Boating

Tomasko says seagrass in Little Sarasota Bay declined by about 40% with the pass closed, but didn't disappear. About 600 acres of seagrass remains, covering as much as one third of the area.

Several stations used by boaters, divers, researchers and meteorologists as a critical tool to understand sea surface conditions are becoming derelict and decommissioned, leaving those who rely on them, in the dark.

Miami Beach is tired of a community of live-aboard boaters anchored just offshore. It's adopted policies limiting their access, including making it illegal to tie up dinghies at a city boat launch.

Life jackets worn at all times would lessen possible tragedy, officials say. Alcohol or drug use played a role in 23% of fatalities last year, which is up 10% from 2022.

Boating safety is in the spotlight following last Saturday’s death of a teenage girl who was wake boarding with friends off Key Biscayne.

U.S. Coast Guard St. Petersburg is seeking information on a missing boat with four male occupants.

The report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation on the 2022 boating season shows fewer accidents at sea, but more deaths.

A new law that requires boat renters to carry insurance could put the industry in jeopardy.

Beginning next year, boaters will need to know rules to protect marine life at risk of injury from watercraft. On average, more than 100 manatees are killed by boaters in Florida every year.

With a tropical system entering into the Gulf and uncertainty over landfall or weather effects in SWFL, boaters should be diligent about making preparations.

For a century, the glass bottom boat tours at Wakulla Springs celebrated Florida’s seemingly endless depths of clean, clear water. With the water too murky to see through the glass, the boats are no longer running regularly — a symbol of the pollution plaguing the state’s freshwater and the cascade of consequences to come.

A program through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is aimed at quickly removing privately owned boats that have been abandoned or wrecked.