Florida's Living Beaches A Guide for the Curious Beachcomber

About this book

The first edition of Florida's Living Beaches (2007) was widely praised. Now, the second edition of this supremely comprehensive guide has even more to satisfy the curious beachcomber, including expanded content and additional accounts with more than 1800 full-color photographs, maps, and illustrations.

It heralds the living things and metaphorical life along the state's 700 miles of sandy beaches. The expanded second edition now identifies and explains over 1400 curiosities, with lavishly illustrated accounts organized into Beach Features, Beach Animals, Beach Plants, Beach Minerals, and Hand of Man.

Contents

- Acknowledgments and Photo Credits
- Florida's Top Fifty Living Beaches
- Introduction
- Guide Organization
- Beach Features
      - What Is a Beach Feature?
      - Beach Anatomy
      - Beach Profiles
      - Beach Lifespans
      - Dunes
      - Salt Pruning
      - Swales and Dune Lakes
      - Ridges, Runnels, and Lagoons
      - Wrack Lines
      - Beach Cusps and Scarps
      - Wind Ripples, Plant Arcs, and Harrow Marks
      - Current Ripples
      - Beach Noises
      - Antidunes, Crescent Marks, and Hard and Mushy Sand
      - Dark Sands and Shell Hash
      - Bubble Holes, Blisters, Pits, and Volcanoes
      - Sea Foam
      - Swash and Backwash
      - Retreating Beaches
      - Sand Erosion
      - Sand Accretion
      - Sandbars
      - Rock Formations and Nearshore Reefs
      - Tides
      - Waves and Surf
      - Nearshore Currents
      - Offshore Currents
      - Beach Weather
      - Tropical Cyclones and Nor'easters
      - Red Tide
      - Water Color
      - Inlets and Passes
      - Barrier Islands
      - Capes, Spits, and Tidal Deltas
      - Beaches at Night
      - Sealevel Rise
- Beach Animals
      - What Are Beach Animals?
      - Swash Meiofauna
      - Forams
      - Sponges
      - Jellylike Animals
      - Floating Hydralike Animals
      - Hydroids
      - Anemones
      - Sea Pansies
      - Soft Corals
      - Stony Corals
      - Shell Anatomy
      - Gastropods
      - Bivalves
      - Scaphopods
      - Cephalopods
      - Itty-Bitty Shells
      - Shell Color Variation, and Mollusk Bits and Pieces
      - Shell Wars (Shell Bioerosion)
      - How Shells Come to Be
      - Bryozoans
      - Worms
      - Crustaceans
      - Horseshoe Crab
      - Insects
      - Echinoderms
      - Tunicates
      - Fishes
      - Reptiles
      - Birds
      - Land Mammals
      - Marine Mammals
      - Vertebrate Parts
- Beach Plants
      - What Are Beach Plants?
      - Dune Plants--Grasses
      - Dune Plants--Yuccas and Palms
      - Dune Plants--Other Monocots
      - Dune Plants--Herbs and Flowers
      - Dune Plants--Woody Shrubs and Trees
      - Marine Plants--Algae
      - Marine Plants--Seagrasses
      - Seabeans and Drift Seeds
      - Driftwood and Woody Materials
- Beach Minerals
      - What Are Beach Minerals?
      - Florida Beach Sands
      - Tiny Gemstones and Mica
      - Limestone
      - Coquina Limestone
      - Beach Stones, Wormrock, and Pumice
      - Fossils
- The Hand of Man
      - What Have We Had a Hand In?
      - Beach Shrines and Beach Art
      - Treasure and Dunnage
      - Boat Parts
      - Beacons, Sondes, and Fish Tags
      - Military Flares, Sonobouy, and Rocket Parts
      - Sea Heroes (Drift Toys) and Seaglass (Beach Glass)
      - Balls and Nurdles
      - Container Seals and Packaging
      - Plastic Knots, Bite Marks, and Light Bulbs
      - Balloons, Fireworks, and Shotgun Discards
      - Mystery Plastics
      - Wax, Oil, and Tar
      - Fishing Discards
      - Beach Grooming, Driving, Crossovers, and Sand Fences
      - Armoring
      - Groynes and Jetties
      - Artificial Nourishment
      - Historic Structures
- Conservation
- Beach Quests
- The Future of Living Beaches
- Resources and Suggested Reading
- Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Blair Witherington and Dawn Witherington are professional naturalists. Blair is a research scientist with the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in Florida. He has his bachelor's and master's degrees in biology from the University of Central Florida and a doctorate in zoology from the University of Florida. He has contributed numerous scientific articles and book chapters on sea turtle biology, and his books include two volumes on sea turtles and their conservation. Dawn is a graphic design artist and scientific illustrator trained at the Art Institutes of Colorado and Fort Lauderdale. Her art and design are prominent in natural history books, posters, and museum exhibits. Blair and Dawn have merged their art, writing, photography, and design in a number of projects, including Florida's Living Beaches: A Beachcomber's Guide, Florida's Seashells, Living Beaches of Georgia and the Carolinas: A Beachcomber's Guide, and Seashells of Georgia and the Carolinas: A Beachcomber's Guide.