anderson - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T05:29:00Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/andersonAlong the Coast: Sea turtle nesting season off to robust starthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-sea-turtle-nesting-season-off-to-robust-start2020-07-01T16:00:19.000Z2020-07-01T16:00:19.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960958280,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960958280,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960958280?profile=original" /></a></strong><em>Turtle nest monitor Jim Jolley passes four marked nests on the beach in Ocean Ridge north of Beachway Drive. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Larry Keller</strong> <br /> <br />South Florida beach closures because of the coronavirus pandemic may have annoyed some people, but if sea turtles could talk, they likely wouldn’t complain.<br /> The turtles’ nesting season along South County beaches is off to a strong start, and false crawls — incidents where turtles come ashore at night to lay their eggs but turn back without doing so — are down.<br /> “So far this has been a very busy and successful season,” said David Anderson, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center’s sea turtle conservation coordinator. He oversees monitoring of sea turtle activity over 5 miles of Boca Raton beach.<br /> False crawls can occur when turtles are disturbed by things like bonfires, flashlights, cellphone lights and beach furniture. With beaches closed for several weeks, those impediments all but vanished.<br />This season began with a success ratio of up to six nests to every four false crawls. That is a significant improvement from previous years, where the ratio was the reverse. Anderson said the ratio has dropped lately, with false crawls now exceeding the number of nests since people have been back on the beach.<br /> It has been a similar story in Delray Beach. Last year, there were 290 nests and 538 false crawls, said Joseph Scarola, senior scientist at Ecological Associates Inc., which monitors nests on the 3-mile beach for the city. That’s a ratio of 65% to 35%, false crawls to nests. As of mid-June, Delray Beach recorded 170 nests and 180 false crawls — a ratio similar to that of Boca Raton at the time.</p>
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<p><strong>Impact of closings uncertain</strong><br />Nobody can say for sure if closed beaches resulted in the reduction in false crawls or the robust number of nests so far.<br /> Jackie Kingston, president and founder of Sea Turtle Adventures, is skeptical. Her organization monitors a 3-mile expanse of beaches in Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes and part of Ocean Ridge and has noticed fewer false crawls this year. <br /> But, Kingston said, turtles “nest where they want to nest.”<br /> In Highland Beach, there have been about 50% more nests than last year at this time, and fewer false crawls, said Barbara James, the marine turtle permit holder there. Since the beach has no public access, she said she couldn’t attribute this to fewer people being on the beach.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960958854,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960958854,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960958854?profile=original" /></a><em>Most stretches of South County beaches are experiencing higher than normal nesting success, as evidenced by these markers. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p>Sea turtle nesting season is March 1 to Oct. 31, although small numbers of nests are dug before and beyond those dates. The first nest discovered this year in Boca Raton was on Feb. 23. It was a leatherback.<br /> That was less than a week before a nourishment project began with beach bulldozers widening the northern 1.5 miles of Boca Raton’s beach from 50 to 250 feet. One early nest was moved to an unaffected area. The first loggerhead in Boca Raton was spotted on April 21, just after the beach nourishment project was finished.<br /> “It went really fast, was really successful,” Anderson said.<br /> Green turtles could be most affected by the wider beach. “Greens are notorious for nesting in the dunes,” Anderson said. Now “it’s a long crawl, but it doesn’t seem to matter to turtles.” <br /> Green turtles have alternating high and low seasons. Last year, a record 393 nests were spotted, but there were only 19 the year before that. This season, 35 had already turned up by June 29. They usually continue to come ashore through September.</p>
