Created 24-Sep-20
Modified 16-Aug-23
I've always thought of the Keys as the edge of Florida. Separated from the mainland, this string of islands (with few inexpensive places to stay overnight) has always fascinated me but it was never an easy thing to just load the gear and jump into the truck with the call of "let's go to the Keys". So, my trips afield have been short and infrequent but invariably I say to myself that I've got to do this more often.
Sadly, urbanization and the impacts of four hurricanes since Andrew in 1992) have taken a toll on the natural systems. Many endangered plants such as the Florida Keys Tree Cactus and the Semaphore Cactus teeter on the brink of extinction because (we think) of sea level rise and probably other micro-environmental changes that have upset the delicate equilibrium of the Keys ecosystem.
Photographs were made at Bahia Honda State Park and Crane Point Hammock, Marathon; over Biscayne National Park by air in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk seaplane; National Key Deer Wildlife Refuge, Big Pine and No Name Keys; Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, Key Largo; and Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park, Islamorada.
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All images © Christopher P. Migliaccio
