Click on the video above to watch a short documentary about the importance of Friends organizations to the vitality of the National Parks. | | A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT | | |
Sometimes I’m asked, “What does Friends of Canaveral do?” And, “What is the purpose of a Friends group in the first place?”
In a word, it’s about stewardship -- and stewardship has many faces. It can come in the form of volunteerism, including meeting and guiding the public at National Park Service sites, participating in public outreach at municipal events on behalf of parks, engaging in citizen participation in the preservation of trails and waterbodies, or simply to help fill in funding gaps for park resources.
Friends of Canaveral has learned a lot from the National Park Friends Alliance, a network of nonprofit partners representing more than 200 national park sites nationwide. They have shared their stories and experiences. They have taught us that Friends of Canaveral is not alone – that we are one of many Friends groups across our expansive nation trying to uphold, protect and promote the national parks in our own communities.
And when I think of my own experiences with national parks as a child growing up in the Carolinas, I recall numerous family vacations to national monuments in Washington, D.C., Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Gettysburg National Military Park, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway and to the Kitty Hawk/ Wright Brothers National Memorial.
These family trips were educational, historical, experiential and brimming with natural beauty, like the sweeping mountains and valleys of the Smoky Mountains and the sparkling vastness of the Chesapeake Bay. Some stops were bucket-list destinations, like seeing the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, where manned flight successfully took wing. Some sites were poignant, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and some places simply created lasting memories for our family while visiting public lands shared simultaneously by so many other families just like ours.
National parks help us make emotional connections and give us stories and photos to bring home. And that generational connection matures with time, making us feel a responsibility to protect these special places so that the generations ahead can experience the same a-ha moments or the same sweeping waves of intrigue and awe.
It’s good to know that Friends groups like ours are scattered throughout this nation attempting to elicit community support for our national parks, monuments and seashores. Most of all, it’s good to see solidarity of purposeful action by Friends groups doing everything possible to inform and engage the communities surrounding the gates of our nation’s most precious places.
Lisa D. Mickey
President, Friends of Canaveral
Lisa D. Mickey is a Florida Master Naturalist / Florida Land Steward
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CONSERVATION CORNER
Sea Turtle Season has Begun
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A rare glimpse of a Kemps ridley sea turtle in the Apollo District of the Seashore
Photo credit - Josh Bailey, National Park Service
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Off to the Races! 2026 Sea Turtle Nesting Season Gets Underway
By Jimi Sadle
Biologist, Canaveral National Seashore
Sea turtle nesting season is off to a solid start this year with leatherback nests already in both the Apollo and Playalinda Districts at Canaveral National Seashore.
In mid-April, a Kemps ridley turtle nested in the Apollo District, marking what is believed to be the first of this species detected in Florida in 2026! The first loggerhead nested in Playalinda on April 22 and we now have nests in both districts.
It remains to be seen how high nest totals will be during the 2026 nest season. Green sea turtle nest numbers vary the most from year to year.
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ANNUAL MEETING
April 29, 2026
| | Guest speaker, Annie Morgan Roddenberry, a biological scientist from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Photo credit - Lisa Martin | | Friends of Canaveral held its Annual Members’ Meeting at The Hub in New Smyrna Beach on April 29. The community showed solid support for the organization and interest in speaker Annie Morgan Roddenberry, a biological scientist with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who discussed a variety of conservation and restoration projects taking place within Canaveral National Seashore. | | |
ACTIVITIES AT THE SEASHORE
May 2026
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APOLLO BEACH VISITORS CENTER HOURS
Open Daily * 9 am - 5 pm
For a full list of activities offered this month, click on the buttons below.
| | Photo credit National Park Service | | |
Canaveral National Seashore Turtle Watch Reservations Open May 15
If you have never seen a mother sea turtle lay eggs on the beach, get ready to register for this year’s annual Ranger-Guided Turtle Watch Tours at Canaveral National Seashore.
Weather permitting, the tours are offered during the months of June and July on Friday and Saturday nights (except July 3 & 4, and July 31). Admission is $25 for adults (age 16 and up) and $10 for children (age 8-15). Each tour is limited to groups of 40 participants, age 8 and over.
Reservations will open on May 15 by visiting OUR WEBSITE. A maximum of six (6) participants are allowed per reservation.
The programs will be presented in both the Apollo and Playalinda Seashore Districts and will run from 8 p.m. until midnight.
These tours are not ADA Compliant, as participants must be able to walk a half mile on soft sand to reach nesting turtles. Also, there are no guarantees in nature and refunds for the tours are only issued when a tour is cancelled due to weather or unsafe beach conditions. Friends of Canaveral will be administrating registration for this year’s Turtle Watch activity.
