2025-26 Junior SeaKeepers Floating Classroom

On November 16, 2025, The International SeaKeepers Society hosted our inaugural floating classroom experience for our 2025-26 cohort of Junior SeaKeepers aboard DISCOVERY Vessel River Queen. We started our morning by meeting our group of 12 excited JSKs at FIU’s Biscayne Bay campus, where after a quick safety briefing, we set out for a beautiful day on the water. On our way out of the docks, our JSKs spotted a spotted eagle ray swimming by, the first we have ever seen within the river! As we made our way out into the bay, SeaKeepers’ Educational Outreach Manager, Jack, and Community Engagement Manager, Lillian, led an interactive discussion on coastal habitats, the history of Florida’s watershed, and the pollution crisis. Our JSKs were quick to answer almost every question we had, and brought even more great questions to the table. We then got to put our knowledge to the test using our Earth Echo Water Quality testing kits, looking to sample the Bay and assess its levels of pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. We found the Bay has continued to see higher levels of dissolved oxygen than expected, which is a great sign for the health of our ecosystems. We finished our day on the water with an island cleanup at Sandspur Island, where our hardworking JSKs collected 38 pounds of trash in less than half an hour, removing tons of microplastics, bottles, and even an entire discarded steel grill. We give a huge thank you to our amazing JSKs for their hard work and enthusiasm, and to the crew of River Queen for a great day on the water!