Scott Atwell, Communications and Outreach Manager for the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on in the sanctuary.
The Sanctuary Eco Discover Center at the Truman Annex has seen a record number of visitors.
Atwell said, “It’s a good news, bad news kind of story. The good news is, every month it seems like we have a record number, year over year, of people pouring into the Eco Discovery Center, which is in the Truman Annex, one of the few free things that you could do in Key West, 6,000 square feet of air conditioning. That’s the good news. The bad news is it takes more friends to help us manage those number of people. This particular time of the year is when we lose our snowbirds, so a lot of our volunteer help, our greeters at the Eco Discovery Center are going elsewhere, heading north for the winter, and it leaves us a little bit short handed. So we’re looking for volunteers. It’s really a great opportunity for high school kids who are now getting out of school, have some time on their hands. They have requirements, sometimes to do volunteer hours. So if you know someone who might be in that category, the shifts are about three to four hours long and involve greeting people who make it to the Eco Discovery Center, make sure they know where they’re going, answer any questions they have, and our volunteers get trained up beforehand, so they become ambassadors for us. They get all the resources they need and it’s a fun place to be. We’re adding new programs like the Discovery Saturdays, and we even have yoga with a view once a month now, 60 minutes, because it really is a really pretty setting in front of the water. Once a month, on a Saturday, we have yoga in our backyard. It’s a fun place to be. So if you’re interested in volunteering, just go to our website to sign up. We’re open Wednesdays through Saturdays from nine to four, but I have to put an asterisk on that, except for this week. Believe it or not, I’m sitting here promoting the Eco Discovery Center, and it’s closed today, tomorrow and Friday, because our entire complex is undergoing some electrical work, but come Saturday, the doors will be open nine to four.”
Coral Palooza is coming up to celebrate the 10th anniversary of World Oceans Day.
Atwell said, “On June 6, Coral Restoration Foundation is going to be at the Eco Discovery Center that’s on a Friday with a visit from the fantastic Captain Coral. If you’ve never seen Captain Coral in action, well, you’re missing something. So come see Captain Coral on Friday, June 6, and then the next day, on Saturday, the National Park Service is going to have workbooks at the Eco Discovery Center for the younger folks to earn their underwater Ranger badge during the day and then in the evening, Reef Relief is hosting the International Ocean Film Festival. So a couple of great things, June 6 and 7. Follow our social media, on Facebook and Instagram. With regard to the film festival, you could go to reefrelief.org if you want to get tickets for that.”
There’s also a chance to get into the water with Mote Marine Laboratory.
Atwell said, “You may have noticed that the weather’s starting to warm up in Florida, and that means that the corals are going to take notice of that as well. So since 2005, Mote Marine Laboratory, in conjunction with the sanctuary, has had something called the Bleach Watch Program, which is a community based reporting program. No doubt we have listeners right now who are snorkelers, divers. They’re in the water, and they can be the eyes in the water to help our scientists understand where and when bleaching is taking place. So this is a program that actually teaches the snorkelers and divers how to recognize the bleaching, how to report it, and just be part of the movement to help the sanctuary and Mote Marine Lab maintain the coral and the reefs in the Florida Keys. The training is about to begin next week. It happens all up and down the Keys, but geographically, it starts in the Lower Keys and moves its way to the Upper Keys. So on Tuesday next week, the day after Memorial Day at the Eco Discovery Center, 6pm is going to be the Key West training. Then after that, it goes to Summerland Key at Motes facility, then Marathon, then Islamorada, then Key Largo on June the 15th. It’s another great volunteer opportunity, especially since people are going to be out on the water anyway.”
Hurricane season is coming up.
Atwell said, “We’re keeping an eye on the corals, how the corals are maintained during that time. The reefs themselves we know are protective value. We’ve recently got the data from last fall’s hurricanes. We had three straight come in a row, September, October, November last year and Eastern dry rocks off of Key West, again, performed admirably, knocking down more than 90% of the wave energy, especially with Hurricane Helene in September, there were waves measured at Satan’s Shoal that were about 19 feet but by the time they hit Eastern dry rocks, more than 92% of that wave energy had been dissipated. So the reefs are doing their job, and our mission iconic reefs program, is doing its job, making sure those reefs continue with the restoration work that’s going on.”
For more information, click here: https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/