ISLAND CRITTERS

When exploring a coral reef island, several various environments characterized by moisture, elevation and vegetation type and density  provide habitat for animals that are especially adpted to these limiting factors. Plants and animals are greatly affected by our two seasons: the wet and dry, summer and winter. Many of these plants and animals have developed special adaptations necessary for living here. As you explore the islands, your captain will show you how some of animals have adapted to life in the Florida Keys.

Some of the land critters that we might see when exploring one of our coral reef islands include mammals such as marsh rabbits and raccoons, mice and rats; birds such as osprey, hawks, herons, egrets, pelicans, cormorants, mockingbirds, warblers, catbirds; crabs such as the mangrove tree crab, hermit crabs, and fiddler crabs; land snails such as the peanut snail and the tree snail.