Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary supports one of the most diverse assemblages of underwater plants and animals in North America. Here are simple ways you can have a fantastic time enjoying the Florida Keys while still Protecting the Reef. Protecting the Reef – Keep your distance. Maintaining a safe distance from corals and other organisms … Read more
Caribbean Reef Sharks, Spotted Eagle Rays and Goliath Groupers on Looe Key reef.
A surprise discovery along the south Florida coast has revealed dense thickets of a species of Staghorn coral thought to be disappearing from the region’s reefs. More than 38 acres of staghorn coral have been found in patches on the reefs from northern Miami-Dade County to northern Broward County, in what scientists call a rare … Read more
Reef Environmental Education Foundation is a Key Largo based organization that works at conserving marine environments worldwide through fish counts, lionfish derbies and other research projects it regularly conducts on the water. Since its inception in 1990, it has amassed an army of roughly 60,000 volunteers. Each year, to honor the countless hours dedicated by … Read more
Anytime you snorkel or dive in the Florida Keys Ecosystem, you are almost guaranteed to see sponges. These unique creatures live just about everywhere: they live on the bottom in the seagrass beds, they attach to red mangrove roots and they grow on rocky areas at the coral reefs. They are even found living on … Read more
The Lower Florida Keys have some well-known destinations. Lying between the Middle Florida Keys and Key West, with Big Pine Key’s Key Deer and Bahia Honda State Park’s beaches as well as one of the top diving spots, Looe Key, will keep visitors busy and happy. There are also many historic locations to satisfy any … Read more
The Middle Florida Keys are an often overlooked destination. Lying between the Upper Florida Keys where you will find the Diving & Fishing Capitals of Key Largo and Islamorada and the Lower Florida Keys with Big Pine Key’s Key Deer and world famous Key West, the Middle Florida Keys is sometimes referred to as the Heart … Read more
Do you know how many parks there are in the Upper Florida Keys? Me neither. Between the City Parks: Islamorada’s Founders Park and Anne’s Beach, Monroe County Parks: Harry Harris, Florida State Parks: John Pennekamp and Lignumvitae and the National Parks-Refuges-Sanctuaries: Everglades, Crocodile Lake and the all encompassing Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, you are … Read more
Coral reefs all over the world are home to some of the strangest and most beautiful animals on our planet including Christmas Tree Worms. One trip out to our reef is all you need to know that the Florida Keys are no exception. At any time you may see sea turtles, sharks or a wide … Read more
There have been several recent reports about major events of coral bleaching. Coral reacts to the stress of warmer water by expelling zooxanthellae, the symbiotic photosynthetic algae responsible for nutrient cycling within the coral and the coral’s color. The coral provides algae with a protected environment and the compounds the algae need for photosynthesis (the … Read more
This week, a team of university, state, and federal scientists is exploring a little known deep reef, Pulley Ridge, where spectacular plate coral colonies blanket the seafloor and red groupers actually help create habitat. Scientists believe this ecosystem, which lies 33 miles northwest of the western most boundary of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, … Read more
Wild winds that whipped Florida Keys seas this week played havoc with boaters but may help keep Florida Keys reef corals healthy. “Water temperatures went down about five to six degrees in a week while we were doing [reef] surveys in the Middle Keys,” said Meaghan Johnson of The Nature Conservancy’s Florida Reef Resilience Program. … Read more
A team from Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary finalized a project to restore living coral colonies on a damaged patch reef near Cheeca Rocks that was injured when a rogue buoy dragged across it. Boat groundings, anchors, chains and other items that drag along the seafloor can damage or destroy a reef’s complex formations — … Read more
Between 2000 and 2012, the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta — which can grow to over a meter tall and wide — covered increasing territory on two reefs off Florida’s Key Largo. The number of sponges per square meter increased on both reefs, on one by an average of 122 percent, researchers report in an … Read more
Sanctuary Reef, a unique traveling exhibit that gives a shrimp’s eye view of an oversized coral reef, is now on display at Keys History & Discovery Center in Islamorada, through Feb. 28, 2016. This interactive display developed by Mote Marine Laboratory brings the ocean’s coral reefs and vital scientific research to life through hands-on … Read more
Jacksonville University researchers have embarked on a study of critical importance to scientists rearing and out-planting coral on the Florida Keys reef. Mote Marine Laboratory, the Coral Restoration Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have spent millions of dollars rearing and out-planting coral on the Keys reef for nearly … Read more
Summer temperatures and light winds at the Florida Keys reef have increased reports of coral bleaching. The Coral Bleaching Early Warning Network on Monday issued a “warning” for more coral bleaching, as water temperatures at the reef near 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Reports submitted by divers to Mote Marine Laboratory on Summerland Key showed corals on 18 … Read more
Mote Marine Laboratory is expanding its coral restoration efforts so that those who can’t make the 3 to 6 mile boat trek to the reef can see coral and the marine life it supports. Mote has partnered with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to bring 5,500 nursery-raised … Read more
This large Burmese python, weighing 162 pounds and more than 15 feet long at the time of its capture in 2009, was caught alive in Everglades National Park and was found to have eaten an American alligator that measured about 6 feet in length. University of Florida researchers in the photo: Michael Rochford is holding … Read more
Mote scientists at the Key West laboratory have discovered a faster way to grow coral. By Randi Nissenbaum, Reporter Coral is a vital part of the oceans eco system. Without it most marine life could not survive. That’s why Mote Marine scientists have been working hard to preserve the fragile marine life.Just a few years ago, … Read more