Gordon Gilbert stands between the trunks of a gumbo limbo tree at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, which he helped found in 1984 in Boca Raton. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Steve Plunkett
In the next several weeks, Gordon J. Gilbert, the
gumbo limbo nature center (78)
ABOVE: An orange-barred sulphur butterfly drinks nectar from a firebush. BELOW: Strangler figs line the path of the Ashley Trail. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley
It’s easy to find the Ashley Trail from the parking l
Caitlin Bovery, sea turtle rehabilitation assistant coordinator, records a video of Gumbo Limbo senior aquarist Keith Herman
and manager Leanne Welch as they dump plastic bottles into the center’s near-shore reef aquarium.
The bottles, 70 pounds’ wor
A least tern sits on eggs on the beach in Boca Raton.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission workers and Gumbo Limbo staff
make signs for a perimeter fence to deter beachgoers from walking on the nest.
The dappled color of the eggs is a go
Tuana Yazici (right), a Saint Andrew’s Upper School student, made a presentation to more than 50 kindergartners at Saint Andrew’s. She spoke about protecting sea turtles from plastic waste and explained how sea turtles are at great risk of being harm
Five-oh splashes in the surf at Red Reef Park before Caitlin Bovery (left in blue shirt) repositioned
the recovered sea turtle deeper in the water so it could swim away. Bovery said juvenile turtles are not used
to moving on sand. A boat propeller ma
Locally produced balm sweetens
sea turtles’ recovery at Gumbo Limbo
Caitlin Bovery, sea turtle rehabilitation assistant coordinator, rubs dark, raw honey on Blitzen,
an ill adult loggerhead turtle, at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.
The honey speeds heal
Ben Hicks uses his photos to raise awareness of sea turtles.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
A photo by Hicks showing a green sea turtle coming to the surface to breathe.
By Rich Pollack
Ben Hicks knows when sea turtles don’t mind him swimming besid
Under the branches of a trio of Gumbo Limbo trees, a family takes advantage of the recently reopened boardwalk.
The project cost $630,810, paid for by the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District. The boardwalk
closed in February 2015 when engineer
By Steve Plunkett
The long-awaited construction of Gumbo Limbo Nature Center’s boardwalk loop may begin by the middle of May.
The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District awarded a contract for $581,680 to low-bidder Close Construction LLC of
Whitney Crowder and David Anderson check on Bruce’s wound. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Sallie James
A critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle that nearly became a shark’s lunch is the newest star at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, where he
By Steve Plunkett
Disabled people will be able to enjoy the boardwalk at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center when it reopens next spring.
The boardwalk, which has been closed for repairs since February, will be getting a ramp to make the structure compli
By Margie Plunkett
Boca Raton counted 1,041 turtle nests along its five miles of beach as nesting season nears its close, bouncing back from 949 last year. But researchers saw an unusually high number of unhatched eggs.
“Our hatch success i
By Steve Plunkett
After nearly four years, it’s time to talk about the future of Ocean Strand again.
“Sometime this fiscal year we need to have that discussion,” Commissioner Robert Rollins told fellow commissioners at the Greater Boca Raton Be
Boardwalk repairs at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center will take longer than expected, though no one knows yet how much longer.
A team from consultant Miller Legg, which is handling the $1.75 million project, did a quick review of the site in mid-
By Steve Plunkett
The pipes that bring saltwater from the ocean to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center’s fish viewing tanks need $2 million of repairs — and fast.
“Those poor fish — you just want to breathe for them. You want to give CPR because they’re
When sea turtles hatch in the dark, they make their way to the ocean
like these three little loggerheads.
File Photo
A cooler with instructions for leaving hatchlings
sits near the front door of the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal
Related story: ‘Free flow’ is focus of airport board
By Rich Pollack
It took a little under two hours for the Boca Raton City Council and the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Parks District to resolve several lingering issues during a joint meeting
The boardwalk loop at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, which the city shut down in February after being warned it was near collapse, will remain closed until the end of the year.
Boca Raton officials are working to bid out the project; they expect c
Paul Homer, of Boca Raton, leads a nature walk during Sea Turtle Day at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center
on Feb. 28. The event featured a critter corner, craft activities, aquarium feedings, nature walks and a food truck area.
Photos by Madeline Gray/The
