Latest news with #Destin
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
One Okaloosa County restaurant gets high-priority violations in state inspections
You can use the database to search by county or by restaurant name. Florida's restaurant owners are not required to post restaurant inspection results where guests can see them. So every week, we provide that information for you. For a complete list of local restaurant inspections, including violations not requiring warnings or administrative action, visit our Okaloosa County restaurant inspections site. Here's the breakdown for recent health inspections in Okaloosa County for the week of July 7-13, 2025. Please note that some more recent, follow-up inspections may not be included here. Disclaimer: The Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation describes an inspection report as a "snapshot" of conditions present at the time of the inspection. On any given day, an establishment may have fewer or more violations than noted in their most recent inspection. An inspection conducted on any given day may not be representative of the overall, long-term conditions at the establishment. For full restaurant inspection details, visit our Okaloosa County restaurant inspection site. These restaurants met all standards during their July 7-13 inspections, and no violations were found. David's Take-Out LLC, Mobile food dispensing vehicle I Heart Mac & Cheese, 4285 Legendary Dr., Destin Papa John's Pizza # 544, 98 Eglin Pkwy. NE. Unit 8, Fort Walton Beach** Ruby Tuesday, 191 E. John Sims Pkwy., Niceville Sabor A Mexico, 13 SE. Eglin Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach** Tru By Hilton Destin, 150 Henderson Beach Rd., Destin** Wagon Wheel BBQ, 8145 Hwy. 189 N., Baker ** Restaurants that failed an inspection and aced a follow-up inspection in the same week 200 Eglin Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach Complaint inspection on July 11 Follow-up inspection required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public. Two total violations, with two high-priority violations High Priority - Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. Upon inspection, dish machine tested and observed 10ppm on test strip. Manager setup triple sink for dish washing. Triple sink was tested and 100ppm observed on test strip. **Warning** High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Upon inspection, observed sliced beef in lower reach in cooler at 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Manager stated ambient cooling for more than three hours. Manager placed ice on beef to rapidly cool. Routine regulation and inspection of restaurants is conducted by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Department of Health is responsible for investigation and control of food-borne illness outbreaks associated with all food establishments. If you see abuses of state standards, report them and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation will send inspectors. Call the Florida DBPR at 850-487-1395 or report a restaurant for health violations online. Get the whole story at our restaurant inspection database. Basic violations are those considered against best practices. A warning is issued after an inspector documents violations that must be corrected by a certain date or within a specified number of days from receipt of the inspection report. An administrative complaint is a form of legal action taken by the division. Insufficient compliance after a warning, a pattern of repeat violations or existence of serious conditions that warrant immediate action may result in the division initiating an administrative complaint against the establishment. Says the division website: "Correcting the violations is important, but penalties may still result from violations corrected after the warning time was over." An emergency order — when a restaurant is closed by the inspector — is based on an immediate threat to the public. Here, the Division of Hotels and Restaurants director has determined that the establishment must stop doing business and any division license is suspended to protect health, safety or welfare of the public. A 24-hour call-back inspection will be performed after an emergency closure or suspension of license. This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Fort Walton Beach area restaurant and food truck inspections July 7-13
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Why Paul Finebaum, SEC sports talk provocateur, is embracing his softer side
