Images

Wave action produced by a tropical storm (Fay) eroded barrier island beaches on the Atlantic coast of Florida, producing cliff-like escarpments as depicted here.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

This photograph, taken soon after dawn, depicts a towering offshore thundercloud as seen from a sandy beach in Florida.

Red morning sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean as seen from a barrier island.

The ghost crab shown here is a common resident of sandy beaches along the Florida coast.

Sandy beach, Seaoats, and two beach chairs on an Atlantic coastal barrier island in central Florida.

Strangler fig engulfing the trunk of a Sabal palm.

Strangler fig engulfing the trunk of a Sabal palm.

This photo, taken at dawn, depicts the tracks left by a nesting loggerhead sea turtle the previous night. (Right: from the sea; Center: the nesting depression; Left: return to the sea.)

This image depicts a cliff-like escarpment in the sand of a Florida beach. Notice the marked turtle nest (background) and the unusual single exposed egg (right foreground). The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

Beach erosion by a tropical storm produced the cliff-like escarpment seen in this image and accidentally exposed about 8% of the eggs in this loggerhead sea turtle nest.

Beach erosion by a tropical storm produced the cliff-like escarpment seen in this image and accidentally exposed about 8% of the eggs in this loggerhead sea turtle nest. The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

Beach erosion by a tropical storm produced the cliff-like escarpment seen in this image and accidentally exposed about 8% of the eggs in this loggerhead sea turtle nest. The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

Beach erosion by a tropical storm produced the cliff-like escarpment seen in this image and accidentally exposed about 8% of the eggs in this loggerhead sea turtle nest. The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

Beach erosion by a tropical storm produced the cliff-like escarpment seen in this image and accidentally exposed about 8% of the eggs in this loggerhead sea turtle nest. The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

This bucolic country lane in east central Florida is lined with cabbage palms and oaks, a scene that is made increasingly rare with ongoing pressures of urbanization.