ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
After Hurricane Ian, our environment at the sea bottom was left in disarray, but we can see it recovering six months later. One famous coral reef off the coast of Fort Myers Beach, 240 Ledge, is an exemplar of that recovery. The reef lies 24 miles offshore and 60 feet down. In videos from 2019, you can see its beauty: 240 Ledge was rich in soft and hard coral and flourishing with fish. It was a diver’s paradise. Cole Tillman, a graduate student at The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University, knows that firsthand. He’s taken more than 30 dives near 240 Ledge. But these underwater communities provide more than nice spots to explore. “If you think of, like, a desert and you have a patch of water, everything is going to congregate around that patch of water, so it’s kinda similar to that in the Gulf of Mexico,” Tillman said. “That’s great for replenishing the fisheries’ stock, and it’s also great for anyone that enjoys… just looking at the fish or coming out here and fishing.” The reefs are as essential to us as they are to the fish. “It’s not something that in general we think about because we’re so far removed from these habitats, but they get influenced just like the habitats we see every day,” Tillman said. Tillman took a video two months before Ian showing a bright reef with a healthy assortment of coral. One can see the ledge that gave the reef the name 240 Ledge. After Ian, it was filled in by the churning seafloor. The fish became sparse and the bright-colored coral was buried in the muck. Six months later, underwater, Tillman sees signs of relief. “It’s definitely growing back, which is nice to see,” Tillman said. “Definitely slowly, but each time we go out we see a few more things starting to emerge back up. Some sponge cover is starting to come back.” Fellow diver Ben Rikon, an undergraduate research assistant with the Benthic Ecology Lab, also notes the recovery of marine life, fish and coral alike. “There’s tons of fish: hogfish, grunts, spadefish… tons of fish,” Rikon said. “Now there’s some giant sea plumes and giant barrel sponges, hard corals like knobby star coral, some stony coral.” Tillman says it’s nowhere near what it was before the storm, but it will get there. “It’s definitely a case-by-case basis, but in similar habitats that are hard-bottom, they found that after heavy disturbances like this, whether it’s heavy wave action or storm disturbances, it can be up to 10 years before they come back to what they were before,” Tillman said. Six months is a small time frame in the grand scheme of things. But both divers are pleased with what they’ve seen so far and will continue to document 240 Ledge’s recovery. Invasive fish have since moved out of the reef, too, and native fish are coming back to take their rightful place in the ecosystem.