DESTIN, Fla. — It's story time in Room 114 of a sprawling resort and spa, an air-conditioned getaway just a few steps from the 89-degree temporary set of 'The Paul Finebaum Show,' which is overlooking the beach for two days as Southeastern Conference coaches and administrators stop by between the meetings they hold here each May. Advertisement Finebaum wears a purple dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, with matching Brooks sneakers that his wife, Linda, gave him the previous July for his 69th birthday. He's sitting at a table with the show's producer, Jamari Jordan, and talking 1984. By then, Finebaum had exposed cracks in the late stages of Paul 'Bear' Bryant's Alabama program and blown open a basketball recruiting scandal that nearly sent his journalism career in a different direction. He hadn't yet established himself as a professional hater, an SEC lover, operating at a ratio of roughly 1,000 zingers per smile, hosting the most unhinged sports-talk show in history and riding it to fame, fortune and ESPN. 'He's stirred up a lot of s—,' says former Alabama coach Nick Saban, now an ESPN colleague of Finebaum. Forty-one years ago, then-Alabama football coach Ray Perkins walked out of a news conference when he caught sight of Finebaum. At one point, Finebaum wrote that if there were an Alabama fan left in the state, Perkins would drive to his house and change his mind. On Sept. 29, 1984, Finebaum covered Vanderbilt's 30-21 win at Alabama and typed this into his Teleram word processor: 'Welcome to the state of Alabama — Losersville, USA.' But see, he says now, the dig wasn't just about the Crimson Tide's misery. Rival Auburn came into that season ranked No. 1 by Playboy, among others, and lost its first two games, inspiring Finebaum's written suggestion that Auburn fans 'quit reading Playboy and go back to the Farmer's Almanac.' Zing. 'Oh, my God!' Jordan says, laughing. 'Where is that Finebaum?' There's a lot to that answer. The edge still surfaces — a 'SportsCenter' live hit on the same day sees Finebaum question the competence of Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, prompting coach Kirby Smart to thank him sarcastically for the motivation. Sorry about that one, @KirbySmartUGA 😬😬😬 #FineOrNotFine — Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) May 27, 2025 But this 'founding father' of sports talk, as friend and fellow journalist Gene Wojciechowski dubs him, who was hot-taking and loud-arguing before those were sports media staples, who has always done it his way in the face of convention and consequence, has changed. Or maybe he's just less protective of the non-cartoon side of himself. With two years left on his ESPN deal and a retirement decision to make at that point, it's a side that's more visible. It's a side the COVID-19 pandemic helped uncover, disappointments fueling introspection. It's a side that 'saved my career,' he says. Young Finebaum had opinions, too. College football meant less than baseball and college basketball then. A New Yorker by heritage and a Memphian by birth, Finebaum loved the Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals. His mother, Gloria, was so devoted a New York Giants fan that she heard Bobby Thomson's 1951 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' on a transistor radio in a hospital bed, just before giving birth to Paul's older sister. The biggest heartbreak of young Finebaum's sports life was watching from the St. Louis Arena stands as Bill Walton scored 44 points to lead UCLA past the Memphis State Tigers for the 1973 national title. Advertisement Politics meant just as much. Maybe more. Finebaum's parents knocked on doors all over Memphis in support of Democratic candidates, as they had in New York before the family moved south so Benjamin Finebaum could open an optometry practice. Gloria was an early feminist. As a grade schooler, Paul had three famous addresses memorized — John F. Kennedy's inauguration and 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speeches and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream.' At 12, he begged to march in a protest parade the day after King was assassinated in his hometown. He pleaded again a few years later, as a high schooler exasperated by race relations in the South. He and a close friend had an idea to go to a dance together, a Jewish boy and a Black girl, to cause a murmur in that time and place. Gloria liked the sentiment but not the potential fallout, and Finebaum listened. 'I don't have many regrets in life, but that's one,' Finebaum says. 'And this is what, more than 50 years later?' Rare is the Finebaum story that ends with him not saying what he wanted to say. He started to discover his voice at the University of Tennessee. Finebaum had to move himself into his dorm. His mother had too much going on, and his father was gone. Benjamin Finebaum had passed away at 49 of a heart attack when his son was 15. 'Everyone is with their parents — it was three years after he died, but that was the day I realized what happened,' Finebaum says. 'It's something you never quite get over. But it also helps you prepare for every other bad thing that happens.' Pre-law Finebaum was just kind of 'ambling through' college, he says — the hair long, the marijuana smoke thick, the parties he attended with pal and Vols basketball star Ernie Grunfeld 'right out of Hollywood.' He was as interested in Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein bylines on the 'Watergate' scandal as any of his studies. Then he saw a job ad for the student paper, The Daily Beacon. The drudgery of covering student government pushed Finebaum toward sports. Soon, he was sports editor. 'He was the same person then that he is now,' says Wojciechowski, whom Finebaum hired to the Beacon staff. 'Not afraid. No problem challenging authority.' Hungry for it, even? A particularly sarcastic column about the men's basketball team prompted interim coach Cliff Wettig to ban Finebaum from the team plane (reporters often flew on team charters back then). Advertisement Finebaum eventually talked himself back on. Before one trip, he noticed a Knoxville News Sentinel writer traveling with an official team bag. Finebaum asked how he came to possess it. 