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<p><strong>All local species are ‘listed’</strong><br /> Five sea turtle species nest on Florida beaches. All are listed as either endangered or threatened.<br /> Only loggerheads, greens and leatherbacks typically deposit eggs in South County, and very few of the latter, which are the largest of the species, sometimes weighing 1,500 pounds or more. <br /> By late June only 13 nests of leatherbacks had been discovered this year on Boca Raton’s beach. They usually finish nesting before June. Still, it’s no cause for concern. Only 18 leatherback nests were found in each of the past two years.<br /> Boca Raton’s modest numbers were more than offset elsewhere. Delray Beach recorded 21 leatherback nests, surpassing last year’s record of 15, Scarola said.<br /> And 20 leatherback nests were found on the beaches that have been surveyed by Kingston’s group for 21 years. That too was a record, topping the previous high of 16 in 2009, she said.<br /> Leatherback nests are more common to the north. There were 397 nests for all of Palm Beach County, and 380 in Martin County in 2019, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. That was 70% of all leatherback nests statewide.<br /> There have been more nests overall so far this year on the beaches Kingston monitors. They include about 400 loggerhead nests, well above the total for the same time last year, she said. <br /> “I think it will be a pretty good year,” Kingston said. <br /> It’s been a banner year for loggerhead nests in Boca Raton too. There were 495 by June 29, putting that beach on track for a strong season, Anderson said.</p></div>Philanthrophy: Coco Gauff to headline charity tennis event in Bocahttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/philanthrophy-coco-gauff-to-headline-charity-tennis-event-in-boca2019-12-03T22:31:31.000Z2019-12-03T22:31:31.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960906276,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960906276,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960906276?profile=original" /></a><em>Delray Beach tennis star Coco Gauff shocked the world and herself with a Wimbledon victory over Venus Williams. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Brian Biggane</strong></p>
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<p>Local tennis fans hoping to catch Delray Beach sensation Coco Gauff in action will get their chance when Kevin Anderson and First Serve present the Courtside Cause at 3 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Boca Grove Golf and Tennis Club in Boca Raton.</p>
<p><br /> Anderson, who reached a career-high No. 5 in the ATP rankings in July 2018, and Gauff will be joined on court by twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, the most successful doubles duo in the history of American tennis. Stand-up comedian Michael Kosta, a fixture on The Daily Show, will serve as emcee.</p>
<p><br /> Gauff, 15, was the biggest story in the tennis world this year. She defeated Venus Williams in her first main-draw match at Wimbledon before advancing to the fourth round, then reached the third round of the U.S. Open two months later.</p>
<p><br /> Gauff recently won the Linz Open in Austria, making her the youngest winner on the WTA Tour since 2004.</p>
<p><br /> Anderson, a Gulf Stream resident whose wife, Kelsey, recently gave birth to their first child, a girl named Keira, was a finalist in both the 2017 U.S. Open and 2018 Wimbledon. He has battled injuries of late and underwent knee surgery in September. He still compiled an 11-4 record in 2019 that included a victory last January at an ATP event in Pune, India.</p>
<p><br /> Proceeds from the event go to Dezzy’s Second Chance Animal Shelter and the Ocean Conservancy.</p>
<p><br /> Tickets are $300 per person, or $5,000 for a group of eight that includes reserved seats, dinner and champagne. For more information visit <a href="http://www.courtsidecause.org">www.courtsidecause.org</a>.</p></div>Along the Coast: Delray athletes winning international acclaimhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-delray-athletes-winning-international-acclaim2019-07-30T20:00:00.000Z2019-07-30T20:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877269,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877269,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960877269?profile=original" /></a><em>Delray Beach’s Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff, 15, reacts to one of her Wimbledon match victories. She reached the round of 16. Photo provided <strong>AELTC/Florian Eisele</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Brian Biggane</strong></p>
<p>Fifteen-year-old Cori “Coco” Gauff of Delray Beach made international headlines when she became the youngest woman in the modern era to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon — and reached the fourth round, becoming the youngest to achieve that feat since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.</p>
<p>Gauff wasn't the only southern Palm Beach County athlete to enjoy remarkable success this summer. Professional golfer Gary Woodland, who moved to coastal Delray Beach three years ago, also made a splash when he earned the first major victory of his career at the U.S. Open in mid-June at Pebble Beach. Woodland, a member at Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach, had only two top-10 finishes in 30 previous tries at majors, a sixth at the 2018 PGA Championship and an eighth at the 2019 PGA.</p>
<p>And Gulf Stream resident Kevin Anderson, who beat Roger Federer in five sets on his way to a runner-up finish at Wimbledon last year, won his first two matches before falling in straight sets to Argentina’s Guido Pella in July.</p>
