Junior SeaKeepers 2025-26 Everglades Hike and Exploration

On March 15, 2026, The International SeaKeepers Society’s Educational Outreach team hosted 9 of our Junior SeaKeepers along with several of their parents from the 2025-26 cohort for a field experience exploring the one-of-a-kind Everglades National Park led by and made possible thanks to our friends with the Education team from the Everglades National Park Service.

We started our day by meeting up at Ernest F. Coe Visitors Center and participating in a quick introduction to the park, what makes it special, and a crash course on some of the unique ecosystems that encompass the Everglades led by our trip leader and Park Ranger Colby. After a short drive to Anhinga Trail for our first hike, our team gifted the Junior SeaKeepers with waterproof field journals and pens, as well as binoculars to identify and chart some of the incredible species we hoped to see throughout the day. Led by our guide Colby, we were able to see a massive amount of biodiversity from plant life like sawgrass and mangroves to megafauna like more than ten American Alligators, juvenile and adult Anhingas, Cormorants, several Red-bellied Slider turtles, and various kinds of fish. As we moved down the trail, Colby took the time to explain some of the intricacies of the ecosystems as well as the animals that call it home, and the critical role the Everglades plays as the source of much of the freshwater in all of Florida. Our students took the time to take some great pictures of the ecosystem, record some observations, and even draw some of the wildlife we encountered on our first hike.

While we initially planned to go on a second hike, an encroaching thunderstorm caused us to head back to the Visitors Center where we finished our day by watching a video documentary on the history of the Everglades. Colby even handed out workbooks for our JSKs to become Junior Rangers and some pine wood samples we would have seen on our second hike, showing off their unique physiology that makes them extremely resilient to forest fires. By the end of our day, all of our students and even their parents were able to leave the Everglades with a newfound appreciation for this beautiful park.

We give a massive thank you to Colby and the entire team at Everglades National Park Service for the incredible work they do, helping our students to better understand how these unique habitats are paramount for preserving biodiversity and fostering the recovery of numerous endangered species. Our JSKs had a fantastic time learning more about the Everglades and how interconnected all of Florida is through this massive, beautiful ecosystem.