Barrier Islands

Bats at sunset are a good thing if mosquitos aren;t your thing

Sanibel group helps island bat colonies recover from hurricanes

Tom Bayles

Bats keep the mosquito population down. But they also are an important sentinel species as their health and population trends provide an early warning system for broader environmental threats, including humans.

Climate change and warming sea is making flooding worse, and in many cases reshaping coastal Florida's barrier islands

Environment

University of Florida coastal experts to discuss using nature to lessen storm damage

Tom Bayles

Landscape and architecture experts from the University of Florida will be on Sanibel Island next month to discuss how to lessen tropical storm damage on barrier islands by using what nature offers and climate change, stronger storms, and the loss of mangroves and sand dunes can make flooding worse — and how residents can turn things around to lessen the impacts.

SWFL to Lose Barrier Islands to Rising Seas Before Next Century

Andrea Perdomo

Big Hickory Island is one of many barrier islands that protect Southwest Florida's shores when storms batter the peninsula.Florida Gulf Coast University…