August 2014

Key West is everything Jimmy Buffet sang about and more. Its a haven for pirates, partiers, preservationists, and everything in between.

The highlight of the trip was The Turtle Hospital on Marathon Key. Interactive, educational, and up close experience. The Turtle Hospital staff really lets you see their whole operation and meet all the turtles. I really enjoyed learning about each turtle’s personal story.

The below GIF is one of the turtles who has bubble butt. I wish his story were as funny as the name of the affliction from which he suffers. See the dark circles on his rear? Those are weights. Due to a likely run-in with a boat motor, his shell was damaged allowing air to get underneath the shell. These air pockets become trapped and throw off the turtles buoyancy. Without rescuers help, this turtle would have bobbed along the surface until he died.

With The Turtle Hospital’s help, this little guy is getting some much needed TLC. He will be upgraded to the bigger pools with more turtle friends. However, due to the injury, he cannot be released back to the wild just in case the weights fall off.

Anyway, go to The Turtle Hospital if you are in the keys. The tour gets you up close and personal to these awesome animals.

Another reason to go to the keys… the sunsets… duh. (I’m feeling poetic this Monday morning.)

Another fun, close up experience we had was visiting the Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key. You WILL see these little guys. And they are not very skittish around people. This buddy came up to me and licked my hand.. probably looking for a handout. While there, go for a walk around The Blue Hole! Pretty cool ecosystem and lots of other wildlife.

National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key

The other big thing we did was go diving! SCUBA is a world unto itself. I don’t know how to describe it other than like flying! Go see our post Things That Are Underwater for some of our shots from Key West. Underwater photography is tough, but I’m working on it.