SUNCOAST WATERKEEPER, INC.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA

Who We Are ), that serves the area, has adopted the Suncoast moniker and for the last several years has referred to its viewing area as the Suncoast. The station is based in Sarasota, which is the largest and most influential of the area's cities and the home to Suncoast Waterkeeper. The Clean Water Act and other legislation have brought about significant improvements. By 2010, measures of sea grass coverage, water clarity, and biodiversity had improved to levels last seen in the 1950s. The Suncoast’s shallow waters, sea grass beds, mud flats, and surrounding mangrove-dominated wetlands provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. More than 200 species of fish are found in the waters of the bays, along with bottlenose dolphins and manatees, plus many types of marine invertebrates including oysters, scallops, clams, shrimp and crab. From May 1 through October 31, the area’s beaches provide nesting grounds for sea turtles including the threatened loggerhead sea turtle and the endangered green sea turtle. More than two-dozen species of birds, including brown pelicans, several types of heron and egret, Roseate spoonbills, cormorants, and laughing gulls make their year-round home along the shores and mangrove islands of Suncoast, with several other migratory species joining them in the winter. Threatened species such as the snowy plover, Wilson’s plover, least tern, and black skimmer nest on our beaches from February through August. The cooler months are also when warm-water outfalls from power plants bordering Tampa Bay draw one out of every six West Indian manatees, an endangered species, to the area. MISSION : The mission of Suncoast Waterkeeper is to protect and restore the Florida Suncoast’s waterways through enforcement, fieldwork, advocacy, and environmental education for the benefit of the communities that rely upon these precious coastal resources. Suncoast Waterkeeper