Date/Time
Date(s) -Mon, 09/23/2013
6:30 am - 12:30 pm
Location
Biscayne National Park
Category(ies) No Categories
A late addition to our schedule is a Birding and Historic Shipwreck Snorkel Trip in Biscayne National Park. Festivalgoers coming from the mainland can start their trek to the Keys with a short detour to this fabulous watery park.
Participants on this pelagic birding and shipwreck snorkel trip will be accompanied by a guide on a charter boat from the park’s concessionaire.
Before getting on the boat, participants will get a chance to look for land birds such as migrating warblers and the mangrove cuckoo. (The biggest density of mangrove cuckoos is found in this park.) After a pre-boarding and safety talk, snorkel gear distribution, you’ll board the boat at 8 a.m. to travel through Biscayne Bay, Caesar Creek and out to the open ocean.
Trip leaders will discuss the park’s natural resources and its maritime heritage, including shipwrecks and lighthouses; Audubon experts will point out pelagic birds. You are sure to see double-crested cormorants, royal terns and possibly migrating shorebirds. We’ll approach Pacific Reef Light to look for brown boobies. (The reef lights are the only common places in Miami-Dade County where you’ll see this species.)
Next up is the Mandalay shipwreck for a guided snorkel with an archaeologist pointing out the features of the wreck. After that, the boat will return south while looking for shearwaters and petrels, returning to the park’s visitor center by 12:30 p.m., where you will be on your own to explore the center or go on a jetty walk or have a picnic and continue birding. Complimentary water bottles will be provided.
Where: Biscayne National Park visitor center parking lot, 9700 S.W. 328th St, Homestead, FL33033
When: 6:30 a.m. in the Visitor Center parking lot of Biscayne National Park.
Trip length: 1 hour on land; 4 hours at sea
Trip Leaders: Elsa Alvear, National Park Service; Charles Lawson, National Park Service; and Robin Diaz, Tropical Audubon Society
The cost is $69 per person or $59 for seniors and children.