If you purchased a Sea Turtle level membership with Friends of Canaveral, a single Turtle Watch reservation is included with your membership. Discount codes will be emailed this month.
For questions, call the Apollo Visitor Center at 386-428-3384.
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VOLUNTEER VOICES
Beth Manring
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Beth Manring at the Apollo Beach Visitor’s Center
Photo credit Lisa D. Mickey
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Beth Manring lived and worked in Columbus, Ohio before moving to Florida to retire and volunteer at Canaveral National Seashore. Get to know Beth and learn about her duties as a park volunteer.
As a volunteer at Canaveral National Seashore, do you mostly work in the visitor center?
I work in the Apollo Beach Visitor’s Center once a week and I also help with the turtle watches and community outreach programs, such as Turtle Day in Ponce Inlet and Indigenous People's Day. If we have education groups coming in from schools or home schools, I will help with that. One year, I helped paint Canaveral’s float for the New Smyrna Beach Christmas Parade. I pretty much do whatever needs to be done.
| | We had great representation at the ShORE Symposium on April 9 at the Brannon Center. Thank you to our amazing volunteers, as well as park staff, who participated in the event. It was fantastic exposure for Friends of Canaveral! | | Southeast Volusia Audubon had their last bird-watching session for the season starting from our very own Eldora State House on April 14. Thank you to former Friends of Canaveral board member Dick Tucker, who opened the house early for the group's tour. Refreshments were provided by current board member Marti Woods. During the 2-hour birding event led by Robert Merideth, 14 people identified 24 bird species. Audubon loves it when the bird sightings outnumber the bird watchers! | | |
MDC’s May Public Lecture Explores History of Yaupon Tea
Yaupon trees are native to Central Florida and the leaves of this tree have been used to make tea for many years. Fortunately for modern tea enthusiasts, yaupon tea is a commercially produced product making this historic beverage available to all.
Shelly Steele, president and co-founder of Rise Yaupon, will deliver the final Discovery Lecture Series spring presentation called, “History of Yaupon Tea and Rise Yaupon” on Thursday, May 7. The presentation will begin at 6 p.m., at Marine Discovery Center.
Steele’s entrepreneurship journey started in 2020, when she began leading yaupon tea production. Previously, she worked as a financial services consultant for Ernst & Young and as an executive at Charles Schwab. Steele grew up in New Smyrna Beach and is now back in her hometown leading Rise Yaupon, whose production facility is located in Edgewater.
Yaupon Holly is a caffeinated, Florida-native plant that was once the center of civilization for the Timucua and numerous other indigenous tribes. Worshiped as a gift from the god of purity (Yahola), Steele notes that “yaupon faced a sordid history filled with mistakes, slander and prejudice.” She will discuss that history in her presentation.
Guests attending the presentation will learn about this ancient tea and the modern resurgence of America's only natural caffeine source with the leader of a local, women-owned company. Guests also will be able to taste yaupon tea at the presentation.
MDC’s Discovery Lecture Series is free, but donations to the center are always appreciated. Pre-registration is requested. Early arrival is encouraged, as seating is limited.
Marine Discovery Center is located off the North Causeway at 520 Barracuda Blvd., in New Smyrna Beach.
For more information about the lecture, contact the Marine Discovery Center at 386-428-4828.
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DID YOU KNOW?
It's Alligator Mating Season
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Alligators’ mating season unfolds over several months, beginning with courtship in early April. During this time, males bellow, slap the water, and display to attract females. Mating typically occurs in May and June, when sexually mature adults—generally around 7 feet in length (with some females maturing closer to 6 feet)—pair up.
Following mating, females shift their focus to nesting. In late June or early July, they build mound nests from soil, vegetation, and debris, laying an average of 32 to 46 eggs. The eggs incubate for about 63 to 68 days, with hatching taking place from mid-August through early September, marking the end of the breeding season cycle.
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Friends of Canaveral support the National Park Service, and now, more than ever, your membership is vital in helping our mission to preserve, protect, and interpret the 57,000 acres of pristine shoreline, dunes, and wilderness that comprise Canaveral National Seashore.
Protect what you love! Renew your membership today.
BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
- Membership card that entitles you to 15% discount at the CANA gift shop
- Subscription to the monthly e-Newsletter
- Invitation to our annual meeting
- Volunteer opportunities
- Gifts included with all membership levels
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REPORT VIOLATIONS
If you suspect a fish, wildlife, boating, or environmental law violation, report it to the FWC's Wildlife Alert Reward Program:
888-404-FWCC (3922).
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