News

Diane Hextall and Suzie Hiles walk zone 4 as representatives of the Highland Beach turtle program. On mornings that they do not find any turtle nests from the previous night, they collect rubbish and assess beach conditions. Hextall has worked for

The first sea turtle of the summer has nested — a huge, awe-inspiring leatherback. Our volunteers are out again at dawn looking for the V-shaped trails in the sand that show the arrival of our ancient, reptile visitors.
These leathery ladies are the

March brings five minutes of spring to subtropical South Florida.
It also heralds eight months of sea turtle nesting season, which usually draws more than 20,000 female loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp’s ridley and hawksbill turtles to Palm Beach County

By Rich Pollack

With sea turtle nesting season now under way, Highland Beach is moving forward with steps to keep nesting females and their hatchlings in the dark.
This month, members of the town’s Planning Board will review a proposed ordinance desi

The drama at the Delray Beach commission meeting was expected to come from an audit report on the Old School Square Center for the Arts. But another number came up — deeply disturbing and having nothing to do with the beloved and troubled nonprofit.

Vaccines, cabin fever offer hope for gloomy tourism forecast

The Renzi family shops for souvenirs at Beach Planet in Delray Beach. (l-r) Joe; Stacy; Mia, 8; and Ari,10, live in Chicago but came to Florida for a week to celebrate Thanksgiving with fri

A late green sea turtle laid this nest Sept. 24 on the beach in Gulf Stream. The eggs were expected to hatch in about 60 days from then. Sea turtle season officially ends Oct. 31 and begins again March 1.
Photo courtesy of Sea Turtle Adventures

By L

By Rich Pollack

Should a hurricane threaten this year, residents could have to choose between leaving their homes to avoid water and wind or remaining home to avoid contracting a deadly and highly contagious virus.

The decision, emergency managers

OCEAN RIDGE: Bulldozers work in the surf at the north end of Palm Beach County’s Hammock Park as sand is pumped from the dredge through the floating pipe and then to shore, where a sand and water slurry is spread to widen the beach. Photos by Jerry L

A hatchling green turtle makes its way into the surf. Green turtles typically nest every other year. Photo provided

By Rich Pollack

At first glance, the dramatic drop in the number of sea turtle nests along the Palm Beach County coastline during the

Now that Easter has passed, winter visitors are beginning their journeys back to northern homes. As they prepare to leave, other visitors are getting ready to come. These visitors are just off shore and in an amorous mood. Soon, sea turtles will be c

Charlie Merk, 10, plays pinball at Silverball Museum in Delray Beach, which has arcade games from three generations. Dana (left), Charlie and Amy Merk were visiting Charlie’s grandfather Justin Kelleher (rear).  The Merks are from Hingham, Mass., nea

A marine turtle specialist extracts eggs from the nest in South Beach Park. The eggs were relocated to Red Reef Park so a beach renourishment project would not disturb them. Photos courtesy of city of Boca Raton

By Steve Plunkett

    A leatherback se

The media often catch a bad rap for giving excess attention to all things outrageous. How else do you explain the Kardashians and the current fascination with every utterance of the 2016 presidential candidates?
Blame it on the 24/7 news cycle. Blame

FAU urban planning student Adam Chapman measures 8 to 10 inches of water on Southeast First Street in Delray Beach.

Lake Boca Raton crested over the sea wall and breached the Por La Mar neighborhood in Boca Raton.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal St

I sprayed and soaked and bleached, but nothing would remove the big, green blob from the front of my favorite white, rip-stop cotton Bermuda shorts. Wouldn’t you know it? Right when the temperatures are inching upward and the snowbirds are gone. This

The vultures are spiraling, the tides are high and the auto-transport trucks are blocking traffic on A1A. This can only mean one thing: “Season” has begun. Welcome back, snowbirds!

Thanks to you, dear readers, the signs of an improved economy are fil

Sometimes in the depths of summer it’s difficult to leave the chilled cocoon of the house and drag myself into the office. But as we began to put together this August edition, I was re-energized by the dedicated, ongoing support of our readers, adver

School is still in session, but the auto transport trucks have been loading up for weeks and the clubs have been busy with their end-of-season gatherings.  
Summer must be just around the corner.
    You may think those of us who stay here during the s

A Leatherback sea turtle returns to the ocean after depositing her eggs at first light on the beach in Gulf Stream on April 6.
Photo by Joan Lorne, Sea Turtle Monitor