New Ecology Center

The Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center opened a few months ago. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary protects 2,896 square nautical miles of critical marine habitat, including coral reef, hard bottom, seagrass meadows, mangrove communities and sand flats. The NOAA (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) National Marine Sanctuary program and the state of Florida manage the sanctuary. This new exhibit is part of their education program. It's built on former Navy land at the Truman Annex. We can see Mallory Square, the Mohawk, and two cruise ships from here.

And speaking of cruise ships. The daytime rhythm of Duval Street changes when a cruise ship is in port. They can accommodate three at a time, although we never saw more than two. It's sometimes a shock to be walking down a street, you glance up and your distant vision is full of a white mountain. They are required to be gone by sunset. Don't want to mess up the view from Mallory Square.