Seasons of the Sea Author:Jay Humphreys Stand on any stretch of Florida coastline and what do you see? A few terns and gulls circling overhead, sandpipers rushing the outgoing tide to see what meals it uncovered, perhaps a dolphin leaping and playing. But the most interesting events happen beyond our sight. A fascinating but largely ignored world thrives within the coastal waters not ... more »more than a few yards or, at most, a few miles offshore in the vast Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. As the seasons change on land, so do they in the waters that surround Florida. Seasons of the Sea delves into what creatures come and go in each of the state's six main regionsnortheast, southeast, the Keys, southwest, the Big Bend, and the Panhandle. In the summer in northeast Florida, for example, sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs, and human activity is curtailed to protect the hatchlings when they make their run to the sea. In the Panhandle's summer heat, cannonball jellyfish abound. Accompanying the text are artist Jim Wilson's charming illustrations showing, among other creatures, stingrays, tarpon, manatees, sharks, whales, crabs, and oysters in their natural habitat. The Florida Sea Grant College Program is part of the National Sea Grant College Program, a partnership among federal, state, and local governments, universities, research institutes, industry, and the public. Created as a result of the environmental awareness movement of the 1960s, the National Sea Grant College Program disseminates the results of scientific research to local coastal communities through its Marine Extension Service and its marine agents.« less