Divers: start rehearsing your cough-and-call routine. You will need to execute a flawless performance to avoid getting fired for skipping work July 26 and 27– Florida’s largest undeclared …
[Destin, FL.–] Lowering my live threadfin herring bait more than 115 feet to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, I was really hoping to hook a red snapper instead of an amberjack. For one thing, …
Victoria has longed to be a mermaid for her entire 30 years. Her favorite childhood movies were “The Little Mermaid” and “Splash”. But life intervened; she joined the U.S. Army, …
[Dunnellon, FL.–] Mac Stone is kicking across the Rainbow River against the strong current as fast as he can, and even though he is carrying a bulky underwater camera with two protruding …
It was nearly sunset and the tide was starting to dwindle in the “Kitchen”– a generally fish-rich grass flat just off the small village of Cortez in northern Sarasota Bay. Captain Scott …
Standing on a wooden treetop platform about 25 feet high, I am about to zip across the forest on a thin metal cable. Secure in my climbing harness and tethered to the tree by a double tweezle clip system, …
Borrowing from the immortal lyrics of country music’s Jerry Reed in the theme song of the 1977 film “Smoky and the Bandit”, Everglades restoration “has a long way to go and a short time to get …
At its June meeting in Sarasota, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a new and exciting opportunity that will encourage divers to remove invasive lionfish by allowing them …
The public is invited to join the Turtle Hospital for Miley’s release back to the wild on Saturday, May 2nd at 10:30 a.m. at The Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost M.M. 82.1 on the Oceanside. …
ESCAPE KIT * A two-night stay for up to 6 in a Courtyard View Suite, Sundays through Thursdays ($299), or Fridays and Saturdays ($359) * $25 voucher toward breakfast or lunch at Guy’s Gulfside Grill …
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 Swamps and Springs){kind=link}
 Swamps and Springs&body=[Dunnellon, FL.--] Mac Stone is kicking across the Rainbow River against the strong current as fast as he can, and even though he is carrying a bulky underwater camera with two protruding strobes, it is very difficult to keep up.
Panting through my snorkel, I finally catch up -- just in time to see him dart away again in hot pursuit of a cormorant which itself is in hot pursuit of a sunfish darting through the eelgrass at the bottom of the river. From a distance, I can see the strobe firing over and over and I really hope he's getting the shots he wants.
Later, Stone said he kind of did.
"Today I got a lot of cormorants fishing, but I didn't get the apex moment-- the 1/100th of a second when the fish is in front of its beak and the beak is open," he said. "You try to put yourself in as many situations as possible. Even if you get skunked, you're okay because you're getting closer to your goal."
That attitude is typical of the "high hopes but low expectations" that Stone, 33, brings to his craft as one of the most sought-after professional wildlife photographers in the southeastern U.S. For this Gainesville-raised, former Florida Audubon biologist, shooting fish, birds, landscapes and other natural subjects is NOT about producing pretty pictures. Through his images, he aims to stir the emotions of regular people enough to make them care about the ecosystems where they live and want to conserve them-- especially in Florida.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MacStone-0811.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4708" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MacStone-0811.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933" /></a> <a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MacStone-1134.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4709" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MacStone-1134.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933" /></a>
"There are things in Florida that don't exist anywhere else in abundance," he said. "Every state has things to marvel at, but Florida just seems Old World....places you can go to and feel like you are the first person who has seen it."
Stone first became interested in photography in high school, but got away from it for several years while studying international politics, environmental science, Spanish and biology as a student at Virginia Tech. Following graduation, he took a job teaching photography to youngsters in Honduras. Later, as a biologist conducting research on fish and birds in the Everglades, Stone began to realize "the power of photography to compel people to see their natural habitat in a different way. After a year working there, I started making all these photos. No one, in a compelling way, had told the story of the wildlife and the way it relates to the flow of water," he said.
The Everglades was and is in peril because of the lack of freshwater creeping south across the Florida peninsula to replenish it-- the result of manmade re-plumbing over the past century for development and farming. In 2014, Stone published "Everglades: America's Wetland" to convey to readers through breathtaking images the absolute dependence that species like the roseate spoonbill, Everglades snail kite, alligators and others have on the correct amount, timing and quality of water delivered. The book is now in its second printing and Stone has made wildlife photography a full-time career.
Lately, his attentions have turned to Florida's imperiled springs and that's why he was chasing cormorants fishing in the Rainbow River. The Rainbow, located in west-central Florida, is fed by a second-magnitude spring that pumps more than 450 million gallons per day of fresh, 71-degree water. While strikingly clear compared to Florida's mostly tannin-stained water courses, the Rainbow still suffers from degradation from manmade sources.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MacStone-1500.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4711" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MacStone-1500.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933" /></a> <a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MacStone-1176.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4710" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MacStone-1176.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933" /></a>
Stone's photos undoubtedly will drive home the importance of saving this and other springs.