'He said, 'By writing good things about the Vols,'' Finebaum remembers. 'Something about that, it just didn't agree with me.' Finebaum and Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin do a segment overlooking the beach that is awkward to the casual observer and amusing to those who know the history. At one point Kiffin says he was advised not to do it because 'nobody watches the show anymore.' When the lights go off, Kiffin says with a smirk to Finebaum: 'That was great.' Never Change, @Lane_Kiffin… #WereAtTheBeach — Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) May 27, 2025 Twelve years earlier, Finebaum got Kiffin fired as the coach at Southern Cal. Or at least that's how Kiffin tells it — that USC's president was watching as Finebaum said on ESPN's 'College GameDay' that a loss that night to Arizona State should be it for Kiffin. Turns out, the Trojans lost, and that was it. Finebaum punctuated his declaration by saying: 'Lane Kiffin is the Miley Cyrus of college football. He has very little talent, but we simply can't take our eyes off him.' Not only did that turn out to be a bad take on both insulted parties, Finebaum says it infuriated the 'GameDay' crew, because everyone liked Kiffin and because Finebaum read his takedown off a notecard — a no-no on a show that prides itself on being unscripted. 'No one would speak to me,' Finebaum says, but Wojciechowski did later that day, asking him what he was thinking. 'I wasn't angry or anything,' Wojciechowski says. 'I was just questioning his judgment.' Early in his first year with ESPN, on a 'GameDay' trial run of sorts in advance of the 2014 launch of the SEC Network, Finebaum was already pissing everyone off. His ability to do that at a high rate nearly cost him the opportunity to captain the league's network even though he was the obvious choice. His radio empire was closing in on 30 years, his wacky callers were getting national attention and he was the one media member who seemed to have the respect of Saban amid the coach's dynastic run at Alabama. Advertisement Of course, Saban first learned of Finebaum as LSU's coach from 2000-04 because Finebaum often pissed off LSU fans. 'I knew the power he had with our fan base,' Saban says. 'And I thought he had a pretty good perspective most of the time. Now if you think he's always gonna rub your neck, you've got another thing coming.' Some in the SEC opposed the hire of Finebaum and his acerbic stylings. But Burke Magnus, ESPN's president of content who helped launch the SEC Network, says other league networks at that point 'were very much state-run media, so we were intent on making the SEC Network different.' Team Finebaum won, aided by then-SEC commissioner Mike Slive. This fueled detractors, such as former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who have called Finebaum an 'unabashed SEC water carrier' — Finebaum prefers 'core defender' — as did the 2014 New York Times bestseller Finebaum wrote with Wojciechowski titled, 'My Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football.' Still, he got right into it with then-South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner in 2013 after Finebaum criticized Gamecocks star Jadeveon Clowney on ESPN. This was SEC tradition — more than 30 years earlier, Finebaum wrote a column ripping then-SEC commissioner Roy Kramer for inviting South Carolina to the league. It was pre-internet, pre-national platform, yet Finebaum's first walk to the press box at South Carolina was like Mad Max entering the Thunderdome. 'A number of times I thought there was going to be a physical confrontation,' says one of Finebaum's best friends, Gene Hallman, who accompanied Finebaum that day. The start of that relationship? Hallman meeting with Finebaum to get publicity for a golf tournament, and Finebaum writing in the Birmingham Post-Herald the event would be lucky to last three years. Advertisement That's the thing about Finebaum, through his negativity, through multiple death threats that required involvement from authorities, through the hats and sunglasses he used to wear around Birmingham to avoid catcalls, through 'Go to Hell, Finebaum' signs held up by cheerleaders at games: People end up liking him. He and Kiffin talked it out shortly after Miley Cyrus Saturday and have been on good terms since. When Dr. Linda Hudson moved back home to Birmingham in 1989 after a 3-year residency at Vanderbilt, soon to embark on a career in internal medicine, a neighbor in her apartment complex told her Finebaum lived upstairs. 'I was thinking to myself, 'Who really cares?'' Linda says. 'He was not a likeable sort.' They'll be married 35 years on Sunday. 'He can be a bit of a curmudgeon on the air,' ESPN and SEC Network host Laura Rutledge says of Finebaum, 'but what people miss about him is his incredible generosity and kindness.' This life has afforded Finebaum experiences he'll never forget with Bill Murray and Magic Johnson, and a friendship with Apple CEO and Auburn grad Tim Cook. It has endeared him to rapper Lil Wayne, who proclaimed in a 2023 song: 'I'm tryna talk to 'em like Paul Finebaum.' But the political interactions are the stuff of a self-aware Forrest Gump. Another 1984 story: Finebaum had dinner with a group that included Donald Trump the night before the USFL season opener in Birmingham. Trump, owner of the New Jersey Generals, sat down with Finebaum in the press box before the game and gestured to the league-record crowd of 62,300 at Legion Field. 