French angelfish
Aerial image of Looe Key
Stop 2 : Big Pine Key
Lying within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary , Looe Key Reef * offers some of the most exciting snorkelling in the Florida Keys . Dive operators , including Captain Hook ’ s in Big Pine Key , run regular boat trips to explore the Sanctuary Preservation Area , which helps to sustain critical marine habitat and species . Caribbean reef and nurse sharks , colossal groupers , spotted eagle rays , turtles and tarpons all swim amid the spur and groove formations ; my morning snorkel tour reveals several reef sharks patrolling the sandy channels below .
Home to over 150 species of fish , exploring this stunning underwater realm reveals rainbow and midnight parrotfish , angelfish , yellowtail snapper , butterflyfish and shoals of inquisitive sergeant majors . Delicate Christmas tree worms also vie for attention with the U-shaped reef ’ s 50 kinds of coral . A NOAA conservation initiative , Mission : Iconic Reefs , is working to re-establish elkhorn and staghorn thickets along the reef crest . * Site of the sinking of HMS Looe in 1744
Five-band surgeonfish
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