It began December 6 when a boat captain discovered a pelican on Summerland Key that was all but sure to starve. Someone had cut two six-inch lacerations in the bird, which exposed the creature’s trachea and prevented it from swallowing food. Since that gruesome find, at least ten other birds…
Mark Quartiano has drawn many comparisons to famous fishermen throughout history. In August 1991, Life magazine called him a modern Captain Ahab. Exactly 20 years later, author Juliet Eilperin coined the name Captain Quint (from Jaws) for him. But Quartiano didn’t make waves this weekend over a shark or a…
While Burmese pythons have gotten all the attention, the Everglades now faces a threat from another foreign reptile menace: Argentine tegu lizards. When scientists first detected their presence in the swamp back in 2008, they thought they had a good chance to eradicate them, but it’s too late now. Much…
At the end of a leafy, dead-end street in Coconut Grove, past actor Christian Slater’s new digs and the sprawling grounds of Hollywood director David Frankel’s home, sit mounds of rubble. Just a few days ago, this was one of Miami’s grandest, most envied private homes: the five-acre, 26,000-square-foot du…
If you look hard enough you’ll be able to find just about anything for sale on Miami’s black market, apparently, including monkeys. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced today that they’ve cracked down on an illegal business that was breeding and selling monkeys, and seized 28 primates from…
The Florida brickell bush and the Carter’s small-flowered flax are two flowering plants that grow nowhere else in the world except for Miami-Dade County. Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the plants deserve special protection under the Endangered Species Act and that the 2,700 acres where they…
So, as you might have heard, Miami Beach is probably going to be underwater someday — possibly within your lifetime. Of course, as giant portion the Netherlands knows, just because you’re living below sea level that doesn’t mean you have to necessarily be living underwater. So it’s smart thinking that…
Have you noticed there haven’t been any hurricanes this year? It’s hard to miss a palm tree floating down the middle of Collins Avenue, but there hasn’t even been a ‘cane that’s petered out in the middle of the Atlantic. Are you now realizing an alarming absence of those awesome…
Flaunt state law by illegally spraying pesticide that destroys millions of bees, threatens a local ecosystem, and costs local beekeepers a quarter of a million bucks? Better think twice! If Florida regulators catch you in the act, you’ll have to cough up, uh, about $1,500. That laughable penalty has environmentalists…
According to Phys.org the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District is evaluating how realistic it could be to use drones aka “unmanned aerial vehicles” in the battle against Mosquitoes. Hell yeah, science! The battery powered war machines would weight less than two pounds and be equipped with tiny infrared cameras, apparently…
You would think that if there’s one thing South Florida has too much of its sand. You end up with at least half a pound of it in your car after every trip to the beach, and yet the great sand shortage of 2013 is upon is. Seriously, we’re running…
The Perseid meteor shower ended last night, a fact that probably escaped most citizens of Miami. As city dwellers, we have to contend with the omnipresence of electricity, an invention that is anathema to star gazing. In order to take advantage of the once-a-year phenomenon, Riptide had to travel far…
Veterinarians at SeaWorld Orlando have successfully performed the first-ever shark C-Section, the theme park announced yesterday. The three-pound whitetip reef pups are the latest additions to the 30 sharks at Discovery Cove, the pricey sister park of SeaWorld that allows patrons to cuddle with bottleneck dolphins while Instagramming a variety…
Yesterday’s rainfall was not normal. In fact, Miami Beach got so much rain yesterday that it shattered three separate records: the most rainfall for July 18th in recorded weather history, the most rainfall for any single day in July ever, and helped push the month to the wettest July on…
The thunder rumbled over South Beach around 5 a.m. this morning, just before the torrential downpour. Less than 20 minutes later, more than a foot of water had surged up and over the lower lying parts of SoBe. Hundreds of residents who didn’t leap out of bed to move their…
Tropical Storm Chantal was pronounced dead today at approximately 4:40 p.m. after dissipating in the Caribbean Sea about 260 miles south of Cuba. So all you relatively newly arrived folk who haven’t gone through this hundreds of times before can all stop freaking out. Though, Chantal’s remnants could still make…
Good news, Miami: Tropical Storm Chantal has already lost some pop, with winds decreasing to 45 mph overnight, and is likely to lose more as Haiti’s mountainous landscape tears up the storm today. The bad news is that the storm looks more likely than ever to ruin this weekend in…
You might want to think twice before forcing your local bank teller to cash last week’s paycheck in all singles to hoard in your emergency bunker. Forecasters are still unsure if Tropical Storm Chantal will make it to Florida. If it does arrive, tentatively expect to have your Hypnotiq-fueled hurricane…
There’s a pissed-off lady named Chantal getting set to ruin your weekend Wynwood Art Walk plans, Miami. No, no, not that Tootsie’s dancer you had a beef with — it’s Tropical Storm Chantal, and it looks to be headed in South Florida’s direction just in time for the weekend. Chantal…
A man walks deep into the Florida woods, afraid, anxious, and armed with a video camera. He’s wearing two sting suits, a vinyl jacket, and leather gloves reinforced with duct tape to ensure that millions of yellow jackets don’t crawl up his pant legs or onto his arms, potentially killing…
Five years ago, the only athletic activity on Virginia Key was getting buzzed at Jimbo’s and bowling bocci balls with the beach bums. Ever since the island’s 82-acre park reopened in 2008, however, Miami cyclists have turned the mounds of dredge detritus into a mountain biker’s Mecca. Miles of trails…
The Heat may be the best basketball team in the nation, but when it comes to this city’s public parks, Miami performs more like the miserable Marlins. According to Parkscore rankings released yesterday, Miami is one of the worst major cities in the country when it comes to providing green…
