Biscayne Bay Immersions with The Motivational Edge
Miami, Florida
March 27, 2024
Overview
On Wednesday, March 27, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society collaborated with Blue Scholars Initiative and Biscayne National Park Institute to host our first Biscayne Immersions Floating Classroom. We were joined by 11 students from The Motivational Edge, a youth development agency committed to inspiring and educating students outside of traditional classroom settings. These students are participants in Surfrider’s SEAS program, a program committed to teaching inner city populations to swim, and increasing their access to and comfort with the ocean. We met the students at Dante Fascell Visitor Center, where we boarded a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB), accompanied by a Biscayne National Park Institute guide. After a safety briefing from our captain Adam, and an introduction to Biscayne Bay from Meredith, we headed out into the bay to a seagrass bed where we stopped to snorkel. The students wasted no time jumping in the water with their masks and snorkels to explore the seagrass bed and the edge of a nearby mangrove island. We saw lots of cool critters, including parrotfish, barracuda, blue crabs and spider crabs! We left the snorkel site to travel to Adam’s Key, where we set off on a nature walk and coastal cleanup. While admiring the local flora, we were able to collect over 55 lbs of trash on the trail that had become caught in the mangrove roots during a higher tide, most of which was made of styrofoam and plastic. After brief lessons on marine debris from Lillian, and on fish physiology from Toni, the students hopped back in the water to snorkel near the dock. We saw tons of fish, including a few Snook and one big Nassau Grouper. As we headed back to the Dante Fascell Visitor Center, the students showed off their knowledge with trivia about what they had learned that day. We are thankful to the students of The Motivational Edge for joining us, and to Blue Scholars Initiative and Biscayne National Park Institute for such an amazing trip!
Outing Goal
To connect South Florida students participating in the SEAS program with Biscayne Bay by offering them the experience to learn about the local ecology and get hands-on experience with marine science through snorkeling, water quality testing and a nature walk.
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