Key West is a well known vacation destination, known not just for outstanding Spring breaks but also for its abundant sea life. You won’t know what you have been missing till you go scuba-diving, snorkeling or reef checking at this place. The coral reef stretch at this place is more than 130 miles, where you can see beautiful tropical fish and coral and the best underwater views.
It is easy to reach Key West and language is no barrier. Here is some of the underwater sea life that you can see on your vacation –
- Octopus – When the world sleeps at night, the ocean comes alive. This is the time when predatory octopuses come out of their hiding places in search of food. This octopus is a nocturnal hunter that changes color and texture to match with its surrounding. An underwater chameleon!
Marine biologists consider this creature as one of the most intelligent sea organism that communicates its emotions by changing its color. It turns red when angry and white when scared. This 8 limbed and 3 feet long sea creature has a good memory. Their life span is approximately 1 year.
Female octopuses lay about 500 eggs that hatch in 55-60 days. They survive only until the eggs hatch and then they die. The baby octopuses are then on their own.
An octopus’ sensory organs are in its limbs. It has a preference for shrimps and crabs but will eat snails or mussels too. These sea creatures are highly territorial and hunt in the grass beds at coral reefs and shallow waters. They are loners and use rocks and shells for creating a boundary around their dens.
If you go snorkeling at night, you are sure to see this lone hunter. They glow with a bluish green light under the water.
- Sea Turtles – Turtle soup and steak was a popular food in Florida Keys till the 1970s. Seeing the diminishing turtle population, it closed down and the turtles came to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. Even with the Act in force, these species are threatened due to the coastal development threatening their nesting habitat.
There are seven sea turtle species at present, and you can see Hawksbill turtle, Kemp’s Ridley, Loggerhead turtle, Green turtles and Leatherback turtles here. Of these, the Leatherhead turtle is the most active and largest. It feeds on soft animals and jellyfish. Loggerhead turtles are the most commonly found turtles in Key West. They are also listed under threatened species. Kemp’s Ridley is a small sized turtle and very rare.
- Queen Conch – These are actually snails and symbolize the relaxed Floridian life-style. They are harvested for their beautiful shell and meat. The queen conch is a mollusk that has a large flared shell. It uses a single foot for propelling itself and for righting itself when it falls over.
Queen Conchs are found in the shallow and warm water of Florida Keys. The adults are found in the hard bottom places of sponges and coral or in coral rubble. But usually, they can be found on the sea grass bed.
- Manatees – Florida Keys is also home to a very special sea organism, Florida manatee or sea cow, as it is commonly known. It is a slow moving creature that swims into waterways or canals. They are normally very gently but are very heavy, weighing almost a ton. Swimming with them can disturb their natural behavior.
Manatees find adequate food in the sea and feeding them with lettuce, etc. is illegal. Their heavy weight makes them a risk to boat strikes.
It is best to admire these gentle sea creatures from afar and not to feed them, swim with them or touch them.
- Coral Reef – The Florida Keys’ coral reef are the only coral barrier reef. They contain numerous varieties of sea life. They are also a part of interdependent ecosystem that includes sea grasses, mangroves and others growing on the bayside and ocean of Key West.
It is recognized as an important environment and steps have been taken to protect it by creating the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. This coral reef contains protected habitat such as crabs, lobsters, moray eels, sea turtles, sea birds, dolphins, anemones, sponges, soft and stony corals, jellyfish and an abundance of other types of fishes. You can see all these and more when you go snorkeling or diving.
The corals are alive and delicate structures that contain thousands of polyps, which are animals with very slow growth. These polyps are attached together to form one colony. There is a constant growth of new colonies providing a nesting area for many birds.
- Dolphins – Key West is where you can find the bottlenose dolphins. These sea animals are highly intelligent and friendly. They can also be trained to do a lot of tricks. Dolphins can swim at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour in the open sea. They stay underwater but come up for breathing, which is around 2 or three times in a minute.
Bottlenose dolphins travel in groups and communicate with whistles and squeaks. They are very helpful and aid injured dolphins by helping them surface. Dolphins feed on the fishes found on the sea bed, though they also eat squids and shrimps. They also have a fondness of human food and trail boats in the hopes of getting leftovers.
- Seastars – Once known as starfish, the seastar’s body is divided into five sections that are arranged surrounding a disc. It has hard internal skeleton that can sometimes result in broken arms. But, the seastars regrow their arms or a new animal forms from the severed arm.
This echinoderm is a relative of the sand dollars and sea urchins. It has a calcified bony skin, giving it protection from predators. Many starfishes also wear bright colors that are a camouflage from hunters.
You will be amazed at the underwater creatures when you go for scuba diving or snorkeling. Make sure that you do not miss the sharks, the wahoo, blackfin tuna and many more big fishes that have made their home in the waters of this wonderful place.