Biscayne Immersions Floating Classroom with Blue Scholars Initiative and Florida Keys Children's Shelter

Overview

On Tuesday, June 4th, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society collaborated with Blue Scholars Initiative and Biscayne National Park Institute to host our second Biscayne Immersions Floating Classroom. We were joined by 11 students from Florida Keys Children's Shelter, an organization that focuses on providing residential and non-residential programs for youth and their families in need of support and housing. 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 off of Adam's Key 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. After lunch and some brief lessons on fish identification from our Education Manager, Toni, and marine debris from our Community Engagement Associate, Lillian, the students hopped back in the water to snorkel near the dock. We saw tons of fish, including a few Snook and many large Queen Parrotfish. 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 Florida Keys Children's Shelter for joining us, and to Blue Scholars Initiative and Biscayne National Park Institute for such an amazing trip!