Posted on 10/02/2020 11:26:05 AM PDT by SJackson
When Covid-19 hit, the islands were locked down, giving the environment time to recover and residents a chance to think
People enjoy the uncrowded beach in Key West, Florida, on 17 September amid the coronavirus pandemic. People enjoy the uncrowded beach in Key West, Florida, on 17 September amid the coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images Will Benson stands on the platform of a mint green fishing boat, under a white-hot sun, and whipsaws a fly fishing rig over azure waters as glassy as an aquarium. The water is no more than 10 feet deep. Dreadlock Holiday plays on the radio. His son Luke, six, watches.
He lets the lure fly – wheeeeeeeeesh. It sails over the silhouettes of two nurse sharks, one lemon shark and to the immediate left of an elusive school of permit, sparking some interest but no bites. They roll over, silvery fins glancing at the surface.
This stretch of paradise is called the Florida Keys national marine sanctuary, and for six months not a single cruise ship has plowed its shallow and heavily used channel, leaving locals in relative peace and with clear waters many say they have not seen in decades.
Now, a group of Key West residents would like to keep it this way.
Ocean Rebellion climate action group launches with protest against cruise ship Read more “It’s not that we don’t want cruise ships,” Benson said. “The reality is it’s not even good business,” he said, because it is destroying the environment which makes the Keys so special.
The water below Benson’s boat is as clear as a window pane, and the best that he, a fishing guide with the Lower Keys Guides Association, has seen in 30 years. He hands the pole to Luke, “You have the magic touch Luke, c’mon.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Good, after Key West gets rid of the ships, maybe they can do something about the green iguanas and the chickens. :P
The Manchester Guardian is no lover of anyone engages in Capitalism so all of the owners of the hotels, restaurants, charter boats, knickknack shops etc. who depend upon the tourism trade, do they get any mention?
When we go to Key West each year (had to cancel this year) we always stay at the far end of Duval Street away from the cruise ships.
Hope they qt least limit the ships, as it would make traveling there (and I am sure living there) better.
How many people would want 5000 people arriving in front of their house several times a day?
They seem to be ok with homos crawling all over the place.
The ones who own and work at the business'
It's obviously a choice for Key West to make.
I can’t stand reading articles written like short stories. I don’t give a flying f about what color the boat is. The woman who wrote this managed to get almost four literary color references in the first sentence. It’s like reading a romance novel. I rarely get past the first paragraph of this kind of article and now I have no sympathy for the schmucks and their stupid islands.
“How many people would want 5000 people arriving in front of their house several times a day?”
If it cut my property taxes in half, yes.
#Smashthetoilets!
Take Key West back to nature!
Shut off the electricity and water.
Drive those dirty capitalists and their disposable income supporters out and keep them out.
Yeah, they seem to be at home with all the drunks there too.
Personally I prefer the mid Keys.
I'm with you. "It was dark and stormy night."
It's all fun and games until the flashies* show up...
*a series reference from the Destroyermen books
The chickens aren't too much more than annoyance (It's always 5:00 AM somewhere as far as the roosters are concerned), but the iguanas eat every green and flowering thing in sight, plus they like to hang out in palm trees overhanging the swimming pool where I live part of the year and crap into the water at the most inopportune time (defined as any hour of the day).
“”How many people would want 5000 people arriving in front of their house several times a day?””
Key West isn’t Key West without the tourists. I was there back in July and it was a ghost town.
Back in the old days the water was crystal clear down to 200 feet. Conchs were everywhere, until the tourist divers came and took the lead conch, causing the herd to disburse and fall prey, leading to a scarcity.
Night fishing for lobster was such fun - dip net and Colman lantern
You know, anyone writing about Key West should take cues from Papa, himself. :P
“I walked Truman Street that night. Alone. In the rain.”
Without cruise ships the Keys would be a ghost town.
I love the FL Gulf beaches.
I envy anyone who has the privilege of being able to live there.
“Personally I prefer the mid Keys.”
I like the area around Marathon but haven’t been there in quite some time. The last time I was there, it seemed like the locals were being squeezed out and some of the charm of the Keys was being lost forever.
Keys ping.
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