Florida Disaster Preparedness Holiday ends Friday The Florida Disaster Preparedness Tax Holiday ends Friday.
FORT MYERS BEACH Estero Island Beach Club passes first hurdle One of Fort Myers Beach’s proposed new looks passed its first hurdle Tuesday.
NAPLES Naples doctor returns to medicine after losing lungs to COVID The COVID pandemic took a huge toll on all of us, but it was especially challenging for healthcare workers who were on the front lines.
NEW YORK Federal judge rejects Donald Trump’s request to intervene in wake of hush money conviction A federal judge on Tuesday swiftly rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president’s latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing.
EAST NAPLES Crews have spent a week searching for 64-year-old veteran Crews have spent nearly one week searching for a 64-year-old veteran.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Council approves free parking in downtown Fort Myers after 5 PM and on weekends Councilmembers have approved free on-street parking in downtown Fort Myers after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends.
FGCU jumps 55 spots in Forbes ranking Florida Gulf Coast University now ranks 113th on Forbes’ list of America’s Top Public Colleges, up 55 spots from its ranking last year.
FEMA extends direct housing program for 6 months FEMA has extended its direct housing program for Hurricane Ian survivors.
SANIBEL New Sanibel traffic survey findings released A new survey is providing a better idea of how difficult it is to get on and off of Sanibel.
Week 2 Band Performances Check out some of the halftime performances from Week 2 of high school football in Southwest Florida.
Drive-thru coffee franchise to open in Port Charlotte Two couples teamed up to open the first of several Ellianos Coffee Co. drive-thrus in Southwest Florida. The franchise at 19175 Peachland Blvd. in Port Charlotte is set to open Sept. 4.
PORT CHARLOTTE Man dies after he was found covered in burns in Port Charlotte Dillard’s parking lot Deputies and fire marshals are investigating the death of a man who was found covered head to toe in burns in the Port Charlotte Town Center Dillard’s parking lot.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers experienced the wettest summer on record Fort Myers just experienced the wettest summer on record since data began in 1902. The city had an impressive 43.87 inches of rain.
FORT MYERS BEACH Town of Fort Myers Beach has been awarded over $13M The Town of Fort Myers Beach has been awarded more than $13 million for recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian.
Miracle Moment: 5-year-old fighting cancer Five-year-old Ryker Privett is being treated for Leukemia, becoming the spotlight for the first pitch at the “The 14-U Perfect Game Select Festival.”
Florida Disaster Preparedness Holiday ends Friday The Florida Disaster Preparedness Tax Holiday ends Friday.
FORT MYERS BEACH Estero Island Beach Club passes first hurdle One of Fort Myers Beach’s proposed new looks passed its first hurdle Tuesday.
NAPLES Naples doctor returns to medicine after losing lungs to COVID The COVID pandemic took a huge toll on all of us, but it was especially challenging for healthcare workers who were on the front lines.
NEW YORK Federal judge rejects Donald Trump’s request to intervene in wake of hush money conviction A federal judge on Tuesday swiftly rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president’s latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing.
EAST NAPLES Crews have spent a week searching for 64-year-old veteran Crews have spent nearly one week searching for a 64-year-old veteran.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Council approves free parking in downtown Fort Myers after 5 PM and on weekends Councilmembers have approved free on-street parking in downtown Fort Myers after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends.
FGCU jumps 55 spots in Forbes ranking Florida Gulf Coast University now ranks 113th on Forbes’ list of America’s Top Public Colleges, up 55 spots from its ranking last year.
FEMA extends direct housing program for 6 months FEMA has extended its direct housing program for Hurricane Ian survivors.
SANIBEL New Sanibel traffic survey findings released A new survey is providing a better idea of how difficult it is to get on and off of Sanibel.
Week 2 Band Performances Check out some of the halftime performances from Week 2 of high school football in Southwest Florida.
Drive-thru coffee franchise to open in Port Charlotte Two couples teamed up to open the first of several Ellianos Coffee Co. drive-thrus in Southwest Florida. The franchise at 19175 Peachland Blvd. in Port Charlotte is set to open Sept. 4.
