Florida Keys Real Estate News

We are so fortunate to have these gentle giants right in our own backyard!  Manatees can often be seen in various canals through out the Florida Keys.  This mama manatee was spotted with her newborn on Lower Matecumbe Key, Islamorada.  Females have one calf every two to five years.  The calf stays with its mother for two years, nursing off her teats - which is what I believe we are witnessing in this video.   Manatees are very gentle, skittish mammals.  They are air breathing herbivores who enjoy munching on sea grass, mangrove leaves and algae.  They are slow moving so please be on the look out when boating so you can avoid hitting these gentle sea cows.  Manatees have no natural predators but humans have played a large part in their risk of extinction.  

The Florida Keys is a large boating community.  Whether you like to fish offshore or in the backcountry, snorkel or dive, sail or just cruise around - Islamorada is a great place to boat.  The Village of Islamorada is made up of 4 islands and each island is about 4 miles long, which mean many bridges / cut throughs from the ocean side to the bay side.  One of the coolest channels, in Islamorada, is the Wheel Ditch, which is located on the North end of Lower Matecumbe Key.  If you are heading North, you will exit near Robbie's Marina.  Here is a video of my family going through the wheel ditch.  My husband is sitting up front with our daughter and I am driving the boat.  To toot my own horn, I have been driving around these waters for the past 20 years - many times without my husband on the boat.  I held my captain's license for about 18 years.  I love boating around this amazing place!  I know these waters and understand the importance of control depths and bridge heights.  Here is a little rhyme for you to remember when boating around the area - it might come in handy one day...