Florida Water Warriors | St. Augustine Spotlight

This blog is part of a series called St. Augustine Spotlight where we highlight what makes our town so great! 

If you have ever wandered along the space coast, down by the everglades, or even off the Florida shore, there is no doubt that you have been a witness to countless beauty in our natural surroundings. From exotic birds, soft white sand, and vast mangroves it is easy to be awed by our nature. 

But this beauty is being majorly threatened! The coast of Florida is seeing an increased amount and severity of hurricanes, shoreline erosion and harmful algae blooms. Only years ago one of these algae blooms killed 200 dolphins off the Florida coast. With the stakes so high, who can be brought in to make the changes that need to be done?

Our little marine biologists! Florida Water Warriors takes kids and families onto our beautiful waters and teaches the importance of taking care of our environment. A new nonprofit, Florida water warriors has already taken hundreds of students onto the water and made a big impact.

What does a tour with Florida Water Warriors look like? When going on an educational trip, students will do wildlife logging, take water samples and test for temperature, ph, salinity, look at water clarity, take a plankton sample to put under the microscope, and more! And the data that they collect really matters! Florida Water Warriors partners,  locally, nationally and internationally, sending data to larger scientific studies. This data is then used to monitor water quality, such as those harmful algae blooms mentioned before. When your family comes out with Florida Water Warriors the work that they do ACTUALLY matters. 

Florida Water Warriors addresses more than the importance of taking care of our planet, it also focuses on reducing the gap in educational inequity. The state of Florida has large gaps when it comes to educational quality between high income areas and low income areas. This nonprofit believes that education is a right, not something to be bought! They offer free community tours for all members of the community, so every family can get an experience on the water. 

We are highlighting this nonprofit because of the work they do to preserve the environment and teach st johns county. Keep up the good work!