July 2019
Sign up today for the Inaugural MRC Charity Golf Tournament!
This tournament held at the beautiful Aquarina Beach and County Club is sure to be a great day out on the golf course. Registration is $85 per golfer or $320 per foursome and includes 18 holes of golf, a cart, and lunch following the tournament. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Proceeds from the event will benefit MRC's efforts to save the lagoon through education, restoration and citizen science For more details or to register, click the button below.

Help us save the Indian River Lagoon one tee off at a time!
Mangroves Matter! Celebrate International Mangrove Day
at the Lagoon House!
Join us on Saturday, July 20th to enjoy a day of lagoon activities at this family event that serves up delicious food, live music, a rain barrel workshop, and mangrove planting. Learn how you can help restore our lagoon with mangroves, adopt & grow mangroves from home, and more. For more event details as well as registration options, please click below. We hope to see you there!
Beach Nesting Species of the Indian River Lagoon
August Brown Bag Lunch
August 6, 2019
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Join us for our August Brown Bag to learn how ecologically important our sandy shorelines are to many Indian River Lagoon (IRL) species. These bare, sandy shorelines are in low supply, and host many more ecological functions than meet the naked eye. Seabirds, shorebirds, diamondback terrapins ( Malaclemys terrapin tequesta ), and Atlantic horseshoe crabs ( Limulus polyphemus ) seek unobstructed sandy and shell hash shorelines for nesting.
LagoonWatch Monitors Meet for Annual QA Session
Our dedicated LagoonWatch volunteer monitors will be meeting for their annual Quality Assurance refresher later this month. There will be two sessions held to accommodate everyone's busy schedules: Saturday, July 27th from 9:30 - 11:30 am and an alternate date of Tuesday evening, July 30th 5:30-7:30 pm. The monitors will run through their regular weekly testing procedures on water samples of unknown (to them!) salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen. This will also be a time for everyone to meet and compare testing experiences and give feedback to MRC staff.
North Atlantic Right Whale Update
Ted Moorhead Lagoon House
Wednesday, July 31st 2019
6pm-7pm
The month of June shook the right whale community with six North Atlantic right whale deaths discovered in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada.  Four of the six whales were females; a big loss to the breeding population. Two of those females were just reaching sexual maturity and had never given birth. One was a reproductively active female that had eight calves. The other was Clipper, the whale that entered Sebastian Inlet with her calf in 2016. The small population of about 400 right whales cannot continue to experience these catastrophic losses. MRC's Julie Albert will give a presentation at the Lagoon House on Wed., July 31st at 6:00 p.m. to update the public on why right whales are dying and what is being done about it. Please join us!
Don't forget about the fertilizer ordinance!
We are over a month into the Fertilizer Ban and in full swing of the rainy season! That means JUST SAY NO to lawn fertilizer, and remember these key fertilizing tips for the rest of the year:
  1. Do not apply Phosphorus (P) unless a soil test confirms it is needed.
  2. Do not apply ANY Nitrogen (N) to your lawn between June 1st and September 30th.
  3. The rest of the year, be sure your fertilizer has at least 50% slow release Nitrogen (N).
  4. Create a "no fertilizer" buffer area setback from the water. Plant it with mangroves and other native plants!

For a refresher on these regulations, check out these videos:


Submit your photos for the 2020 IRL Calendar
The IRL National Estuary Program has begun collecting photos for it's annual IRL Photo Contest! They are encouraging you to submit your best Lagoon photos. The winners of the contest will be included in the 2020 IRL Calendar. Submit your photos online at www.onelagoon.org by July 31st!
Free NOAA Webinar:
Mapping the Effects of Long-term Hydrologic Stress, Sea-level Rise, and Hurricane Irma on Coastal Habitats in Southwest Florida

Thursday, July 18th
3pm-4pm
Log on for this free NOAA webinar that will examine the acute effects of Hurricane Irma on the coastal habitats in Southwest Florida. Habitats that were already under chronic stress from human factors as well as sea level rise. This webinar will go in depth using advanced satellite imagery to show you how mangrove habitat and structure changed in the time preceding and following the major storm event. Implications of this study can be applied to the entire state of Florida as this year's hurricane season is upon us.

For more information on this webinar, as well as others offered by NOAA, click here !
Meet our Common Gallinule Family
Meet the new family residing in the MRC pond! A nesting pair of Common Gallinules ( Gallinula galeata ) and their two chicks were first spotted by MRC staff gazing out the kitchen window while heating up their lunches. The Common Gallinule is a medium sized marsh bird that can easily be identified by their bright red bill and forehead shield, not to mention their large yellow legs and toes. Keep an eye out for these guys on your next visit to the Lagoon House!
Upcoming Events
August 6th: August Brown Bag
September 7th: Mangrove Workshop - 9:30am at the Lagoon House
September 13th: Volunteer Appreciation Party - 7:30pm at the Lagoon House (Potluck style)
September 21st: Litter Control Workshop - 9:30am at the Lagoon House
Visit us at www.SaveTheIRL.org