MOLASSES REEF

  MOLASSES TOWER

   KEY LARGO

SOFT CORAL ** GORGONIANS

These coral are mistaken for plants. They are perimently attached to the bottom. But are flexible and move freely with the current and aid in the feeding web. From O feet to 30 feet the vertical corals and soft corals are in abundance. At 30 feet to 45 feet Large barrel sponges and tube sponges are abundant. With the abundance of sponges, green turtles and hawksbill turtles, as well as midnight parrotfish are often seen. Going down to 45 to 50 feet sponges and sea fans clearly dominate the sea floor. With the occasional giant heads or mounds of star coral.

DIVE SITES OFF THE FLORIDA KEYS

GRECIAN ROCKS

   Mile Marker: 106 Location: N 25 deg 06.70 min W 80 deg 18.55 min Markers: Mooring Buoys G1-G12; Wooden Marker Depth Range: 3 to 35 feet Grecian Rocks is a crescent-shaped patch reef located just south-southwest of Key Largo Dry Rocks and is marked by a wooden marker and 12 mooring buoys designated with the letter "G". The reef itself is half a mile long, running from north to south, and 150 yards wide. Grecian Rocks is a very interesting dive site because similar to that of most outer bank reefs in the area.Divers can explore the spur and groove system that is covered by a large variety of corals.Divers can enjoy the calm conditions of this inshore reefs. In the deep areas of Greican Rocks are boulders of giant star coral, star coral, starlet coral, and brain coral.Sea fans and a variety of sponges are abundent.It is home to stoplight parrotfish, princess parrotfish, queen parrotfish, and blue parrotfish, and the great barracuda.There is an old Spanish cannon 75 feet south of this area. At shallower waters, branching corals become more and abundant until they are completely dominate at the reef crest. Giant golden-brown elkhorn coral cover the reef crest.Grecian Rocks is the shallowest of all the reefs in the Upper Keys and is exposed at low tide.Behind the reef is a large white sand plateau that is partially overgrown by turtle grass.The plateau is only 3 to 6 feet deep and makes it ideal for snorkeling.

The beautiful Florida Keys has the only living Coral Reef in the continental United States. It is your's for swimming, scuba, snorkel or a glass bottom boat tour. The reef starts just off Miami and continues to the dry Tortugas. For almost 200 miles,the Florida Keys strech across shallow, tropical waters. The Coral reef is a marine habitat that will dazzle you..

The reef ecosystem is of great complexity.There are 40 species of coral that inhabit the reef, 650 fish species, assortment of sponges and other invertebrate life.

Most coral reef coloies form in water at least 20 feet deep.Because the upper keys are high and generally long with few channels for water to flow through and impede coral growth. That is one reason there are many outer reefs in the Upper Keys.Also the Florida Current supplies the Atlantic side of the Keys with a constant flow of tropical waters.

The Upper Keys are composed of a 120,000 year old fossil reef formation of Key Largo Limestone.

Stony corals are the major reef architects. Polyps, the living portion of the coral, extract calcium from seawater and combine it with carbon dioxide to construct the elaborate limestone skeletons that form the reef backbone. Coral polyps are united into colonies. An individual colony grows one-half to seven inches a year, depending on the species. Corals start life as free-living larvae that later settle on the sea floor and develop into massive, sedentary limestone formations. 

    Coral reefs consist of many species of corals. Corals are made up of tiny organisms called polyps. A polyp is made up or two cell layers: the epidermis and the gastrodermis. The non-tissue layer between the gastrodermis and the epidermis is called the mesoglea. The polyp contains mesentery filaments, which contain nematocysts used in food capture, a pharynx, endothecal dissepiments (horizontal layers of skeletal material) and the columella (the central axis of the corallite found below the mouth). The corallite is the part of the skeleton deposited by one polyp. The skeletal wall around each polyp is called the theca. Other structures include the calice (the upper opening of the corallite), the coenosarc (the coral tissue that stretches over the surface of the coral between the polyps), the coenosteum (the skeletal material around the corallites), and the corallum, which is the skeleton of the coral. The coral anatomy also includes calcareous plate-like structure known as septa. The septa radiate from the wall to the center of the corallite. There are two types of septa: insert septa which lie below the corallite wall and exsert septa which protrude above the corallite wall. Corals are of two types: perforate and imperforate. Perforate corals have porous skeletons with connections between the polyps through the skeleton. Imperforate corals have solid skeletons. Many corals have different growth forms. They can be plocoid as in Tubastrea coccinea (orange cup coral) and Favia fragum (golf ball coral). They can also be meandroid in which corallites form a series within the same walls, as in the species Dendrogyra cylindrus (pillar coral). Other growth forms include cocoid, spherical shaped and phalecoid, as in Eusmilia fastigiata. 

• Fact: The oldest ecosystems on Earth are the coral reefs.
• Fact: The largest living structure on the planet are coral reefs. 
• Fact: Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the Earth’s surface.
• Fact: Coral Reefs are home to 25% of all marine fish species.
• Fact: 500 million people rely on coral reefs for their food and livelihoods.
• Fact: Coral reefs form natural barriers that protect shorelines from the eroding forces of the sea.
• Fact: Without the Keys Coral Reef track, parts of Florida would be under water.
• Fact: Corals' have been used in the treatment of cancer,HIV,cardiovascular diseases,ulcers and used for human bone grafts.  
• Fact: Coral reefs provide $375 billion per year around the world in goods and services.
• Fact: At the present rate of destruction, 70% of the world's coral reefs will be destroyed by the year 2050.

The Coral Reefs in the Key Largo area have many excellent dive spots. These patch reefs can be spotted from the surface or by putting your head in the water and trolling from behind a boat. Look for a spot  that has dense coral growth patterns and offers a variety of terrains.

Key Largo is abundant with charming restaurants, and things to do. Please take your time and realize all Key Largo has to offer! Key Largo, has a warm, nostalgic feeling? It may be because you have memories of the Bogart and McCall movie KEY LARGO or because of the song by Bertie Higgins?

CORAL REEF  YOU TUBE

Oceanography 

Frequently Sighted Fish