ENVIRONMENT
38: SPACE COAST LIVING | SPACECOASTLIVING.COM
FLORIDA STATE PARKS
The threatened Florida scrub jay can be found at the Malabar Scrub Sanctuary.
are handicapped accessible. The sanctuary also includes an
education center.
For paddlers, the place to go is the Thousand Island
Conservation Area in Cocoa Beach. There are miles of kayaking
trails running around and through the mangroves. A number of
kayak outfitters conduct tours there. Visitors can paddle with
the tours or explore the area in their own kayaks.
The Barrier Island Sanctuary, on the beach at the far end of
Melbourne Beach along highway A1A, is in the Archie Carr
National Wildlife Refuge. During June and July, the peak of the
turtle nesting season, nighttime excursions are offered to watch
sea turtles come ashore to nest on the beach. There also is an
education center where you can learn about the turtles that
come ashore in the refuge.
One of the main benefactors of EEL is the threatened Florida
scrub jay. The scrub jay lives in family groups and likes wide
open scrub land for nesting and feeding. EEL has created
some controversy by removing trees to give the birds a better
environment for feeding and protection from predators. The
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