Reference Links

The following are references sources we know and use. Here comes the caveat - while we try to link only to sites that share our high standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the content or the privacy practices employed by other sites.

General
Florida's Living Beaches: A Guide for the Curious Beachcomber, by Blair and Dawn Witherington, is a comprehensive field guide written by two people who know and love Florida’s beaches. Blair is a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Dawn is a graphic artist and scientific illustrator. This is a must-have book for anybody that wants to learn more than just “beach basics.”

The Nature of Florida's Beaches Including Sea Beans, Laughing Gulls and Mermaids' Purses, by Cathie Katz. This charming, whimsical book with its meticulous illustrations is one of a series written and illustrated by our dearly departed friend. It’s a treasure, even if you never go to a beach. Find it at http://www.amazon.com/ or Space Coast bookstores.

Sea Turtles of Florida’s Space Coast
http://www.cccturtle.org/ The Caribbean Conservation Corporation and Sea Turtle Survival League site provides a wealth of information about sea turtles. Don’t miss the satellite-tracked turtles feature.

The Nature of Florida's Sea Turtles is a digital photo album produced by your Florida Beach Basic folks. This is a CD format that displays on your PC (it does not play on a Mac). The sea turtle segment on this DVD is a mini-version of the CD material. If you love sea turtles, you’ll love this CD. http://www.stillnature.com/

http://www.seaturtlespacecoast.org/ The Sea Turtle Preservation Society of Brevard County is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to educate people about marine turtles.

Sea Turtles: An Extraordinary Natural History of Some Uncommon Sea Turtles, by Blair Witherington, is an in-depth study of the world’s sea turtles, beautifully written and illustrated

Sea-beans of Florida’s Space Coast
http://www.seabean.com/ A website providing a portal to images, data, information, and contacts regarding the identification, distribution and uses for sea-beans - those true beans and other seeds and drift fruits that float with ocean currents and strand on distant beaches. The website was started by Cathie Katz in 1998 and continues due to the maintenance, support and contributions of many volunteers.

Sea-Beans from the Tropics: A Collector's Guide to Sea-Beans and Other Tropical Drift on Atlantic Shores, by Edward L. Perry and John V. Dennis. Nobody knows more about sea-beans than these two. When John died in 2002, the Washington Post obituary described him as “a biologist, ornithologist and botanist who wrote handbooks for homeowners on how to attract birds to their gardens and guidebooks for beachcombers on the seedlings and plants that float in with the tides.” John was a charter member of the Sea-Bean Symposium and a treasured friend. Ed Perry carries on the tradition, including sea-bean float duration testing. http://www.krieger-publishing.com/

The World Guide to Tropical Drift Seeds and Fruits, by C. R. Gunn and John V. Dennis. This is considered the “bible” of sea-bean identification. The 1976 edition of this book is out of print, but it was reprinted in 1999. http://www.krieger-publishing.com/

Beach Birds of Florida’s Space Coast
http://www.nbbd.com/fly If you’re a “birder,” you’ll particularly like this site about the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival held every year in late January.

The Nature of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is another digital photo album produced by Florida Beach Basic folks. This is a CD format that displays on your PC (it does not play on a Mac). This CD features Jim Angy’s stunning photos of many of the birds people come from all over the world to see. http://www.stillnature.com/

Seashells of Florida’s Space Coast
Gift From the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is a beautiful book as meaningful today as it was when it was written in 1955. If the sea and the beach are magical to you, you’ll appreciate this gentle book by the wife of Charles Lindbergh.

Dr. R. Tucker Abbott authored/co-authored over 30 books on malacology. Review them at http://www.amazon.com/ or the local bookstore or library and decide just how much detail you need!

Beach Plants and Other Stuff of Florida’s Space Coast
Brevard is one of the few places in the world where fossilized ghost crabs are found. The link below will display a scholarly paper published in the Journal of Crustacean Biology entitled Occurrence of the Atlantic Ghost Crab Ocypode quadrata from the Upper Pleistocene to Holocene Anastasia Formation of Florida, by R. W. Portell, R. L. Turner, and our Sea-Bean Symposium friend, John. Beerensson. http://www.seabean.com/symposium/2004/JCrustBiol_23(3)712-722.pdf

Flotsam
Flotsametrics and the Floating World, by friend Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano. "How one man's obsession with runaway sneakers and rubberr ducks revolutionized ocean science." Curt's new book (March 2009) offers some interesting insights into Curt's life and shares some of his vast knowledge about the ocean and stuff floating around in it.

The Nature of Florida's Ocean Life: Including Coral Reefs, Gulf Stream, Sargasso Sea, and Sunken Ships, by Cathie Katz. Another of Cathie’s books, with her unique perspective on nature and life.

http://beachcombersalert.org/ Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer’s website is recommended for anybody interested in flotsam. You can also subscribe to his newsletter, Beachcomber’s Alert, through this website. Curt asks that you report interesting flotsam to him at CurtisEbbesmeyer@comcast.net

http://www.pbs.org/search/search_results.html?q=ebbesmeyer
There are several instances of Dr. Ebbesmeyer’s expertise on the PBS website. One of our favorites is the Wired Science, Flotsam Found video.

The Space Coast
http://www.fws.gov/merrittisland This website for the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge talks about the visitor information center and also gives a link to the shuttle launch schedule (remember, shuttle launches determine if the refuge is open).

http://www.nasa.gov/ You can spend hours wandering around NASA’s website. This site has some of the most amazing images you will ever see.

http://nbbd.com/godo/cns/ This is a great site to learn about Canaveral National Seashore, Playalinda Beach, and the Birding and Wildlife Festival.

http://www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/ A very interesting site about rip currents – explanations, animations, success stories. If you do anything other than wade in the ocean up to your ankles and then hop out, this is a good site for you to review.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/sebastianinlet/ Sebastian Inlet State Park is on A1A at the far south end of Brevard County. Fishing, camping, museums, classes, the beautiful beach – this is a great place to visit.