'He said, 'You see this crowd?'' Finebaum recalls. ''This place is sold out. Because of me.'' Former House Speaker Paul Ryan has stopped Finebaum on the Mall in Washington to ask him about Wisconsin football. A birthday trip for Linda to New York to watch Barbra Streisand in 2017 ended up backstage. And of course Bill Clinton wanted to talk Arkansas football. Hillary Clinton, months removed from losing the 2016 presidential election to Trump, tried to hurry her husband along. 'He ignored her,' Finebaum says. 'Probably not for the first time.' A few months after that, the Finebaums were in Los Angeles when a fan on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills invited them to a fundraiser that night in Malibu. It was at the house of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They hung out with actor Larry David, and Finebaum got into a game of Kennedy touch football. 'I've also played golf with Dan Quayle,' Finebaum says of the former vice president. 'I hate to be insulting, but is playing golf with Dan Quayle something you brag about?' Advertisement Zing. The trappings of the job satisfied. The job itself eventually didn't, in part because Finebaum wanted to be more of a presence on ESPN. 'I took the SEC Network for granted,' Finebaum says. 'I don't think I fully understood what it represented.' Finebaum says ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro asked him in 2019 to do one more season on 'SEC Nation,' the SEC Network's 'GameDay'-like preview show, originating each weekend from an SEC campus. Then he could be an ESPN studio presence on game days. Finebaum agreed. And he had other things on his mind. A sitcom based on Finebaum and his callers was in the works, purchased by ABC. 'Bless Your Heart' was the initial working title, with actor Jason Biggs on board to play a young Finebaum. As one of three executive producers of the show, Finebaum was set for a thrill and a big payday. He was told that if the show got to syndication, 'you'll own your own island.' COVID-19 ended all that. 'It's like your high school crush,' Finebaum says, 'who you still can't talk about.' But the months ahead ended up being more about discovery than loss. LSU athletic director Scott Woodward finishes his beach segment with Finebaum on the College Football Playoff format, the transfer portal and paying players, and Finebaum asks him off-air how those meetings are really going. Woodward responds: 'Everybody's wigging out.' That's a fair assessment of college athletics at large. It is facing an 'existential threat,' Finebaum says. Still, as he reminds an auditorium full of fans in a question-and-answer session in Destin, the passion of the college football fan has not waned. And 'existential' has a heavier meaning for Finebaum. The pandemic saw Linda go from beating breast cancer to battling misinformation daily as a medical professional. It left Finebaum's show as the SEC Network's only live, daily offering. This meant angry conversations about the virus and safety measures as Finebaum brought on epidemiologists. It also gave Finebaum a renewed sense of purpose, he says, and changed the vibe of the show to that of a 'classic support group.' Advertisement 'It went from being contentious to people calling in and saying, 'I lost my grandfather and we couldn't go to the funeral,'' he says. 'Now if you put it on for a random day, it's, 'I just got Stage 4 cancer.' 'So did I.' It's like a Facebook family from 20 years ago.' Families do have their differences. Radio consultants have told Finebaum that 'there's not a sports show in America that has a more pro-Trump audience than I do.' 'So what does that mean?' he says. 'You have to be cognizant and respectful, whether you agree or not, of who your audience is.' He says he belongs to neither party and votes for both in this politically polarized era. He has friends in each camp. Tommy Tuberville. Kaitlan Collins. Doug Jones. Laura Ingraham. Finebaum was close with his mother until her death in 1994, though she did hang up on him the first time he admitted to voting Republican. 'You live and you realize how much gray there is in the world,' Linda says. 'As Paul has gotten older he's brought that more to his show, encouraging people that it's OK that everyone doesn't feel the way you do, do what you do, root for the team you root for, vote for the president you voted for. We can disagree and still be human.' Things can still get nasty. Famed caller 'Jim from Tuscaloosa' wished a heart attack on Finebaum on the air in 2024 after Finebaum deemed him delusional. But he is as close with his callers as ever, eulogizing several of them, giving out his personal number and spending time with them. He recently talked Rusty Garner, also known as 'I-Man,' through a cancer diagnosis. 'He respects them — they are not props to him,' Wojciechowski says. 