BY MARCY SHORTUSE - Boca Grande is a place of beauty with abundant wildlife, and if you’re here long enough, there are many interesting species of birds and animals to encounter. Sometimes an encounter can go badly, though, when it’s a sick or injured animal that is found.

BY MARCY SHORTUSE - When January 22 rolls around next week, Gasparilla Island will have hit the big time with its first official set of stoplights.

SUBMITTED BY MOTE MARINE LABORATORY - Boca Grande is the historical birthplace of the tarpon fishery, the center of tarpon reproduction, and a way-station for tarpon that make up the fishery for much of the region. The modern-day recreational fishery for tarpon stretches from Chesapeake Bay, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and through the Caribbean — a fishery worth billions of dollars per year.

BY LEW HASTINGS - One  of the greatest duties of my job as Executive Director of the Boca Grande Area Chamber of Commerce is to be present when new doors open in our community.This past week it was my great privilege to be present as Mote Marine Laboratory cut the ribbon, officially opening their doors on Gasparilla Island.