Here, you will find information regarding Code Enforcement, Boating Safety, contact information for injured or sick animals, and other ways you can be an active citizen in our area. Every citizen is a steward of our waters!

Code Enforcement

Bay County - 850-248-8290

Okaloosa County - 850-651-7180

Walton County

• Development Council - 850-622-0000
• Dunes/Beaches - 850-267-4578

Issues not covered by Code Compliance

• Parking, traffic, illegal dumping, noise: Sheriff's Office 850-892-8111
• Offshore/water violations, Nuisance Animals and Wildlife, Report Nesting hatching Sea turtles: FWC 1-888-404-FWCC
• Building Codes/Active Permitted Construction Issues: Building Department 850-892-8160
• Septic Tanks, Unmaintained Pools: Department of Health 850-892-8031
• SW Mosquito Control 850-267-2112

Dune Lakes: Dock Building/Planning: 850-267-1955 Jason Catalano

Safety

USCG Station Destin - 850-244-7147

Wildlife Research Partnerships

Bald Eagle

Report Nests: To report nee or previously undocumented bald eagle nests, email the nest location and available photos of the nest to BaldEagle@MyFWC.com.

Report Dead Bird: If you find a dead or injured bald eagle, contact the FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922 or a local wildlife rehabilitator for assistance.

Gopher Tortoise

Sightings: Report tortoise sightings on an online platform. Submit pictures and GPS coordinates. You can report the location of tortoises and their burrows, or notify the FWC of sick, injured, or dead tortoises.

Manatee

Report sightings 24 hours a day online at https://www.ppbep.org/get-involved/panhandlemanatees.

Call toll-free: 1-866-493-5803

Email manatee@disl.org

Please give as much of the following as possible:

• Date and time of sighting (military time 24 hr clock)
• Location of sighting with as much detail as possible, including associated street address, waterway name, and (if possible) GPS coordinates
• Name and phone number or email address of reporting party
• number of animals and approximate size
• Any distinguishing marks, scars (these details are important because manatees can be identified by scar patterns)
• What were they doing (swimming, floating, foraging; improve your sighting by using standard behavior codes)
• How they were spotted (from a boat, dock, etc.)
• Please send a photograph/.jpg, if one was taken (but don't get too close to the manatees)

All reports to DISL's Manatee Sighting Network will automatically be reported to the USFWS.

Map of sightings: https://manatee.disl.org/sightings

Sea Turtles

Report nesting or hatching sea turtles by calling FWC at 1-800-404-FWCC.

Terrapin Research

Partner Organization US Geological Surveys and University of Florida IFAS

Contact Okaloosa County Coordinator - Jenna Kilpatrick

Mortality Events

Bird Mortality Events submit a report to https://legacy.myfwc.com/bird/default.asp

*Avian Influenza - report all deceased birds online - FWC Form

Bat Mortality Events - https://myfwc.com/research/wildlife/health/other-wildlife/bat-mortality/

Report Fish Kills: call 1-800-636-0511 or visit https://public.myfwc.com/FWRI/FishKillReport/Submit.aspx

Sick/Injured Wildlife

Deer sick/dead of unknown causes: 866-293-9282

Report Wildlife Emergencies to the FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline. Report injured/sick/deceased/manatees, dolphins, sea turtle: 888-404-3922

Citizen Science Programs

iNaturalist

iNaturalist is a citizen Science phone application and web page that allows you to tell the world about what you see, and get feedback from community members, scientists, and researchers about what you found! Record observations/photos of all plants and animals you see.

A) Create an account on the website or download the app to your smartphone

B) Website: Can upload info after you observe in the field. App: Can record while in the field.

C) Join the "CBA Watershed" Project and help CBA with our biodiversity research for evaluating all flora and fauna that use our waters.

Nurdle Patrol

A nurdle is a plastic pellet that serves as raw material in the manufacturing of plastic products. Nurdles are washing up on our beaches by the millions. Help us find and map the source by conducting your own nurdle survey. Just let us know how many pellets you found and where.

• First, watch the training video at this website: https://nurdlepatrol.org/Forms/Home/
• Go to your site (Site should be a consistent location on the gulf, aim for once a month data collection)
• Find the high tide line
• Find/collect nurdles for 10 minutes
• Write down the number of nurdles collected, location, and date
• Take a picture of nurdles
• Enter data here: https://nurdlepatrol.org/Forms/DataEntry/
• Email photos of nurdles or questionable items to Jace at Jace@utexas.edu

eBird

eBird is the world's largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed watch year b eBirders around the world. eBird data document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends through checklist data collected within a simple, scientific framework. eBirders enter when, where, and how they went birding, and then fill out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. eBird's free mobile app allows offline data collection anywhere in the world. and the website provides many ways to explore and summarize your data and other observations from the global eBird community.

You can prepare by viewing the eBird website https://ebird.org/home and/or downloading the application on your smartphone. This allows you to record what birds you see into a global database and learn about what species have been found in your community.

Create an account on the website or download the app to your smartphone

Website: Can upload inf after you look for birds. App: Can also record while in the field.

• Go to submit tab. Follow prompts o the screen to enter a location, observation date, type, etc.
• Answer the question in the bottom right corner of the screen and hit submit
• After your data has been entered, on the next screen, you can add photos or videos of the species you saw by clicking on 'Add media" by each species on the right side of the screen
• Follow prompts to upload pictures and videos
• After your checklist is complete, go to your main dash and look at the tabs on the right-hand side. Click on "Manage my checklists".
• Each checklist you have created will be displayed. Now, click the link to "share" along the right side of which checklist you would like to share with CBA. You will see boxes on the left-hand side of the screen.
• Enter CBA's username: CBA Jenna K. or email testaj@nwfsc.edu in the username box.
• Click "Share Checklist". Your data is now shared with us!