Everglades Ecosystems New Champion FWC
The largest of these projects is sponge restoration in Everglades Florida Bay. As recently as the 1980s, Florida Bay held the greatest concentration of sponges in North America.
Scientists Fight to Save Smalltooth Sawfish
Sawfish are the world’s most threatened marine fish, with all five species classified as endangered or critically endangered. Florida used to host two of the species, but now only the Smalltooth Sawfish remains. The last largetooth sawfish was reported in Florida in 1943, according to Tonya Wiley, president of the Havenworth Coastal Conservation based in…
Win a Florida Keys Superfan Coral Reef Restoration Eco-Adventure
For travelers seeking “voluntourism” opportunities to help sustain the continental United States’ only living coral barrier reef, the “Florida Keys Superfan” eco-adventure giveaway offers an enticing prize. One entrant is to win a five-night vacation that includes accommodations, eco-attractions and diving experiences to plant corals. The winner is to discover how divers can serve as…
Diving | Environment | Key Largo | Reefs
REEF Fest 2019 October 17-20 Key Largo
REEF Fest 2019 registration is now available! Book diving and snorkeling, register for events, and purchase your ticket to ‘For the Love of the Sea’ banquet online today! REEF Fest is an annual, four-day celebration to acknowledge the success of marine conservation and education initiatives in the Florida Keys. Events include educational seminars, social gatherings, diving and eco-adventures…
What’s New in the Florida Keys for Fall 2019
The Florida Keys with community efforts to sustain precious natural resources through the Connect & Protect initiative, continue to unveil ways to preserve the Keys’ environment and connect visitors who love the outdoors to the island chain’s unmatched beauty. Efforts to replant and preserve coral along the Florida Reef Tract are ongoing. In addition, two new eco-stay properties, tucked…
Diving | Environment | Exotic Invasives | Fishing | Reefs
FKNMS Lionfish Removal Permits
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary encourages the safe removal of invasive lionfish from its waters and issues lionfish removal permits to divers for the collection of lionfish from Sanctuary Preservation Areas (SPAs). The permit allows lionfish to be removed from the SPAs, which are otherwise no-fishing, no-take zones, with hand nets or slurp guns only. Spearguns or…
Lionfish: Menace to the Atlantic Basin
Lionfish, a brightly-colored, spiny fish that are not native to Florida, are taking over our reefs. How can we fight off this alien invasion? Floridians have come together to fight them off and save the reef. Lionfish, a brightly-colored, spiny fish that are not native to Florida, are taking over our reefs. How can we…
Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehab Center Monthly Lecture Series
With native tropical flora of the Florida Keys being impacted by a growing population and urban development, the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center has begun sponsoring a conservation lecture series, “Wings N’ Things.” The next presentation will feature guest speaker Lynn Miller, Ph.D., wildlife education director at the South Florida Wildlife Center, which is…
Diving | Environment | Reefs
Bleaching Dive Gear May Stop Spread of Coral Disease
Cleaning scuba equipment between each dive could help slow down the rapid spread of Coral Disease, white blotch-like lesions, that attack and eventually kill coral colonies, local agencies say. The Florida Reef Tract, the world’s third largest barrier reef and the only in the continental U.S., is suffering from a large-scale stony coral tissue loss,…
Fishing Line Disposal – More than just Monofilament
Fishing is a key component of the Florida lifestyle as well as the state’s economy. But fishing line and other fishing tackle frequently enter Florida’s aquatic systems as a result of incidental snags or improper fishing line disposal. When left in the aquatic environment, fishing line and tackle create potential traps for unsuspecting wildlife that…
Invasive Venomous Lionfish Killing Atlantic Reefs – Please Eat It
What do you do with an invasive fish, covered from head to fin with venomous spines as sharp as hypodermic needles; a fish that can’t be caught with a rod or in a trawling net as it multiplies rapidly, deep in our oceans, flummoxing fishermen and scientists alike? Lionfish. Note: Venomous is not the same as…
FWC Approves Status Changes for Monroe County Osprey
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved Species Conservation Measures and Permitting Guidelines for eight of the more than 50 species, the only local is the Monroe County Osprey, in the agency’s Imperiled Species Management Plan. Based on thorough scientific review, FWC staff determined that the eastern chipmunk, harlequin darter, Homosassa shrew, southern…
Sixty Acres on Big Pine Key Targeted for Habitat Restoration
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Institute for Regional Conservation will begin a two-month restoration effort in the pine rockland habitats of the National Key Deer Refuge this week. This work, funded through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for hurricane restoration of habitat and species, will include a reduction of potential…
Reel Remove Recycle – Don’t Leave Your Fishing Line Behind
The Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program (MRRP) is an innovative statewide project dedicated to reducing the environmental damage caused by discarded fishing line. MRRP aims to educate the public on the problems caused by monofilament line left in the environment, encourage recycling through a network of line recycling bins and drop-off locations, and help citizens…
Florida Keys Sandbar Gatherings on The Rise
Florida Keys Sandbar. Dropping anchor or tying off at shallow sandbars has, in the last quarter-century, mushroomed at dozens of gathering spots from the Upper Keys to the Marquesas, a new state report says. The fastest-growing segment of Florida Keys boating activity seems to be one where people don’t go anywhere. Islamorada’s Whale Harbor Channel…
Diving | Dry Tortugas | Environment | Parks | Reefs
Research Natural Area – Dry Tortugas National Park – Video
The Research Natural Area (RNA) was designated as an area of special protection within Dry Tortugas National Park in 2007. The RNA was designed to work along with the two existing ecological reserves as a network to protect the shallow water habitats and reef fish species found in the Tortugas. Recent research shows that the…
Beaches | Diving | Environment | Reefs
Best Natural Sunscreen for Scuba – Snorkeling – Swimming in Florida Keys
Sunscreen is a necessity for most scuba divers, but not all sunblock is created equal. Some contain an ingredient that’s destroying coral reefs around the world. The evidence is so strong, Hawaii may pass a law banning certain sunscreens. The primary chemical culprit is oxybenzone, an ingredient used in popular sunscreens made by Banana Boat, Coppertone,…
Mangrove Black – White – Red – the Protector of Our Florida Keys Coastlines
The Mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S. Mangrove are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions. They contain a complex salt filtration system and…
Smartphone App Collects Data Help Save Florida Reefs
Wondering how you can help in the fight against the decline of corals? With a new smartphone app called OkCoral, the Coral Restoration Foundation is hoping it can answer that question by turning underwater photographers into a citizen scientists. Florida Reefs The idea behind the app is getting recreational divers to help monitor the health of coral clusters that the foundation…
Key West Faces Rising Seas With Plans For Resiliency
When it comes to sea level rise, Key West is pretty much as vulnerable as it gets. The island’s average elevation is less than five feet above sea level. A tide gauge at Key West Harbor tracks the steady rising seas over the last century. But it’s the intermittent and increasing cases of nuisance flooding…
