Miami to Key West - Feb 10 to Feb 11

February 10
We drove to Key Biscayne National Park. It was created to safeguard the marine environment near Miami. As a result,the park was primarily about the underwater ecosystem. There was not much happening on dry land at this park. The visitor Centre was nice enough but they did not even have a boat cruise into the bay.

Key Biscayne Visitor Centre and Marina

Biscayne Bay near the Visitor Centre

Biscayne Bay

After a short walk  out to the point, we left Key Biscayne National Park and headed south to Key Largo and the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. We wanted to get out into Biscayne Bay and see the Coral Reef and this state park had glass bottom boat tours.

We parked the RV some distance from the marina and had a pleasant walk through a forest to register for our glass bottom boat cruise.

 

As was fairly common at other locations, there were a goodly number of White Ibises wandering about the grass near the visitor centre.
 

Our glass bottom chariot out to the coral reef

It took about twenty minutes to cruise slowly through the mangrove channels to reach the open waters of  Biscayne Bay.

The tide was receding and exposing the roots of the red mangrove trees on either side of the channel.

Great Blue Heron - White Morph

I was about to dismiss this bird as another Great Egret when I realized the it was too big, the bill was not yellow enough, and the legs were pale not black. This bird was the famous white morph of the Great Blue Heron. This white bird is extremely rare anywhere else in the world except around the Florida Keys. As you move south along the mangrove forests of the Florida Keys, this bird becomes fairly common.

Is this bird just a white morph of the Great Blue heron, a sub-species of the great Blue Heron or a distinct species in its own right? This is the type of ongoing debate that gets avid birders all fired up. For the rest of the world, it is just a big, pretty, white bird.

Mangrove Forest

This Double-crested Cormorant was perched on the buoy that marked the open water of Biscayne Bay.

Biscayne Bay

Coral Reef out in Biscayne Bay.

What can I say?
 The coral reef was underwater and I don't have an underwater camera. The glass bottom boat gave us excellent views of the underwater reef. Unfortunately, the interior of the boat was too dark  for decent pictures.

Okay, I'll admit it. The pictures might not have been too bad had I taken any. However, I was so captivated by the beauty of the underwater reef that I was caught-up in the moment and totally forgot to take any pictures.  Fish were swimming everywhere among the coral as were turtles and sting rays.
It was beautiful.

As the sun dipped low in the west, we wound our way back through the mangrove channels and returned to our Miami RV campground.


Feb 11
Today is the day we explored the length of the Florida Keys. We packed up and headed toward lands end at Key West. After a long drive through Key Largo, we started to island hop from one Florida key to the next. As we got further out on the keys, the islands got smaller and the bridges longer. The seven-mile bridge was particularly long and impressive.

Seven Mile Bridge

We stopped for lunch at Curry Hammock State Park and took a short hike through the forested area and back along the beach.  

As is usually the case, the RV parking was at the far end of the parking lot. As we approached our isolated vehicle, two 117) White -crowned Pigeons rocketed out of the interior of the adjacent oak tree. These big dark pigeons are shy and skittish so you tend to see them in flight as they exit an area.

Our next stop was the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key. Like many refuges, this preserve was intended for the animals and not the people visiting. The signage to the preserve was quite poor and we got side-tracked twice on this small island. When we found the right location, we did the short Blue Hole trail and the longer Jack Watson trail.  

Blue Hole Trail

12] Peninsula Cooter

13] Red-bellied Cooter

13] Green Iguana

There is a big problem in southern Florida with exotic pets escaping and becoming established in the local habitat. We didn't see any escaped feral pythons, but these iguanas were another example of exotic pets exploiting and dominating the local ecosystem.

Green Iquana

Jack Watson Trail

It was a hot sunny day as we walked the Jack Watson Trail looking for Key Deer. Most of the shade trees were bare and my trusty companion was convinced that the Key Deer would be resting in the shade not sweating it out in the sun like us.

We didn't see any Key Deer as we hiked the open trail. After an hour's walk, we returned to the shady parking area. Sure enough, Key Deer were resting and browsing in the cool shade of the parking lot trees. 

14] Key Deer

Wow are these deer ever cute

Zoology was my first degree and after taking second year anatomy one gains a certain detachment toward our fellow animals. I try not to anthropomorphize their behaviour or looks, however, these shetland pony-sized deer were something special. There was a cognition in the eyes that transcends the species barrier. They appeared so gentle, curious and trusting.

No doubt these attributes partly explain why more than one hundred Key Deer are killed every year on the roads adjoining the refuge.

Late in the day, we motored on to Sugarloaf Key and our destination at the KOA.