Education

A giant red sun peeks over the oat-covered dunes, casting long shadows and illuminating a distinctive track in the sand, unbroken from dune toe to surf. The track was made in the midnight hour by a massive sea turtle on a mission.

Expectant mamas like her have been visiting SoWal beaches since prehistoric times, returning each year to the same spot where they hatched. Repeating the cycle by building a nest and burying dozens of eggs in the warm, incubating sands.

The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA) of Northwest Florida State College announces the summer session of its award winning eco-tourism initiative, Discover Roads Less Traveled: Eco-Adventures of Walton County. Voted Best Outdoor Adventure in the 2015 Perfect in South Walton- Best of the Best list, the summer tour line-up falls nothing short. Don’t miss the chance to get outdoors this summer and explore!

The Gulf World Marine Institute stranding team recently released a fully rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtle into the Gulf of Mexico in Panama City Beach. The stranded sea turtle was rescued in March of this year and was found to be emaciated and lethargic. After a few months of rehabilitation at Gulf World Marine Institute the sea turtle was medically cleared and then released back into the Gulf on June 24, 2015, along with a few human friends standing by for support.

Gulf Place is the perfect place for artists of all ages! The Artists at Gulf Place and 30A Learning Academy will host art classes, interactive workshops and adventure camps to keep kids engaged and active this summer from June 1 throughout the summer.
 

The Friends of Camp Helen State Park and Lake Powell Community Alliance will show a film about coastal dune lakes at 6:30 p.m. on June 19, 2015, at the Park’s Lodge.  The film “Coastal Dune Lakes: Jewels of Florida’s Emerald Coast” by Elam Stoltzfus and the Live Oak Production

Group focuses on the dune lakes of Northwest Florida, a project for which Stoltzfus spent the last year and a half.  The event is free and open to the public.  State Park entrance fees are waived.  Elam Stoltzfus will be present to discuss the film.

Feeding and petting a fever of stingrays, swimming with dolphins and getting smooched by a sea lion is all in a day’s work at Gulf World Marine Park. Panama City Beach’s longstanding educational facility pulls double duty as the Area Coordinator for the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Network. And when Gulf World’s team of experts isn’t out rescuing dolphins and sea turtles, they’re educating kids and kids-at-heart about the fascinating animals with which we share our planet.

The 2015 Seaside Writers Conference is slated for May 11-17 at the Seaside Academic Village, and offers the opportunity for beginning, intermediate, and advanced writers to celebrate writing, to network with other writers, and to hone their craft.      

Elam Stoltzfus and the Live Oak Production Group has wrapped up production of the documentary film: Coastal Dune Lakes: Jewels of Florida’s Emerald Coast. The company has several free, public screenings in the area and a full slate of showings on PBS.

Come out to E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center in Freeport on March 28 at 1:00 p.m. for a sneak preview of the upcoming documentary, Coastal Dune Lakes: Jewels of Florida's Emerald Coast by Elam Stoltzfus. The event is free and open to the public.