'There's a different side to Paul,' Garner says, and Wojciechowski saw that in another way in the fall, when Finebaum — who takes pride in mentoring young journalists — told Wojciechowski's University of Tennessee journalism class that the attention-seeking approach of his youth may have been flawed. Finebaum asked back on to 'SEC Nation' before the 2021 season. Now he's focused on what he does best, for the two years left on his deal and perhaps beyond. Or he could choose to retire. He rarely opines on his own show. He says he conducts it as 'the head minister.' Which is interesting because Finebaum has grappled with faith for decades. He grew up attending an Orthodox synagogue and still practices Judaism in honor of his parents — 'Synagogues of the SEC' is a book idea, he jokes. But he has explored Christianity and considered converting to Catholicism with Linda, who was raised Methodist. Advertisement 'I believe in God and very strongly in faith, but it has been a challenge to find my way,' Finebaum says. 'As I got older and opened my eyes to other things, it really helped me. … It's a lifelong journey for me.' Pause. 'Whatever that means.' Zing. The show ends, having had its radio family replaced for two days by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Kiffin and most of the big names in SEC athletics, a dream list of guests. Finebaum considers what's next. 'Tomorrow afternoon, Legend will be back,' he says. 'And Jim from Tuscaloosa. Swamp Dog. Squirrel. I can't wait.' (Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; Photos: Courtesy of Paul Finebaum; Jeffrey Vest / Getty Images)
Fox News
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
College Football Playoff Could Stay at 12 Teams Due to SEC, Big Ten Standstill
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday that despite frequent conversations with Big Ten counterpart Tony Petitti, the two leagues have yet to agree on the College Football Playoff format after this upcoming season and could leave it at 12 teams. The disagreement doesn't stem from a lack of communication. Sankey said he spoke with Petitti four times last week. "We had a different view coming out of Destin around the notion of allocations," Sankey said. "The Big Ten has a different view. That's fine. We have a 12-team playoff, five conference champions. That could stay if we can't agree." The Big Ten, which has won the last two national championships, favors a 4-4-2-2-1 format, giving four automatic bids to the SEC and Big Ten and awarding the ACC and Big 12 two bids apiece. The SEC, originally thought to be on the same page, switched gears at its spring meetings in Destin. The SEC favors five conference champions and 11 at-large bids, which would presumably favor the top conferences most seasons. The CFP announced in May that teams in the upcoming playoff will be seeded strictly on where they are ranked instead of moving pieces around to reward conference champions. Last season's jumbled bracket, the first with 12 teams, gave byes to Big 12 champion Arizona State and Mountain West champion Boise State, even though they were ranked 12th and ninth, respectively, by the playoff selection committee. That system made the rankings and the seedings in the tournament two different things. The five highest-ranked conference champions will still be guaranteed spots in the playoff. While the CFP contract from 2026 through the 2031 season requires the SEC and Big Ten to consult other leagues about prospective changes to the playoff system, it also provides them with the ability to impose changes they both want. Now it's a matter of getting on the same page. "I think there's this notion that there has to be this magic moment and something has to happen with expansion and it has to be forced — no," Sankey said. "When you're given authority, you want to be responsible in using that authority. I think both of us are prepared to do so. The upfront responsibility in this, maybe where some of the confusion lies, is we have the ability to present a format or format ideas, gather information, see if we can all agree within that room. We don't need unanimity." Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Forbes
Tiger Sharks Are Now Converging En Masse On The Florida Panhandle
Alex Fogg, Shane Reynolds and Kinga Philipps document a tiger shark beneath Island Pier between Fort Walton Beach and Destin, Florida. Shane Reynolds The Island Pier juts 1,262 feet out from the sugary, white sands of Florida's Okaloosa Island, between Fort Walton Beach and Destin. Since the early 1970s, this pier and its predecessors been etched in sunset photos of the Gulf Coast, casting silhouettes on sunburned vacationers spanning generations of American travelers. For decades, this pier and other familiar panhandle sites like the Pensacola Beach water tower, Big Kahuna's waterpark and the ever-present rumble of fighter jets up and down the coast, the pier on Okaloosa Island have changed little as the communities of this coast have grown from fishing villages into condominium-lined cathedrals of salt and sun. Today, more than 5.3 million beachgoers travel to this stretch of the Florida panhandle each year. Most migrate annually from homes within driving distance from the seashore. In the suburbs of cities like Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, Nashville, New Orleans and Memphis, 'Salt