southern diver/skin diver

AMERICA'S HIGHWAY TO THE SEA:

THE OVERSEAS HIGHWAY LEADS

TO THE FLORIDA KEYS

For divers and snorkelers, there's nowhere else in the world like the Overseas Highway and the Florida Keys. Just get on US 1 and head south.

US 1 heads down the entire east coast of the United States from Maine and into the Sunshine State. Down south of Miami, it leads to some of the top underwater wonders in the world.

The Overseas Highway is a modern engineering wonder. It is a driver's magic carpet ride to and through the Keys, carrying autos from Florida's mainland across countless coral and limestone islets and bridges through this special world of preserved marine life.

The highway--the southernmost leg of famed U.S. 1--follows a trail originally blazed in 1912 when Henry Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railroad from Miami to Key West. The railroad ceased operations on this link in 1935, but this highway of 113 miles of roadway and 42 overseas bridges replaced it in 1938. Though the Overseas Highway can be traveled in less than four hours, much more time is needed to explore the true character and characters of the Florida Keys. The key to Florida Keys addresses are the mile markers, small green signs with white numbers that start at MM 126 and end with MM 0 at the corner of Fleming and Whitehead streets in downtown Key West.

But US 1 and the Overseas Highway are also the links to the new Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, second only to Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in total protected reef area. One of 14 national marine sancturaries in the U.S., the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is unique in that it encompasses the only living barrier coral reef system in the U.S. Just to the northeast, Biscayne National Park adds even more protected diving to the mix.

Along with the coral reefs, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary also includes patch reefs, hardbottoms, vast seagrass meadows, mangrove-fringed islands, and all of the rich marine life that these communities support. The entire actually area encompasses 2,800-square-nautical-miles.

Each of the most popular Florida Keys diving areas (Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Looe Key, Key West, and Biscayne National Park) is profiled in the following pages with special 'Spotlights.' The five areas of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary are located directly off the Overseas Highway, while Biscayne National Park is just due east off US 1 and the Florida Turnpike.

The establishment of the various protected areas over the years and the ultimate development of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in 1990 was the result of many threats to the undersea world, including: the threat of oil drilling; reports of deteriorating water quality; adverse affects of coral bleaching; the die-off of long-spined urchin; loss of living coral cover on reefs; a major seagrass die-off; declines in reef fish populations; and the spread of coral diseases. When three large ships ran aground on the coral reef tracts within a brief 18-day period in 1989, Congress finally took action.

Years in development, 1997's Final Management Plan for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary contains some of the most innovative tools available for protecting America's coral reef and its surrounding marine communities for the use and enjoyment of future generations. The plan affectively addresses problems and provides long-term solutions in the following areas: deteriorating water quality; decling health of the living coral reefs; physical damage to coral reefs and seagrass communities; user conflicts, visitor safety, and quality of life issues; and declining marine resources. The final plan represents the most comprhensive approach ever attempted at protecting a marine community as complex as the Florida Keys.

"Quite simply, the establishment of the sanctuary and the implementation of the plan make diving better," says Alyson Simmons, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. "As just one example, buoys marking the preservation areas mean less fishing boats, more marine life, and a more pleastant overall experience for divers."

This all means that the Florida Keys will be alive and well in the coming century. From Biscayne National Park in the north to Key West in the south, US 1 is your highway into this sea of underwater wonders.

For further information, contact the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary at 216 Ann Street, Key West, FL 33040, (305) 292-0311, or Biscayne National Park at P.O. Box 1369, Homestead, FL 33090, (305) 230-7275.