterinary, and Resistance Data

For most people, no-see-ums are an itchy nuisance. For Florida’s wildlife and livestock, they’re a genuine threat. Certain Culicoides species carry Bluetongue virus, which affects sheep and cattle, and Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, a killer for the state’s white-tailed deer.

Outside the U.S., no-see-ums transmit nasty things to humans too, like filarial nematodes (Mansonella) and Oropouche virus. Florida keeps a close eye out, since shifts in climate and global travel are raising the stakes on potential outbreaks.

Fighting back isn’t easy. Most sprays and aerial larvicides, which work on mosquitoes, barely touch no-see-ums. Their larvae hide deep inside coastal mud, out of reach. To make matters worse, Florida studies show these midges develop permethrin resistance in just two generations. Chemical solutions are losing the battle fast.

Next time you feel that familiar itch, know it isn’t just an annoyance; it’s history, ecology, and biology, written in red bumps.

Click here for more information about no-see-ums from the CDC.

The post The Micro-Monsters of Florida: How ‘No-See-Ums’ Big-Footed Sunshine State History appeared first on Englewood Review.

Summers here have always been toasty, but these extreme temps are sticking around much longer than they used to. If you lay out the data going back to 1982, the trend is clear: blue indicates cooler years, yellow and orange point to warming, and now we’ve shifted to solid red, hot summer after hot summer.

Why does this matter? Warmer water doesn’t just make for a sweaty swim. It fuels stronger rainfall, more intense hurricanes, and triggers damage in the marine environment. That includes coral bleaching and harmful algae blooms.

The numbers are striking. Since 1982, average summer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Gulf of Mexico and around South Florida have jumped far beyond the old seasonal ups and downs. We’re talking about a shift from “normal” cycles to long-lasting, extreme heatwaves. 

NOAA’s data spells it out: the Gulf has been warming at about twice the rate of the global ocean average. From 1970 to the 2020s, the sea surface temperature has climbed by roughly 1.8°F (1°C), at a rate of 0.34°F per decade. And this heat isn’t just on the surface. It goes down 160 feet beneath the waves.

Lately, especially since 2023, it’s gotten even worse. Average summer temperatures now regularly blow past 88°F. Some shallow coastal spots in South Florida have caught national attention by reaching more than 100°F (38°C), numbers unheard of in past decades.

What’s behind this sudden spike? It’s a mix of human-driven climate change and regional ocean patterns. The Loop Current pulls hot water up from the Caribbean, and lately, shifts in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre trap that heat in the Gulf instead of letting it escape. Plus, climate change has weakened the seasonal trade winds that used to help cool the region off. Now, with less wind to mix up the water and let heat escape, the sun just bakes those shallow waters.

Another piece here is that the ocean itself acts as Earth’s heat sink. Over 90% of the excess energy from greenhouse gases ends up in the ocean, which means these marine heatwaves are just the first sign of stress on ocean ecosystems.

What happens when the water stays this warm for so long? First, tropical storms supercharge. Each 1°C (1.8°F) uptick in sea surface temperature can boost a hurricane’s maximum intensity by 5–7%. That extra heat has amped up storms like Ian, Idalia, Helene, and Milton. More warmth also means more evaporation, loading the atmosphere with moisture that comes down hard as flooding rains.

The marine ecosystem is already taking a hit. Corals, for instance, are living on the edge: they can’t survive prolonged temperatures above their threshold (around 87°F in Florida). When it gets too hot, they eject the algae that keep them alive, bleach white, stop thriving, and get picked off by disease. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary used to have a coral cover of over 40% in the 1970s, but now it’s down to around 1%.

Warming waters also promote toxic algae blooms, especially when you add runoff from farms and cities. Red Tide (Karenia brevis) and blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) flourish in these conditions, sucking out the oxygen, killing fish, and creating respiratory headaches for folks on the shore.

The Gulf is hotter than ever, and the science is clear: the consequences reach far beyond an uncomfortable swim. It’s transforming hurricanes, pounding the ecosystem, and pushing Florida’s marine life to the brink.

To learn more about the NOAA’s research, click here.

The post Data Since 1982 Reveals a Stark Reality: Florida’s Gulf Waters Are Warming Fast and Staying Hot appeared first on Englewood Review.