Life' stickers and circular '30A' icons cling to the windows of SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans. Each denote that the owner is a member of a kind of deep fried vacation club whose members journey to this accessible slice of paradise located within driving distance of the comforts of home. In the past four years, those vacationers have been joined by a new kind of visitor that has been migrating en masse to Okaloosa Island — tiger sharks. Since 2021, schools of tiger sharks have been mysteriously converging on the Island Pier. What seemingly began as a aggregation of around ten sharks has now grown to a cumulative population that could exceed 100 different individuals throughout the summer. Researchers now believe the event may now represent one of the largest gatherings of tiger sharks in the world. A tiger shark swims alongside Island Pier on Okaloosa Island, Florida. Shane Reynolds Destin-Fort Walton Beach and a group of research partners have been using an acoustic tag monitoring station at The Island pier to document the movement of other fish species since 2021. Prior to that time, most of the data recorded was produced by roaming sportfish like tarpon or redfish as well as sea turtles and other shark species. Recent summers; however, have started to change that picture. 'We've tagged almost 40 tiger sharks in total' says Destin-Fort Walton Beach Natural Resources Chief Alex Fogg. 'Based on tag data, it seems like there are a lot of animals that we have not tagged that are coming in and out of the system. We could have two or three times the number of sharks in the area than we have tagged.' A marine biologist by trade, Fogg keeps one foot in the biology door and a thumb on the pulse of tourism in Destin-Fort Walton Beach. Fogg and the Destin Fort-Walton Beach Natural Resources team are working with Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University and the U.S. Geological Survey to learn more about where the sharks are coming from, and why they've decided to linger around this specific pier. The sharks appear to be drawn in by a naturally-occurring death of thousands of Clupedia forage fish around the pier. Researchers theorize that the tiny bait fish are schooling in such numbers that they deplete the available oxygen in the water around them, created a school-induced hypoxia that causes a mass die off. Fogg says tiger sharks, a notoriously lazy predator, usually arrive a day later to clean up the mess. So far, acoustic and satellite tag data has shown sharks migrating to the Island Pier aggregation from as far away as the Florida Keys and western areas in the Gulf of Mexico. However, research teams believe the sharks may be arriving at the pier from as far away as the East Coast and the Caribbean. Island Pier also offers a relatively protected area for the apex predators to dine. Shark fishing is banned on the pier, and while anglers can catch and harvest tiger sharks in federal waters, Florida state waters create a nine-mile, no-take protection area for the animals. Anglers cast lines for sport fish from Island Pier while more than a dozen tiger sharks swim below. Shark fishing is banned on the pier. Shane Reynolds An Unprecedented Opportunity for Ecotourism Among tiger sharks, Island Pier appears to be unique. Though similar fishing piers are located in nearby Pensacola, Navarre Beach and Panama City, tiger sharks are not appearing in the same numbers there. The behavior pattern may be reliable enough to create a boon for ecotourism in the region. On June 30, Fogg's team installed an underwater camera beneath the Island Pier providing a streaming that will go live later this summer. Right now, the tiger shark aggregation is still largely flying under the ecotourism radar. However, a clue to its future impact could lie on another American coastline 2,300 miles away in California. Each year, an estimated 80,000 travelers venture to California's Pismo Beach to see a congregation of tens of thousands of iridescent, orange Monarch butterflies lingering in a diminutive Eucalyptus grove. There, the monarchs contribute to an estimated $158 million economic impact in San Luis Obispo County. Island Pier is uniquely positioned to benefit from a similar ecotourism draw. If the pattern holds, travelers could soon be marking their calendars for the tiger shark aggregation on Okaloosa Island. 'I don't think you will find this anywhere else in the world,' says Shane Reynolds, a Destin-based cinematographer who volunteers with Fogg's Natural Resources crew to gather data from submerged monitoring stations near Island Pier. 'Normally, if you are going to see a tiger shark aggregation, you need a passport and a boat. You need a dive certification. Here, you just need two dollars to walk out onto the pier and you can watch them without even getting wet.' Destin Fort-Walton Beach Natural Resources team members document sharks beneath the water and check subsurface acoustic tag monitoring stations below Island Pier. Shane Reybolds Until now, casual visitors to the Florida Panhandle have never had an opportunity to see apex marine life like tiger sharks this easily. In fact, leading tiger shark experts say the gathering that has continued to grow on Okaloosa Island is unlike any other event in the world. 