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Key to Florida's underwater ecosystem

The Associated Press
February 4, 2007

Florida Keys visitors now have a way to experience the area's underwater ecosystem without getting wet: the new Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center.

The 6,400-square-foot, $6 million facility opened Jan. 13 on the Key West waterfront to showcase the underwater and upland habitats that characterize the Keys, emphasizing the coral reef that parallels the island chain.

Admission is free.

Through interactive and touch-screen exhibits and audio and video components, visitors can explore the Keys' hardwood hammock, mangrove, patch reef, seagrass, deep shelf and Dry Tortugas environments. Exhibit highlights include a walkthrough version of the Aquarius Undersea Lab, a manned underwater research laboratory located off Key Largo. Visitors can hear recordings from the lab, take video tours of the Keys' undersea world and view indigenous fish and sea creatures through video screens shaped like portholes.

The Eco-Discovery Center is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center

floridakeys.noaa.gov/eco_

discovery.html

Related topic galleries: Key West, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Florida, Ecosystems, Key Largo, Coral Reefs, Gardens and Parks

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