Boating

The announcement comes days after the venue's owner struck the Clearwater Ferry on Sunday night.

Said Sandy Todd, the victim's sister: “I know my brother is not coming back, but I want the person who is responsible for this situation to pay for what he did.”

As of Monday night, no charges have been filed in the crash that killed one person and injured several others. Police have released the names of the man who was killed on the ferry, as well as both boat operators.

The Florida House has unanimously approved a new boating safety bill. The measure aims to enhance safety on the water by strengthening penalties for boating accidents and reckless operation.

Both proposals are named after Lucy Fernandez, a 17-year-old killed in 2022 when a 29-foot boat she and 13 others were on hit a channel marker near Boca Chita Key.

A helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater found the boaters in the Gulf atop the boat's hull, and a crew with the Coast Guard in Fort Myers Beach rescued the trio.

The governor said he was announcing a “boater freedom initiative” that would change laws permitting inspections and searches under the justification of safety checks.

The coastal inlet was closed off in the 1980s, when Sarasota County agreed to pile up sand to protect two vulnerable beachfront homes. But hurricanes blew open the waterway this year.

Tomasko says seagrass in Little Sarasota Bay declined by about 40% with the pass closed, but didn't disappear. About 600 acres of seagrass remains, covering as much as one third of the area.

Several stations used by boaters, divers, researchers and meteorologists as a critical tool to understand sea surface conditions are becoming derelict and decommissioned, leaving those who rely on them, in the dark.

Miami Beach is tired of a community of live-aboard boaters anchored just offshore. It's adopted policies limiting their access, including making it illegal to tie up dinghies at a city boat launch.

Life jackets worn at all times would lessen possible tragedy, officials say. Alcohol or drug use played a role in 23% of fatalities last year, which is up 10% from 2022.