"Springs are so unique," he said. "They're accessible, but not celebrated like other habitats are. We don't realize that when we fertilize our lawns and run our sprinklers year round, that could have a negative impact on the aquifer."
So he and I spent nearly four hours snorkeling and drifting in the Rainbow, with me carrying the dive flag and he wielding his camera to capture the images that would seize potential conservationists by the heart. He didn't feel like he got them that morning.
"I just keep coming back and chasing the shiny red ball like a Labrador retriever," he said, and headed back to the Rainbow that afternoon.
To learn more about Mac and his book, "Everglades: America's Wetland", please visit <a href="http://www.macstonephoto.com/">http://www.macstonephoto.com</a>. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/shooting-and-saving-swamps-and-springs/){kind=link}
 to double black diamond (most difficult). Instead of a guide clipping your cables and demonstrating each element, you do everything yourself. If you have a problem or a question, just call out to a staffer for advice or --if you're really too scared to swing through the trees--someone will climb up and escort you down.
Even though I stuck to the green and yellow courses during my visit, I found the experience exhilarating and fun. I could understand why a 12-year-old from the neighborhood who the staff calls an unpaid intern visits here twice a week for his three-hour workout.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Treehoppers3-e1492097028812.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4675" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Treehoppers3-e1492097028812.jpg" alt="" width="3264" height="2448" /></a>
After airborne exercise, I headed back to Tarpon Springs-- stopping en route for a little refreshment at the Florida Estate Winery in Land O'Lakes, not far from TreeHoppers. It's a popular waypoint for many wannabe Tarzans and Janes.
For more information about TreeHoppers, visit <a href="http://www.treehoppers.com">www.treehoppers.com</a> or call 813-381-5400.
On the day after my swing through TreeHoppers, I visited a very different kind of park--Key Vista Nature Park in tiny Holiday near Tarpon Springs. This quiet, 100-acre reserve of mostly sand pine uplands is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and Rocky Creek, inviting visitors to fish, swim, hike, and picnic. I walked most of its 1 1/2 miles of trails and climbed the observation tower for a scenic view of the lighthouse at Anclote Key Preserve State Park.
Key Vista is best known for bird watching; with more than 220 documented species, it's a must-stop on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.
Save for a nesting osprey cheeping in the pines, I saw few birds on my afternoon walk, but I did get to eavesdrop on an amorous gopher tortoise trying to get lucky with its partner in the scrub.
For more information on Key Vista Nature Park, call 727-938-2598. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/a-tale-of-two-parks-near-tarpon-springs/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Speed Up Everglades Restoration&body=Borrowing from the immortal lyrics of country music’s Jerry Reed in the theme song of the 1977 film “Smoky and the Bandit”, Everglades restoration “has a long way to go and a short time to get there.”
While the song refers to the urgency of delivering beer cross country, it is far more applicable to the necessity of restoring historic fresh water flows to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay. The stakes — for sport fishing, diving, and the ecosystem as a whole– are enormous.
About 15 years have passed since Florida and the federal government began work to restore historic water flows in terms of amount, timing, and quality across the Florida peninsula from the Glades headwaters just south of Disney World into Lake Okeechobee, and finally into the national park and bay. The multi-billion dollar planning, land acquisition, and construction projects have been mired in bureaucratic problems and arguments over money. Meanwhile, huge quantities of polluted water have been shunted from the Big O east to the St. Lucie Estuary and west through the Caloosahatchee River, killing sea grasses, fish and other creatures while the Glades and Florida Bay remain parched.
In 2014, voters got so sick of the situation that they overwhelmingly adopted a constitutional amendment to set aside a third of taxes on real estate transactions to ensure land could be bought and water stored, filtered and sent south to benefit people and wildlife.
But the Florida legislature spent most of the money on debt service and buying vehicles. And Congress hasn’t funded an effort to speed up work to move water through the central Everglades into Florida Bay. The situation grew worse this summer when an unseasonable drought combined with high salinity and water temperatures killed sea grass, fish and mangroves in the bay. Now, scientists fear the onset of a massive algae bloom that could further decimate this once rich marine life nursery, and they are keeping a close eye out for it.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gators.jpg"><img src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gators.jpg" alt="gators" width="550" height="413" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-120" /></a>
The Everglades Coalition, meeting earlier this month in Coral Gables, found a couple of reasons to be hopeful of better days ahead. A bill being introduced in the Florida legislature this session would set aside at least $200 million for Everglades projects. If lawmakers lack the political will to move ahead, Gov. Rick Scott has said he would set aside $5 billion over 20 years to create badly-needed water storage.
But the thirsty Glades could be running out of time. What’s being billed as the largest water restoration project in the history of the world was initially projected to take about 30 years. Now, experts say, it is barely at the halfway point, and could take up to 50 years. This doesn’t bode well for the 8 million Floridians who depend on the Glades for drinking water, nor the fish and other aquatic creatures whose very existence hangs in the balance.
