Conservation

This is becoming the deadliest year since 2016. More than one out of every 10 known panthers have been killed this year — with most trying to cross highways.

The recently announced protection of over 400 acres in Santa Rosa County is helping to provide more buffer for NAS Whiting Field and create more nature-based outdoor recreation opportunities.

Dr. Jamie Rotenberg will talk about his research at the Sarasota Audubon Society's Meet and Greet on March 19 at Celery Fields.

Although federal wildlife officials protected areas where bonneted bats currently live, conservation advocates say protections need to go further to include locations the bats will eventually migrate to due to sea-level rise.

The death of a sperm whale off the Venice coast this morning, while difficult even for marine experts who deal with such things, could be a learning experience for them. "Every time you see a whale in distress, like we did yesterday, it's, it's always really hard. It's really hard. And so all we can do is utilize the opportunity to learn as much about them as we can," Laura Engleby, chief of NOAA's Marine Mammal branch, said Monday morning standing on the beach near the whale's carcass. "And then that helps us understand some of the things that we can do to ultimately recover and help them. And so, in that way, that's how we have to think about it. "

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday approved spending $19 million to conserve rural land used for cattle, while also expanding a list of agricultural properties the state could help shield from residential or commercial development.

Federal wildlife officials will consider whether manatees should be classified as an endangered species, pointing to issues such as a loss of seagrass that serves as a key food source for the animals.

Singer-songwriter and environmental activist Katie Dineen discusses using your voice and art to advocate for the environment, connecting and building community online and in-person through her organization 850Eco, and why she will never mow her lawn.

Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge Director of Animal Care, Michelle Pettis, is this week's guest on the EcoHeroes: Defeating Doomsday-ism podcast.

Environmental and indigenous rights activist Chief Dan "Sky Horse" Helms of the Santa Rosa Creek Muskogee (Mvskoke) deep dives into native tradition and culture