• Purple, yellow, gold and orange sponges and soft corals wave against a turquioise sea.

    Biscayne

    National Park Florida

Biscayne National Park's Family Fun Fest Hosts "Musical Misfits"

Participants at Family Fun Fest prortray a spotted drum, a guitarfish, a trumpetfish and a fiddler crab.
Thomas M. Strom
The Musical Misfits: spotted drum, guitarfish, trumpetfish and fiddler crab.

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Date: January 6, 2011
Contact: Gary Bremen, 305-230-1144, x007

What if a guitarfish, a fiddler crab, a trumpetfish and a high-hat drum got together and formed a band? Start the new year with an educational and entertaining look at some of Biscayne National Park's Musical Misfits at the park's multi-award-winning Family Fun Fest! The free event takes on Sunday, January 9, 2011 at the park's Dante Fascell Visitor Center from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Stations located around the visitor center provide a variety of musically-themed interactive and hands-on activities, including:

  • Little Drummerfish — Drums get their name from the thumping sounds they make with their swim bladder, but what's that bladder really for?
  • Tune-a-Fish — Can you help the guitarfish's roadies tune up for the big concert?
  • Trumpetfish Trio — Quick! Name three really cool things about trumpetfish!
  • Fiddlin' Around — Does the fiddler crab with the biggest claw always win?
  • The Misfits: Live! — You've got front row seats for the year's hottest concert!

Participants will receive a paper passport to be punched at each station as they complete the activities. Those who complete all five activities will earn a special button to help remember the day, and those who earn five buttons in a season will receive a Family Fun Fest Fanatic award in April.

Family Fun Fest takes place on the second Sunday of every month from December through April. The series is made possible through a generous grant from the Captain Bob Lewis Billfish Challenge and the Bobby Duryea Memorial Fund at the South Florida National Parks Trust. Additional support this month comes from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves and a host of dedicated volunteers.

Future Family Fun Fest events in the 2010-2011 season are:

  • Keeping Up with the Joneses — February 13
    Celebrate "Black History Month" with a look back at the Jones Family of Porgy Key.
  • Alien Invaders — March 13
    Biscayne is being invaded by aliens, but they're not little green men from another planet!
  • BioBlitz Rewind — April 10
    Last April, thousands of people helped identify over 800 different species of plants and animals in just 24 hours as part of the National Geographic BioBlitz. What did we learn? Come find out!

The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is located at 9700 SW 328 Street, nine miles east of Homestead, Florida. Call 305-230-7275, extension 000 for more information.

 

Did You Know?

sea squirts on a mangrove root

Tunicates, or sea squirts, live on the roots of the red mangrove tree. These simple animals survive by filtering plankton out of seawater, and hold promise as the source of potent drugs used to fight tumors. Watch for them when snorkeling along Biscayne National Park's mangrove-fringed shoreline.