I have been in love with the Florida Keys most of my life. Having been born and raised in South Florida, the natural beauty of the area has captivated me since early childhood. The fortune of growing up in a boating family instilled me with an unending need to experience nature to it’s fullest. The … Read more
YELLOW STINGRAY Urobatis jamaicensis Also know as Yellow Spotted Stingray. They inhabit shallow inshore waters, where they are typically found foraging in sandy or muddy flats near coral reefs or rocky formations. They utilize sandy flats and areas of sea grass in order to forage for small crustaceans and mollusks, while also using the deep sand and sea … Read more
After a several-year hiatus, state fishery managers will again address the topic of reopening the Goliath grouper fishery. The fishery was closed in 1990 due to extreme overfishing. Next month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will hear a presentation from fishery biologists and will begin to discuss possibly opening up the fishery to a … Read more
There are many different types of fish found on the reefs near our shores. Some of them are difficult to see and even more difficult to identify. There are a few fish that are easy to spot and are familiar to many people, even visitors that have never been to the Florida Keys. Stingray is … Read more
Key Largo Diving Capital, Florida is the first of the many Florida Keys and often overlooked by tourists. Perhaps it is because of the news media and Hollywood productions that highlight Key West more than Key Largo, but everyone thinks that Key West is the place to go for diving. There are certainly lots of … Read more
The normally red-hot Florida Keys spiny lobster fishery in South Florida seems to be cooling off this season, or at least Asian buyers seem to becoming more shrewd about the lucrative market. Spiny lobster is the Florida Keys’ most profitable commercial fishery, generating more than $50 million a year directly to the local economy. “Prices … Read more
The main difference between the Florida Keys Spiny Lobster and the American or Maine Lobster are the front claws. American / Maine lobsters have large front claws. Florida Keys Spiny Lobsters do not. Clawed lobsters are known as cold water lobsters, while Florida lobsters are known as warm water lobsters. Florida lobsters are caught for … Read more
Just east of Key West, Looe Key snorkeling is considered by many locals as the best snorkeling in the Florida Keys. During a snorkel at Looe Key, you may encounter black-tipped reef sharks, sea turtles, parrotfish, anglefish, filefish, butterflyfish and stingrays. There are healthy formations of elkhorn coral and firecoral along with magenta sea fans … Read more
Assorted Florida Keys Sea Creatures seen while diving a few Ledges off Key Largo, FL – Dec 2016 – Video by Peter Bonacum. Can you name them?
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved several conservation measures that are consistent with federal rules and set a new state management boundary for hogfish at the November meeting in St. Petersburg. “Hogfish is an economically important species that is popular with the diving and angling community,” said Chairman Brian Yablonski. “This was … Read more
Islamorada Alligator Reef – This was my second ever snorkeling trip and I feel that I have now just about advanced from ‘wimp’ status to ‘slightly nervous snorkeler clenching a noodle’. I smugly noticed that some people were more wimpy than me on this trip. It was satisfying to hear intermittent shrieking that definitely wasn’t my … Read more
On Oct. 1, an amendment to the Florida statute pertaining to Spiny Lobster harvest went into effect, giving authorities more latitude in prosecutions for those who harvest undersized spiny lobster. The new legislation, SB 1470, sponsored by Rep. Holly Raschein and Sen. Jack Latvala, and championed by many in the Keys, specifies that each undersized … Read more
The beautifully marked Caribbean Spiny Lobster has long been a Florida seafood favorite and is arguably one of the state’s most important fisheries. Thousands of harvesters flock to the Florida Keys each year during the sport and regular season to experience some of the best lobstering in the world. Many divers, like the one in … Read more
Recreational and commercial Stone Crab season opens Oct. 15 in state and federal waters Only the claws may be harvested Although it is currently lawful to harvest both of a stone crab’s claws, this practice leaves the stone crab with few ways to defend itself from predators. FWC encourages people to only take a single claw. … Read more
I have wanted to go out to the reef snorkeling for the longest time. After all, our wonderful Florida Keys reef is not only the ONLY living reef system in the continental US, no, it is also the third largest in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef and the Belize Barrier Reef). Roughly speaking, the reef … Read more
During the summer of 2015, we joined our queen conch researchers for a day of surveying in the Florida Keys! FWC’s queen conch research program has been surveying queen conch throughout the Florida Keys since 1987, and they perform yearly surveys in order to determine trends in the recovery of Florida’s queen conch population. We … Read more
Marked by a series of mooring buoys, the remains of the Adolphus Busch, a 210-foot freighter, lay 6 miles southwest of Big Pine Key. The vessel was originally named Ocean Alley but was later renamed Adolphus Busch after the senior member of the Busch brewing family. This ship was intentionally sunk in 100-feet of water … Read more
Key Largo Diving Aug 16 by Brad Whitworth Molasses Reef, Benwood Wreck. Molasses Reef Is a coral reef located within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It lies to the southeast of Key Largo, within the Key Largo Existing Management Area, which is immediately to the east of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. This … Read more
How many species of sealife can you ID in this #FloridaKeys Reef snorkeling video? Some footage from snorkeling at Key Largo Dry Rocks, as well as Elbow Reef on August 19th, 2016.
Florida’s Spiny Lobster season kicks off Aug. 6 and, once again, commercial fisheries are trying to get their hands on these savory critters. FIU marine scientist Heather Bracken-Grissom offers insight on one of the state’s most iconic and economically lucrative marine animals. Lobsters are large marine crustaceans. They have a hard, external skeleton that supports … Read more
