ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aboard Tampa Bay Watch’s eco vessel Discovery, they believe the answer to conservation is education.

What You Need To Know

  • A special permit allows educators to net animals for study

  • Eco Tours and Discovery Center at the St. Pete Pier

  • Wildlife tour: 90 minutes

  • Look for dolphins hunting against city sea walls

Just a few feet from the docks and doorsteps of downtown St. Petersburg is a water world teeming with life — an estuary.

“This ecosystem and others like it support 80% of all marine life sometime in their life cycle,” said Aubrey Malone, the Water Based Program Coordinator at Tampa Bay Watch.

A special permit allows educators to net animals for study — the day’s most interesting specimen — the false arrow crab.

“It looks like a little spider in the water,” said Malone. “A lot of people are a little freaked out, but they are totally harmless.”

And let’s not forget the stars of the water show — the resident dolphins.

Handouts on board assist in identifying the mammals with pictures of their fins.

We find near them a mangrove island at the mouth of Coffeepot Bayou filled with nests and herons, egrets, pelicans and cormorants.

The tour’s emphasis is to introduce people to this natural beauty so they might better protect it.