'You really have an incredible opportunity to watch this co-habitation of apex predators and people that has been happening for four years now,' says shark conservationist and Discovery Shark Week host Kinga Philipps. Philipps is one of the world's most visible advocates for tiger sharks, having filmed extensively in the water with them on scientific expeditions around the globe. 'To see them in numbers, you'd normally have to go to Tiger Beach in the Bahamas or Tiger Zoo in the Maldives. You may have to go to French Polynesia. Up until now, tiger sharks have not been super accessible. They have an exotic appeal to people because they aren't normally seen by beachgoers. To have the ability to stand on a pier and literally count sharks from above is insane.' Tiger sharks are scene from a helicopter above Island Pier on Ocaloosa Island, Florida. Shane Reynolds Co-Existing With Travelers Researchers believe there is space for both human and non-human travelers to share Island Pier in the summer. In 2024, there were 47 confirmed unprovoked cases of shark attacks on humans. Only two of those attacks (one in Hawaii and one in Australia) were attributed to tiger sharks. In both cases, humans were inadvertently infringing on the shark's space. At Island Pier, Swimming and diving activities are restricted year round. Diving is not allowed without a permit. Swimming is not allowed within 150 feet of the pier. Researchers believe the sharks already have room and space to feed. Fogg, Reynolds and Philipps are all quick to note that in the four years this shark aggregation has been observed, no swimmers have been harmed by the animals, either. At Island Pier, tiger sharks are showing little interest in beachgoers away from the pier. Food sources they might normally prey on—like passing sea turtles and tarpon—appear to be disregarded in favor of an easy mouthful of bait fish. 'These tiger sharks spend all day circling the bait fish and eating the dead ones off of the bottom,' explains Reynolds. 'It's a simple life for them, and it's pretty fruitful. They are all pretty fat and happy.' There is hope that by drawing attention to the aggregation, visitors will be more mindful of research efforts taking place during peak visitation months and be more curious about the world of tiger sharks. 'So far, we are all good around the pier,' adds Philipps. 'But there does need to be an awareness and a consciousness of their presence. People need to know that these sharks are not messing with people, but they do exist at Okaloosa Island in numbers.'
Daily Mail
24-06-2025
- Daily Mail
The little-known American beach that looks just like the Caribbean
If you're dreaming of a Caribbean getaway but don't have the time or budget to jet off to a tropical island, there's a hidden stretch of sand in Florida that will do the trick. Okaloosa Island, a little-known gem on Florida's Emerald Coast, has all the postcard-worthy beauty of the Caribbean without the long flight or sky-high price tag. The beach offers clear blue-green water and stark white sand that is made of pure quartz crystals eroded from the Appalachian Mountains, per Business Insider. This gives the beach that iconic sugar-white look and a soft, cool feel while you're walking around on a scorching hot day. And Okaloosa Island has more than just its picturesque beaches - as it also offers fun attractions, dining, and shopping all close by. It's just a stones throw away from other major Florida destinations, such as Fort Walton Beach and Destin. There is a boardwalk in Destin Harbor that is over 1,200-feet-long and has spots for fishing, watching the sunset, or enjoying watersport activities such as paddle boarding or kayaking. It even offers snorkeling around the nearby Spectre Island. The beach offers clear blue-green water and stark white sand that is made of pure quartz crystals eroded from the Appalachian Mountains And for those who don't want to hit the water, there are tons of other family-friendly attractions. Families can race go-karts down a three-story wooded course at The Track and then play at the arcade to win prizes, per Destin-Fort Walton Beach Florida. They can also go to Gator Beach for alligator shows and feeding free of charge. In addition, animal lovers can enjoy the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park and Care Center, which has been a marine rehabilitation and conservation center since the 1950s. There, families get the chance to see dolphin shows and other marine life. There is also a Little Adventures program for younger guests, where kids have the opportunity to learn new skills such as fishing, snorkeling, and sailing. While enjoying the beach views and warm sun, travelers can try local food spots. There are many versatile food trucks in downtown Fort Walton Beach for a more laid-back feel. But there are also hotspot destinations including The Gulf - an open-air restaurant built out of old shipping containers - and LuLu's in Destin, which is owned by singer Jimmy Buffett's sister, per the outlet. In Destin, there is also a shopping center that has tons of spots to buy clothes and food. Another perk of Okaloosa Island is how close it is to the airport. The beach is only a short drive from Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, allowing for an easy getaway.
