Mote Field Station

On Thursday we stopped into Mote Marine Laboratory's Research Station in Summerland Key. They do a lot of coral research there and have many ongoing projects with traveling researchers. They also host several universities so students can conduct their own field studies while staying in the dorms that Mote has on site. Other researchers use the facility as a docking station in between their trips to the field- for example a man was preparing for one of his many sailing trips out to the Tortugas for a 3 week stay to study nurse sharks. Amazing. It was a great place to see- we got several educational materials and a tour of the facility.


Outside of one of their buildings

Our guide with a coral sample

One of many large taks of coral fragments...they collect coral in the sea, and fragment it for growth in tanks- from the growth they conduct their research

Beautiful coral samples

Another specimen

Some of the concrete molds they use to attach their fragments to

Fragment attached to the mold

Coral specimen

Boating

Wednesday was the last day that we had the boat. There were lots of storms in the area, so the water was a little difficult to navigate. We also tried our hands at fishing, all over the place, but no luck. So we ended up refueling the boat and ourselves and returning the boat in the afternoon. The remainder of the day we were recovering from the waves....


View out Boot Key Harbor towards the Atlantic

Burdines

View in Boot Key Harbor- many boats tie up in the harbor and stay the night- mainly sailboats...huge boats....

View from a channel- thought we could catch fish back there- no luck

7 mile bridge in the distance- lots of clouds, too.....

Another shot at the 7 mile bridge

Back to Key West

We decided to go to Key West for a little sight seeing and dinner on Tuesday. We ate some conch fritters and steamed gulf shrimp at Conch Republic and then walked around Duval street and Mallory Square until sunset. There were street performers and crowds of people in the square waiting for the nightly sunset celebration. Jenn was selected from the crowd to be a part of one of the performers acts. She did a great job!
We also looked at the Naval Hospital- drive-by style, the art museum in the old customs house, the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, Hemingway House, and other little sights in between.


The old Naval Hospital in Key West

The end of the road, really.....

Giant gulf shrimp

Giant sculpture in front of the art museum...it was huge

Their faces look like paintings, but they were 3-dimensional- almost as tall as the building

Showing the dimension

Key West Sunset- about 30 seconds too late

jenn's debut as a street performance assistant

Grand finale- walking on a rope held up by crowd members

Morning Adventure

We took the boat out around 7:30 this morning....tried to get to a large reef for snorkeling, but the water was way too rough. We ended up turning back into the gulf and just drove around for a while. Near a large bridge, there was a very shallow area where a fishing boat ran onto a sandbar. We tried to pull them out, but our boat was just too small, and we were afraid of getting stuck ourselves. So we left them and went on our way. We rode into Boot Key Harbor where many sailboats were tied up for their stay in Marathon. One sailboat looked like it had taken on a lot of water, it was tipped on its side. When we came back through near the shallow waters, the large boat was gone, so I guess they figured out how to get out of their jam without our help. We plan to go back out this afternoon for some fishing, we will be sure to post pictures of our catch of the day later!

What a nice perch for a couple of sea birds

Vaca Cut bridge

Open seas

Large boat stuck in the sand

We tried....

Almost sunken sailboat

Boot Key Bridge

Gecko

There are tons of baby geckos around here...we were lucky enough to catch one and get a few photos of it.....


Here it is hiding under a wrist watch...

Boating

We decided to rent a boat for 3 days here in Marathon. It is a 22 foot Cobia with a bimini top and room for 6. We took it out on Monday to the Atlantic first, but the ocean was too rough to for boating, snorkeling, or swimming. So, we went under the Vaca Cut bridge to the gulf. Much calmer waters, lots of great fishing, and crystal clear view in the water. What a blast. While renting the boat, we saw a huge iguana swimming in the channel over to a warm spot to catch some rays. He had to have been at least 5 feet long from his head to the tip of his tail.

Here's our boat....

View on the go...

Large iguana swimming near the boat rental place

Catching some rays

Dolphin Research Center

On Monday morning, we journeyed to the DRC to "swim" with the dolphins. Our experience left much to be desired, but we are glad we did it. We also purchased teaching materials to take back to the classroom to use with our students. If you are interested in obtaining these materials, just send a message and we will share! All they have available right now is K-8 lessons, but they encompass all subjects. Here a re a few of the many photos we have from the DRC.


They had several lagoons with dolphins in each one

We were able to give hand signals to the dolphins to see their tricks




They splashed a lot, and the water was very salty