Keys Treasures Blog

“Key West Magazine” Wins 7 Awards for Magazine Excellence

Filed at August 28, 2007 under Media by Keys

After just one year in business, Key West’s locally owned and operated Key West Magazine won seven awards at the 2007 Charlie Awards Ceremony presented by the Florida Magazine Association (FMA) last week. The awards ceremony, which took place in Orlando on August 25, honored the best magazines in Florida.

Key West Magazine took home two First Place Charlie Awards, one for Best Public Service Coverage, for its 2006 Hurricane Special Issue, “The Rescuers,” and another for Best Feature for “Dennis the Menace,” the magazine’s January, 2007 profile of local tabloid publisher and muckraker Dennis Cooper. Key West Magazine also won a silver or second place, Charlie Award for Best In-Depth Reporting for the feature article “The Fabulist,” an in-depth profile of local filmmaker Quincy Perkins. The FMA also awarded Key West Magazine four Bronze, or third place, Charlie Awards for “Best Overall Magazine” in Florida “Best Overall Designed Magazine,” “Best Overall Written Magazine,” and another bronze for “Best In-Depth Reporting” for “Dennis the Menace”. Read more »

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Castaway, the Deaf Dolphin, Adapts to Dolphins Plus

Filed at August 13, 2007 under Animals/Mammal/Dolphin by Keys

Castaway, a deaf bottlenose dolphin who was recently moved from the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo to Dolphins Plus, a multi-dolphin facility in Key Largo, is reportedly doing well in her new environment. According to Dolphins Plus curator Art Cooper, Castaway has shown more interest in taking her meals and interacting with staff, and on Wednesday swam voluntarily to the platform where she receives her meals and medical attention for the first time.

“She voluntarily swims up to the platform that we lower about 3 feet into the water,” Cooper said. “That’s where we do the medical procedures with her, but she also likes to swim there to be rubbed down by staff.” Castaway, who is completely deaf and sees out of only one eye, stranded herself near Fort Pierce in November. She garnered national attention in June after giving birth to a calf, Wilson, who died five days after birth.

Federal fisheries authorities wanted Castaway moved out of the Marine Mammal Conservancy since they had determined she was no longer rehabilitating, and on July 25 was sent three miles south to Dolphins Plus, where she is housed in a saltwater pen with two other female dolphins. Dolphins Plus is a dolphin-encounter facility. Cooper said Dolphins Plus would continue to give positive reinforcement to Castaway as she adjusts to her new environment.

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