To learn more about the critical situation in Florida Bay, you can attend a talk by Everglades Foundation ecologist Stephen Davis Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. at the Keys History & Discovery Center at the Islander, a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort in Islamorada. Fee is $25 for non-Discovery Center members and reservations are recommended. Call 305-922-2237 or email info@keysdiscovery.com.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women’s world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/speed-up-everglades-restoration/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Take 10 Lionfish, Get an Extra Lobster During Sport Season&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/lionfish-being-netted_359x479.jpg"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-2791 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/lionfish-being-netted_359x479.jpg?w=225" alt="Lionfish-Being-Netted_359x479" width="225" height="300" /></a>At its June meeting in Sarasota, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a new and exciting opportunity that will encourage divers to remove invasive lionfish by allowing them to take one extra spiny lobster each day during the two-day sport season this summer (July 29-30) that they also harvest 10 lionfish.
In addition, people can take a photo of their lionfish and lobster catch during the two-day season and post it on Facebook.com/LionfishReefRangers to get a “Be the Predator” T-shirt. One lucky photo entrant will also win a lifetime saltwater fishing license via a drawing held shortly after the sport season.
“The FWC operates in a culture of innovation. Opportunities like this are a great way to get divers who are already in the water accustomed to removing lionfish,” said Commissioner Brian Yablonski. “Our hope is that once lobster divers realize how easy it is to remove lionfish, they will continue to do so throughout the regular lobster season and beyond.”
Lionfish are invasive species that have a potential negative impact on Florida’s native wildlife and habitat. With no predators or other mechanisms such as disease or parasites keeping the lionfish population under control in Florida at this time, harvest by divers is the primary means of lionfish removal.
For the 2015 spiny lobster sport season only, divers will be allowed a single spiny lobster over the bag limit per dayfor each day that they also harvest 10 or more lionfish. Lionfish must be kept as proof of harvest while on the water. When off the water, a photo of harvesters with their 10 lionfish must be kept to document eligibility for harvesting an extra lobster. Lionfish must be harvested the same day and prior to taking the additional lobster. All other rules, including no spearfishing zones, apply.
The two-day spiny lobster recreational sport season (also known as mini-season) falls on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July each year before the Aug. 6 opening of the regular season. During this two-day season, the regular bag limit is six spiny lobster in state and federal waters of Biscayne National Park waters and off Monroe County, and 12 spiny lobster elsewhere. There is no bag limit for lionfish; harvesters can take as many as they want.
If the program is successful at encouraging lionfish removal, it could be continued in future years.
For <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&101&&&http://myfwc.com/about/commission/commission-meetings/2015/june/23/agenda/" target="_blank">more information</a>, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings” then the “Agenda.” For information about <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&102&&&http://www.myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lobster/" target="_blank">recreational spiny lobster</a>, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater,” “Recreational” and “Lobster.”
Help the FWC by <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&103&&&http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lionfish/" target="_blank">reporting all lionfish catches</a> and sightings via the Report Florida Lionfish app or at MyFWC.com/Lionfish.
This article appears courtesy of <a href="http://www.guyharveymagazine.com">Guy Harvey Magazine</a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/take-10-lionfish-get-an-extra-lobster-during-sport-season/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Join Us for Sea Turtle Release Saturday at the Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost&body=The public is invited to join the Turtle Hospital for Miley's release back to the wild on Saturday, May 2nd at 10:30 a.m. at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/islamoradafl-keys/islamorada-islander-resort/">The Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost </a>M.M. 82.1 on the Oceanside.
The Turtle Hospital ambulance will arrive at the Islander in Islamorada at 10:30 a.m. and Miley will be released off of the beach promptly at 11:00 a.m. <a href="http://www.turtlehospital.org/patient/miley/">Miley</a> was rescued off of Dove Key in early March where she was found floating and what rescuer's described as "twerking". The rescuer's named her Miley, after Miley Cyrus.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/turtle-release-4.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2717 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/turtle-release-4.jpg?w=660" alt="DCIM100GOPRO" width="660" height="495" /></a>Loggerheads nest on beaches at or near most all Guy Harvey Outpost properties. It seems they know good fishing and diving spots.
Miley is a sub-adult Loggerhead sea turtle. She arrived at the hospital on March 8th following a boat strike. She weighs 117 pounds. Loggerheads are the largest hard shell sea turtles and adults typically weigh between 180 and 440 pound. They can grow to over 1000 pounds. Loggerheads are considered a "Threatened" species and are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Following a treatment course at the <a href="http://www.turtlehospital.org/">Turtle Hospital </a>that included broad spectrum antibiotics, lactulose, beano, vitamins, and a healthy diet of squid and fish, Miley is ready to hit the main stage. Miley is swimming strong, healthy, and no longer "twerking". Bring your friends and help us to give Miley a proper send-off on Saturday!
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-2718 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/gho-turtle-release.jpg" alt="GHO-Turtle-Release" width="612" height="792" />More Information on Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_parent">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com/" target="_parent">www.ghofish.com</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/" target="_parent">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
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