CORAL REEF FISH, LIVE WEBCAM, KEY LARGO

More info: John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida, was the first undersea park in the United States and opened in 1963. It covers around 70 nautical square miles of ocean

In the late 1950s, Dr. Gilbert L Voss of the Marine Institute of Miami and John D Pennekamp, an editor with the Miami Herald, teamed up to lead a fight to protect the reefs which were being damaged through misuse. Their efforts led the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials to designate the state-controlled reefs off Key Largo a permanent preserve.

In the spring of 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed the adjacent, federally controlled area of the reefs as the Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve. Florida Governor Leroy Collins later changed the name of the park to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, in recognition of John Pennekamp's efforts to save marine life.

This reef is the only living coral reef in the continental United States and is home to over 260 species of tropical fish and around 80 species of coral, as well as countless other invertebrates. Some of the most impressive corals include brain coral, mountainous star coral, elkhorn coral, and sea fans.

Some of the most commonly encountered fish are parrotfish, wrasses, damselfish, snappers, grunts, and barracudas. Invertebrates commonly seen on the reefs include lobster, sea cucumbers, urchins, shrimp, and anemones. Spiny Lobster are protected on most of the snorkel reefs, and so can grow to enormous size there, topping two feet from rostrum to tail.

Additional information:
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission myfwc.com
Florent's Guide To The South Florida Reefs reefguide.org
Corals - Treasures of the Ocean roceano.org