Creature Feature: Nurse Sharks
If you’ve visited Pigeon Key before, you’ve probaby noticed we have a few resident Nurse Sharks in our saltwater pool. The nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) is one of many species of sharks we see in our waters in the Florida Keys. They are typically medium-sized, with mature adults ranging from 7 to 9 feet in […]
Education Season 2023 Recap
The 2023 education season for Pigeon Key has come to an end, and what fun it has been! It’s been another amazing year on the island filled with tidepooling, snorkeling, learning about Florida Keys marine life, and much more. Over the education season, we had over 25 groups visit us, including a few new schools! […]
Marine Habitats: Mangroves
If you’ve been to the Florida Keys, you’ve almost certainly seen trees growing along the coast, sometimes with their roots fully submerged in the saltwater! These are called mangroves, which are trees specialized for living in saltwater environments and are very important to our coastal environment. They provide a nursery habitat for juvenile organisms while […]
Ghost Fishing: The Silent Killer
On Pigeon Key, when doing debris cleanups, one of the most commonly found items is fishing gear. Discarded fishing gear is a huge problem for our oceans, as it harms thousands of our favorite marine animals every year through ghost fishing, which happens when animals get trapped in any unmanned or abandoned fishing gear. These […]
Creature Feature: Portuguese Man O’ War
The Portuguese Man O’ War, Physalia physalis, is a highly specialized marine organism with fascinating biology and ecology. This species is found in waters all around the world, including in the Florida Keys. The Portuguese Man O’ War is often mistaken for a jelly. However, this animal actually belongs to the class Hydrozoa, distinct from the […]
Education with the Saltwater Pool
In the 1950s, tourists were once able to drive onto Pigeon Key and eat at the old restaurant and tap house, and swim in our pool. The saltwater pool on the south end of the island was built in 1951 during Pigeon Key’s “glory days,” when Pigeon Key was once named “the number one rest […]
Marine Habitats: Coral Reef
Coral reefs are some of the most diverse and important ecosystems on the planet, providing habitats and shelter for countless species in the ocean. Despite making up only 1% of the ocean’s landscape, coral reefs around the world provide a habitat for approximately 25% of all marine life! The Florida Keys are home to one […]
Paint Foreman’s House: Past and Present
The Paint Foreman’s House, a large wood-framed rectangular building, on Pigeon Key was originally built in 1908 as a kitchen, then repurposed to a house in 1912, and is one of the oldest buildings on the island. It featured board-and-batten style shearing on the exterior, and on the inside of the building, there are five […]
Creature Feature: Tarpon
Atlantic Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) are large, silvery sport fish commonly found throughout Florida and the Florida Keys. Tarpon can grow up to 8 feet in length, weigh up to 350 pounds, and live over 50 years. It’s no wonder they are called the “silver king!” A tarpon’s diet generally consists of small fish like pinfish, […]
Marine Habitats: Shallow Hardbottom
The Florida Keys are home to a wide variety of habitats and marine life. One of the most fascinating, yet understudied habitats in the Florida Keys is the shallow hardbottom, making up approximately 30-40% of South Florida’s coastal waters. The shallow hardbottom habitat was formed in the Florida Keys roughly 200,000 years ago when the […]