Blair E. Witherington

Florida has 1200 miles of coastline, almost 700 miles of which are sandy beaches. Exploring along those beaches offers encounters with myriads of plants, animals, minerals, and manmade objects—all are covered in this comprehensive guide with descriptive accounts of 822 items, 983 color images, and 431 maps. Beginning with the premise that beaches are themselves alive, this guide to the natural history of Florida beaches heralds the living things and metaphorical life near, on, and within the state’s sandy margins. It is organized into Beach Features, Beach Animals, Beach Plants, Beach Minerals, and Hand of Man. In addition to being an identification guide, the book reveals much of the wonder and mystery between dune and sea along Florida’s long coastline. Each part of a living beach is shown to have its own unique intrigue, with featured diversity that includes wrack lines, runnels, ripples, sea foam, hurricanes, jellies, blue buttons, hundreds of seashells, beachhoppers, ghost crabs, tiger beetles, heart urchins, sea pork, surf fishes, sea turtles, dozens of shore birds, beach mice, tracks in the sand, whales, beach flowers, dune plants, seabeans, driftwood, rainbow sands, shelly rocks, volcanic pumice, fossils, beach shrines, sea glass, Spanish treasure, sea heroes, fishing curiosities, beach threats, conservation, and quests. Whether common or rare, powerful or delicate, beautiful or odd, each part of a living beach has a story to tell.

This book heralds the diversity of Florida’s seashells and presents them in the way they come to us on beaches. Knowing the names, stories, and varies appearances of seashells can sharpen a beachcomber’s eyes to their beauty and rarity. Florida’s seashells offer both collectors an outlet for the appreciation of nature’s splendor. This guide includes species common to the southeastern United States and the Caribbean. Descriptive accounts, maps, and color photos describe 252 species of mollusk shells as beachcombers are likely to find them. Includes glimpses of each seashell’s former life and secrets for finding seashell treasures that many beach visitors miss.

"Blair and Dawn Witherington intimately reveal the lives of sea turtles in Our Sea Turtles: A Practical Guide to the Atlantic and Gulf from Canada to Mexico. The book’s pithy, well-organized sections are lavishly illustrated. It is a guide for anyone who is the least bit curious about these fascinating marine animals. Bite-sized installments harmonize with multiple images on each page to make this book a unique and entertaining resource. The story it tells covers understanding, experiencing, and saving Our Sea Turtles, with descriptions of how these endangered animals contribute to our happiness and why they deserve a helping hand."