Animals of the Everglades

      I was not able to post my blog on Friday due to the fact that I was actually in the greater Everglades ecosystem. There is barely any Wi-Fi there, I just got back Monday night, and it was my sisters birthday yesterday (and I was extremely sore). So yeah, I'm doing this today. This weekend was probably one of the most important and influential weekends of my adolescent life. This weekend, was my first ever payed expedition for conservation and research!     Let me catch all of you up on how we got to this position. There is a hockey team called the Florida Panthers, named after the endangered subspecies of the puma with the same name. It one of the rarest mammals of North America and the rarest cat in the world. Recently, a family friend was hired to be the new general manager for the Panthers. Due to this, his wife has started multiple community projects in Miami and all of southern Florida. These range from teaching hockey to underprivileged children to breast cancer awarene

         One of the aspects that makes the glades so beautiful is that it is not just a terrestrial ecosystem, but an aquatic one as well, surrounded by open seas, shallows waters, and coral reefs. The reefs are extremely important to the protection of the Everglades. When hurricanes form, the coral reefs act as a "storm barrier", protecting us from the initial, harsher impact of the storm. This is why we must study its inhabitants to check upon its health.     When I think of sharks, one strange group always comes to mind, the hammerheads. They seem like a reconstruction of a fossil that makes us think, "it didn't look like that" such as Opabinia (side note those were ancient aquatic invertebrates with a trunk and five pultruding eyes). However, it very much indeed looks like that. I will be talking about the most common species of hammerhead in Florida, the scalloped hammerhead. These animals are known for actually for living and migrating in large schools c

       The Everglade’s tropical climate makes it the best place in the USA for herping, which is searching for reptiles and amphibians. With a total of 198 native and non-native reptiles and amphibians, it’s a herpetologist paradise. Reptiles are very fragile when it comes to their environment, for they are cold blooded. This gives us a sign across the board for herps, if more herp deaths occur then normal, the climate has gotten too cold.                 The sea turtle is the most well-known ocean dwelling reptile on the planet. We awe at their majesties and they are associated with peace. There are six species of sea turtle that reside off the glades, but we will be covering specifically the most common one, the loggerhead. Sea turtles are also one of the most widely known example of changes to our everyday lives to save a group of species. From certain countries banning plastic bags to some restaurants using biodegradable straws to fines for having lights on during turtle season.

  Video                 If the Everglades is abundant in one animal, it is birds. It has without a doubt the most diverse bird population in the continental US. Since Florida is subtropical, it is where the birds of the north, like eagles, meet the birds of the south, like frigates. This makes the bird population a mix between central and Northern East coast birds and island and Amazonian birds. Birds are found in almost every ecosystem in Florida, from the owls of the Cyprus swamps to the skimmers of the coast. This provides us with a constant animal to judge the health of multiple ecosystems with.                 Out of all the birds residing in Florida, one always stands out amongst the crowd, the brown pelican. It is an evolutionary masterpiece. Every part of its body is designed for diving for prey. Despite the birds being globally threatened, it has a very strong population in Florida, making it a common sight to beachgoers. This is why this population must always be monitored