<p>While most of the pre-tournament hype centered on Serena Williams’ pursuit of her 24th major victory, Gauff arguably became a bigger story right out of the gate when she defeated her childhood idol, Venus Williams, in straight sets in the first round at the All England Club.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877668,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877668,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960877668?profile=original" /></a><em>Fifteen-year-old Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff of Delray Beach reacts to her surprise victory over Venus Williams in the first round at Wimbledon. Gauff had already won three qualifying matches and went on to win six in all before losing in the fourth round. <strong>AELTC/Florian Eisele</strong></em></p>
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<p>A former No. 1-ranked junior who earned her first WTA-level match victory at the Miami Open this past spring, Gauff impressed not only with her play on the court but with her display of maturity and perspective off it.</p>
<p>“There was definitely a lot of buzz among the players when it came to Coco Gauff’s story,” Anderson said. “I remember hearing when she became the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon and I felt a little proud that she lives in Delray Beach, too. Not only was she playing great and beating incredible players, but she was also handling the spotlight really well. I know we’re all looking to see what she does next and I hope she continues to do well.”</p>
<p>“My goal was to play my best,” Gauff said after defeating Williams. “My dream was to win. That’s what happened. I think people kind of limit themselves too much. Once you actually get your goal, then it’s like, ‘What do you do now?’ I like to shoot really high, so I always have many goals along the road, but that way you have the ultimate goal.”</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877292,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877292,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960877292?profile=original" /></a><em>Coco’s parents, Corey and Candi Gauff, cheer on their daughter last month at the All England Club. <strong>AELTC/Florian Eisel</strong></em><strong>e</strong></p>
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<p>The daughter of Corey Gauff, who played basketball at Georgia State, and the former Candi Odom, who was a track star at both Atlantic High School and Florida State, Coco moved with her parents to Delray Beach at age 7, one year after taking up the sport, to concentrate on tennis. She has become a frequent visitor to the Delray Beach Tennis Center for training.</p>
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<p>In 2014, at 10 years, 4 months, Coco became the youngest winner of the USTA Clay Court 12-and-under nationals. She won the girls singles championship at the 2018 French Open, her top result as a junior.</p>
<p>Mark Baron, tournament director of the ATP Delray Beach Open, said he was out to lunch at City Oyster on Atlantic Avenue one day during Wimbledon when four people approached him to talk about Gauff and what she was doing for the city’s tennis reputation. <br /> “Tennis was pretty big before the splash,” Baron said, “and this has made it even more. We’ve had a lot to do with building junior tennis, in Delray, in the United States, and even the world. It is exciting.”</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877691,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877691,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960877691?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960877691,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"></a><em>Family, friends and fans pack Paradise Sports Lounge in Delray Beach to cheer for Coco as they watch her fourth-round match against Simona Halep, the No. 7 seed and eventual champion. From left are Coco’s grandfather Eddie Odom Jr., aunt Joi Grant, who has her arm around Coco’s grandmother Yvonne Odom, and LaShonda Wright. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p>The Delray Tennis Center played host to the U.S. Boys 16 and 18 Clay Court Championships in July. Baron predicted some of those competitors will pop up again at the U.S. Open starting in late August in New York.</p>
<p>Woodland’s victory Woodland, meanwhile, had his major breakthrough two years after finishing second at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens in 2017.</p>
<p>The winner of only three events in his previous 10 years on the PGA Tour, the 35-year-old Kansas native held off West Palm Beach native Brooks Koepka by three shots at Pebble Beach, shooting 2-under 69 in the final round on one of the world’s iconic golf courses.</p>
<p>Woodland had made a name for himself earlier in the year when his video at the Phoenix Open with Amy Bockerstette, the first golfer with Down syndrome to receive a college athletic scholarship, went viral.</p>
<p>Woodland turned cheerleader when Bockerstette made an 8-foot par putt on the par-3 16th hole as part of pre-tournament activities; the video of that pairing has become the most-watched in the history of the PGA Tour.</p>
<p>Two days after his U.S. Open win, the two appeared together on NBC’s “Today” show.</p>
<p>While a lengthy layoff due to an elbow injury hurt Anderson’s chances at Wimbledon, he made an impact in another way. The president of the ATP Players Council, Anderson made an environmental statement by getting 4,500 plastic wrapping bags banned from the event.</p></div>