My weekend went a little longer than usual, extending an extra day. The regular weekend days were awesome - celebrating a birthday in Miami, going to the movies, hittin' up Miami Beach. However, it is Monday that wins. After spending the morning picking tropical fruit - carambolas, sapodillos, and jabuticaba. I spent the afternoon watching wildlife in the Everglades National Park.
I'm fascinated by certain bits of American history and take every opportunity at museums and parks to satisfy my intrigue. Today, I learned that the Everglades National Park was created, because the glades were (and in fact still are) disappearing. The Audobon Society, in 1901, was first to take an interest in protecting the area, because of the incredible bird diversity. However it was in 1916 that conservation efforts really picked up under the eyes of the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs; and it was a long road until 1947 when Presiden Truman made the national park official.
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| Who's watching who? A bird is checking out the distant tourists |
Water supplies, flow, and cycle are major concerns for the continued existence of the park. Human water use up North causes low water levels in the park, thus making room for more salt water to mingle with fresh water throwing off the ecological balance from two directions - water level and salinity.
Fun Facts: Everglades National Park
- first national park formed to primarily protect it's biological diversity vs. it's scenic splendor
- 1,506,539 acres make it the 3rd largest national park in the lower 48 states ( Yellowstone and Death Valley are larger)
- sometimes called the "endangered national park"
- orchids grow on oak trees in the Everglades
- many plants in the Everglades are found nowhere else on earth
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| Camouflaged gators, can you see both of them? |
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