The Turtle and the Tree

Sea turtles nesting in Florida had to contend with an invasive tree on their beaches, the Australian pine. The pine was taking over beaches and deterring turtles from nesting. Here's a cute little restoration success story from NOAA:

http://oceantoday.noaa.gov/turtleandthetree/welcome.html

Animal sightings in the dry season

Greetings from Panama! It's the dry season here, so sloth sightings have been rare...they like new green leaves and there are not a ton of those out right now. Instead of sloths, I bring you the following:

 A river shrimp from the genus Macrobrachium, found in a black mangrove forest:

A satiny parrot snake, found alongside the road:

And a baby hawksbill sea turtle who washed up in a storm and is being kept at the Smithsonian station until he gets bigger. His name is Milagro, or Miracle.