PORT CHARLOTTE Man dies after he was found covered in burns in Port Charlotte Dillard’s parking lot Deputies and fire marshals are investigating the death of a man who was found covered head to toe in burns in the Port Charlotte Town Center Dillard’s parking lot.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers experienced the wettest summer on record Fort Myers just experienced the wettest summer on record since data began in 1902. The city had an impressive 43.87 inches of rain.
FORT MYERS BEACH Town of Fort Myers Beach has been awarded over $13M The Town of Fort Myers Beach has been awarded more than $13 million for recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian.
Miracle Moment: 5-year-old fighting cancer Five-year-old Ryker Privett is being treated for Leukemia, becoming the spotlight for the first pitch at the “The 14-U Perfect Game Select Festival.”
An endangered smalltooth sawfish thrashing above shallow water. CREDIT: WINK News Sawfish mortalities and bizarre fish behavior have been reported in the Florida Keys and other parts of Florida as far back as Fall 2023. Scientists aren’t sure exactly what is causing the event but are beginning to piece together the difficult puzzle. From fish swimming in an endless loop to endangered smalltooth sawfish flailing ashore and thrashing their rostrum. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission updated the Florida Keys Abnormal Fish Behavior Event statistics on Wednesday. And the numbers may lead you to believe the tide may be turning in favor of the fish. “Almost basically 10% of the population died within a couple of months. That’s just not sustainable,” said Mike Parsons the director of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Water School. That’s how the sawfish mortality and abnormal fish behavior event started. Numbers began dropping off since FWC began weekly updating reported sawfish mortalities. Smalltooth sawfish necropsy. CREDIT: FWC Adam Brame, the recovery coordinator for the Southeast regional office of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA FISHERIES) told WINK News one reason that may be. “This time of the year makes these migrations up the up the coast,” said Brame. “Even if there was something in the water that was causing this, they’re no longer there in the same density that they were earlier the year.” RELATED: Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue RELATED: Unsolved: sawfish deaths rise during Florida Keys mystery Even though the trend seems to be swinging in favor of the fish, Brame did note that the total mortality count may not tell the whole story. “At this point, I think there’s 54 confirmed mortalities of sawfish, we expect that number to be quite a bit higher,” said Brame. Parsons explained how the event may be associated with a harmful algae bloom. “It seems to be related to toxins that are produced by benthic micro algae,” said Parsons. “We saw a lot of them they were elevated over the wintertime, and now their numbers are starting to decrease.” Smalltooth Sawfish rescued from Florida Keys by Mote. CREDIT: Mote Marine Laboratory Since FWC began tracking the abnormal event at the end of January, 54 sawfish mortalities have been reported. The good news is that that number has only grown by eight in the last two months. That is a considerable drop off to the 26 mortalities from the two months prior. “Sawfish that have died to this point are the adults or young juveniles that are actively involved in the reproduction of sawfish,” said Brame. “And so when you’re removing those from the population, what kind of impact does that have on the species’ ability to recover?” Despite the bad news, the good news is that reported fish kills are also dropping. 508 fish kill reports have been made since the end of January, but only ten fish kills have been reported in the last month. That makes the last four weeks the fewest one-month fish kills reported to date. Examining an endangered sawfish. CREDIT: FWC Florida Fish and Wildlife sent WINK News a statement related to the fish kill and sawfish mortalities. You can see that below. “FWC and partners continue to investigate the cause of spinning fish and sawfish mortalities in the Keys. This event was first identified in the Fall of 2023, with the first sawfish mortality in December of 2023. As of July 17th, 54 sawfish have been found deceased. A number of Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) species endemic to the area have been identified in water samples and their associated toxins have been detected in water samples and fish tissues, but more work is needed to determine if this is the cause of the unusual behavior. Elevated levels of the HAB, Gambierdiscus spp., were observed in water and benthic samples early on in the response by FWC and Florida Gulf Coast University, but research is ongoing.” Click here to learn more about smalltooth sawfish from FWC. Click here to see FWC’s smalltooth sawfish mortalities listed for each week. Click here to learn more about sawfish from NOAA Fisheries.