For everyone else, next winter is nearer than last winter, but for roseate spoonbills last winter’s nesting season ended only recently.

Now that it has, four Florida Bay islands that are closed for those birds each winter have been reopened by Everglades National Park: Sandy Key and Palm Key near the Flamingo visitor center and Carl Ross and Sandy Keys much further south.

Hurricane Wilma in 2005 stripped all those islands of their foliage, exposing the eggs and chicks of spoonbills, herons and egrets to predators. Marine engine noise was no longer muffled by the foliage, hence the seasonal closing of the close-by channels and the islands themselves. A large portion of the Carl Ross Key campsite was washed away.

What’s left of Carl Ross is open for daytime use only. Sandy Key’s land is closed permanently but boaters can pass alongside. At low tide it’s possible to walk between Ross and Sandy, but it’s not allowed.

An emergency closure was imposed in April on Palm Key’s west side. It’s open now and so is the Frank Key boat channel.

Boater in fatal accident charged with DUI

Two years and a month after his boat crashed into a channel marker, killing his father-in-law and severely injuring his wife, a Naples man was charged with boating under the influence and manslaughter.

Jeffrey Jackmack, 45, surrendered after being informed that a warrant had been issued to arrest him. FWC officers said he was drunk at the time of the accident and recently had used unspecified drugs. If Jackmack is convicted of the offense, he could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The accident happened at about 8 p.m. on June 13, 2013. Jackmack’s 15-foot center console boat rammed channel marker 71 of the Intracoastal Waterway in Dollar Bay, in Naples.

Jackmack’s father-in-law, Neil Felder, 61, was thrown from the boat and died of a head injury. Jackmack and his wife Nicole also fell overboard. She suffered facial injuries and he had a broken leg.

Maj. Alfredo Escanio, FWC’s regional commander, said someone sober should have been running the boat: “Boating accidents like this one are avoidable and boaters need to do their part to protect themselves and others.”

Dolphin SMART: Leave wild dolphins be

It must be hard to resist swimming beside bottlenose dolphins in the wild — and touching them and feeding them fish treats, especially when the dolphins tolerate or even seem to enjoy all that — but it’s not good for them and we’re not supposed to do it.

If your occupation is taking tourists out for dolphin watching, you’re not supposed to let your customers do it either, and you’re expected to lecture them convincingly about why not. For effectively redefining what fun is,
there’s a reward: recognition by Dolphin SMART, a federal program that sets standards for watching the precious marine mammals in the wild.

Coastal Kayak Charters of St. Petersburg Beach is the latest eco-tour outfit to earn that recognition. It’s the 13th in Florida and third with a base at St. Petersburg Beach. There are none on Florida’s east coast. Alabama has one and Hawaii has five.

“This program helps to encourage sustainable tourism practices which provide long term benefits for tourists, tour operators, and most importantly, the marine mammals we share our local waters with,” said Ross Heintzelman, co-owner of Coastal Kayak Charters. They operate on Tampa Bay.

The company gets to display a Dolphin SMART flag and feature its participation in its advertising.

SMART is an acronym for the following:

• Stay at least 50 yards from dolphins
• Move away slowly if the dolphins show signs of disturbance
• Always put your boat engine in neutral when dolphins are near
• Refrain from feeding, touching, or swimming with wild dolphins
• Teach others to be Dolphin smart

That is how NOAA, which organized Dolphin

SMART, describes what it calls “responsible viewing” of dolphins in the wild. NOAA scientists say that irresponsible viewing such as touching, feeding and so on may disrupt important natural behaviors and cause negative impacts to the health of dolphins and their young.

Grant Craig is NOAA Fisheries’ coordinator of Dolphin SMART on the Florida Gulf coast.

“It is great to have another Dolphin SMART business in St. Pete Beach,” he said. “More businesses are recognizing the conservation benefits of responsible viewing and helping to shift the paradigm of how to view dolphins in the wild to a way that does not harass or disturb the animals.”

Compliance with the SMART protocol at times may require adjustments. For example, even if you try to stay 50 yards away from dolphins, who orders them to stay that far from you? Nobody does, and dolphins are faster than you are. Oh well, do the best you can.

For a list of participating tour companies, visit: sanctuaries.noaa.gov/dolphinsmart/participants.html.

Barracuda limits

An apparent decline in the barracuda population of southern Florida’s offshore waters will bring about the state’s first size and bag limits for the long-toothed predator. A final public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 3, when the Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) Commission meets at Fort Lauderdale.

The regulations will cover a region from Martin County (Stuart) on the east coast down through Palm Beach, Broward, Dade, Monroe (the Keys) and up the Gulf coast to Collier County (Naples).

A slot size bracket of 15 to 36 inches from snoot to tail fork and a maximum take of two barracudas per person per day are in the rule that commissioners will consider.

The size limits cover both recreational and commercial fishing. The commercial vessel limit is 20 per day.

In preparing the final draft rule, FWC staff turned down a request from some charter captains in the Keys to let customers keep one barracuda longer than 36 inches.

The commission’s two-day meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2 at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel, 1881 SE 17th St.

For more information, see www.myfwc.com. Select FWC Commission Meetings and then September meeting.

Volunteers wanted

Volunteers are needed to plant native vegetation on a small spoil island in Biscayne National Park.

The island is one of two created long ago by dumping soil and stone that were dug out of the mainland long ago to create the Princeton Canal. The site is beside the mouth of that canal, about a mile and a quarter south of the Black Point Park marina channel.

The islands are covered primarily by non-native trash trees — mostly Australian pine (casuarinas) and Brazilian pepper. With the promise of a grant for native plants from the South Florida National Parks Trust, park workers have cut down the old and are getting the island ready for the new. That will be red mangroves, cocoplum and other native vegetation to stabilize the island, improve water quality and make wildlife habitat.

Planting is planned to begin in late September. To volunteer, email info@southfloridaparks.org.