Citizen Science in a Kayak

Rookery Bay NERR is hosting a Community Science Program, utilizing volunteers/environmental enthusiasts to help monitor a local restoration effort BY KAYAK in a location you likely haven’t paddled before.

Marco Shores Lake, located along Mainsail Dr. and near the Marco airport, will undergo hydrological restoration to improve The current box culvert (a structured tunnel under the road connecting the lake to a local bay) will be redesigned to have adjustable flow between the lake and the bay. This will allow for large fish, currently unable to leave the lake due to the current culvert's design, to pass freely between water bodies. This will additionally increase the lake and the area around its resilience to extreme high tide and storm events by raising the walls to minimize the impact from storm surge and extreme tide events.

No prior scientific experience needed, we will teach you all you need to know! In the training you will learn how we are surveying and logging the data and receive more details on the restoration process. Although volunteers are never asked to enter the water body, participants must be comfortable on the water and must have some ability to swim, and must wear a life jacket. This is strictly a precautionary requirement.

This will be an ongoing study with many opportunities for both seasonal people and year-rounders.

On May 8th we are hosting a training for the Marco Shores Lake site from 9AM-3PM at Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center [300 Tower Rd, Naples, Fl 34113] in the auditorium.

More questions? Reach out to me or contact Rachel Schneberger directly.

Here is the link to register for the training: https://bit.ly/msfishing

For more information, contact Rachel Schneberger [Community Monitoring Specialist] :
Email: Rachel.Schneberger@FloridaDEP.gov
Phone: 239-530-5956