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The following morning we took a 30-minute boat
ride south to Looe Key. As the first boat there, we had
our choice of moorings and selected one at the west
end of the reef. We were amazed by the conditions and
initial sightings — a passing reef shark, a resident 400-
pound goliath grouper in the shade under the boat and
90- to 100-foot visibility. It was a great start to some of
the best diving we’ve had in the Florida Keys.
Looe Key is a spur-and-groove reef with coral fingers
that extend out to sea, separated by white-sand channels.
Located 6 miles offshore of Big Pine Key and Ramrod
Key, Looe Key is entirely submerged; the depth ranges
from 7 feet to 30 feet. The reef is shallow, but that doesn’t
preclude visits from large marine life such as reef sharks,
spotted eagle rays, goliath groupers and big barracuda.
Looe Key became a National Marine Sanctuary in
1981, following in the footsteps of the Key Largo National
Marine Sanctuary that was established in 1975. Both areas
were incorporated into the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary, which was designated in 1990. The Looe Key
Existing Management Area covers 5.3 square nautical
miles and includes the Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation
Area (SPA) and the Looe Key Special-Use Research-Only
Area. The sanctuary designation restricts spearfishing,
lobster harvest and tropical fish collection and provides
other protections for the reef. The research-only area
is off limits to the public, giving scientists a controlled
setting for studying the impacts of environmental change
compared to those of human use.
Good visibility is never guaranteed, but conditions
were nothing short of spectacular during our visit.
The reef’s coral fingers make navigating the site easy.
The shallows are covered in fan and soft corals that
undulate in synchronized movement with the surge.
In deeper areas are stands of elkhorn corals shading
schools of French grunts. These delicate, endangered
corals are susceptible to disease and temperature stress.
Corals thrive in a narrow temperature range, and
coral bleaching can occur with sustained temperatures
outside this range. Shallow reefs around the world,
including Looe Key and others in the Florida Keys, are
particularly susceptible to warming from higher ambient
temperatures. We found transplanted nursery-grown
staghorn corals along with star, brain and fire corals as
well as small but pristine pillar corals.
The reef is home to more than 150 species of fish.
Grouper, parrotfish and hogfish are frequent customers
at the plentiful cleaning stations. Abundant schools
of sergeant majors, Atlantic spadefish, horse-eye jacks
and midnight parrotfish pass through the reef. The
inhabitants seem accustomed to divers, which is one
of the pleasures of diving a marine protected area. The
highlight of the day was a trio of spotted eagle rays that
soared majestically just above the coral.
We finished the day with a snorkel trip to American
Shoal Lighthouse. The 109-foot-tall lighthouse,
completed in 1880, sits in the middle of the sanctuary.
Offshore of Sugarloaf Key, American Shoal stands
in 5 feet of water and was the last of six lighthouses
constructed in the Florida Keys to warn mariners of
dangerously shallow reefs. The local birds, now the sole
residents, aggregate on the structure to dry their wings
in the sea breezes. In the flat sand and rubble beneath
the lighthouse are the usual suspects: barracuda and
Clockwise from
upper left:
Divers are often
greeted by large
goliath groupers
waiting in the
shade of dive
boats. Large
marine life such
as reef sharks
are frequent
visitors to Looe
Key, even in
the shallows.
A midnight
parrotfish exits a
cleaning station
nestled in pillar
coral. Schools
of grunts
huddle beneath
large stands of
elkhorn coral.