ECO-Boat cruise & Navy UDT-Seal Museum tour

Harbor Branch scientist gets lagoon monitoring grant

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute's network of Indian River Lagoon water quality monitoring stations is about to expand and generate more data than ever before – thanks to a grant of more than $865,000 from the institute's fundraising foundation. According to Dr. Dennis Hanisak, a research professor and director of the Indian River Lagoon Observatory, the grant will fund construction and maintenance of three new LOBO stations in Brevard County to augment the 10 already dotting the lagoon between the St. Lucie Estuary and Sebastian Inlet. The stations produce real-time info on factors that influence lagoon health, such as salinity, temperature, depth, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. The grant will also pay for new sensors at existing stations that, for the first ...

Environmental groups continue lagoon cleanup and education efforts

Even as much of Florida and the world have come to pretty much of a standstill due to COVID-19, local environmental and conservation organizations are still working to clean up the troubled Indian River Lagoon and educate school children and other members of the public about lagoon issues – all while maintaining social distancing. Ocean Research and Conservation Association is conducting its usual suite of environmental monitoring programs – maintaining its Kilroy network of water quality stations around the lagoon and doing other field work. ORCA chief scientist Dr. Edie Widder said it’s not difficult for the organization’s 13 fulltime employees to maintain a safe distance from each other in the field. ORCA has postponed all its citizen science training ...

Sheriff’s Office mourns captain who died in his sleep

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Deputies mourn the loss of one of their own who passed away in his sleep. Indian River County Sheriff's Captain Ryan Haffield, 44, died overnight Tuesday, according to the Sheriff's Office. His address was not immediately available. "He was a great man," Sheriff Deryl Loar said. "He was preparing for the IRONMAN Triathlon." The official cause of death has not been released, deputies said.  Haffield leaves behind a wife and four kids, deputies said. He has worked for the Sheriff's Office for more than 18 years, most recently in the corrections division. "Thank you for your service, Captain Haffield," the Sheriff's Office stated in a Facebook post. "You will be missed." Haffield is the second law enforcement ...