Family Fun Fest Looks at Animal Superpowers

Kids listen to the story of Cassiopeia at January's Family Fun Fest.

NPS Photo by Thomas M. Strom

News Release Date: January 25, 2012

Contact: Gary Bremen, 305-230-1144, x007

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA - Batman, Catwoman and Spiderman are all cool, but the real stories behind the superpowers of some of Biscayne's animals are mindblowing! The February 12 installment of Biscayne National Park's multiple award-winning Family Fun Fest will look at animal communication, navigation, defense and predation. The free event takes place from 1-4 pm at the park's Dante Fascell Visitor Center, 9 miles east of Homestead. Free bus transportation will be provided from Florida City City Hall and from the Homestead YMCA.

Family Fun Fest participants receive a passport that will guide them through five hands-on and engaging activity stations located around the visitor center. Stations include:

• Sensitive Sharks - Some of the ocean's most fear-inducing predators are actually pretty sensitive…in ways humans can hardly imagine.
• Ready! Aim! Fire! - If you think snails are just slow-moving vegetarians, think again!
• Watch Me Disappear - Camouflage so amazing, it seems like magic!
• Tawk on Tawk - A seahorse, a fiddler crab and a treehopper meet on the set of the zaniest TV talk show this side of New Yawk City!
• Turtle Travels - Sea turtles travel thousands of miles in their lives. How do they know where to go?

Participants who complete all activities will earn a specially-designed button to remember the day. Earning all five buttons in a season earns a Family Fun Fest Fanatic award in April. Fans of the park's Facebook page will also receive a clue to a special "Bonus Station" on the Facebook page on Sunday morning.

Future Family Fun Fests are:

• Biscayne Wrecktacular! - March 11, 2012 - Discover the mysteries of the deep from 5 wrecks along the park's Maritime Heritage Trail.
• Skeleton Crew - April 15, 2012 (A WEEK LATER THAN USUAL DUE TO EASTER) - Take a look inside all kinds of critters, from corals and fish to manatees and dolphins.

Free bus transportation, made possible by the event's sponsors, will be available from the Florida City City Hall (departing at 12:45 pm) and the Homestead YMCA (departing at 1:45 pm); call 305-230-1144, x007 for details.

Family Fun Fest's Season 12: Myth, Magic and Mystery is made possible through a generous grant from the Captain Bob Lewis Billfish Challenge and the Bobby Duryea Fund at the South Florida National Parks Trust, with additional support from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves and a host of dedicated volunteers. The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is located at 9700 SW 328 Street, nine miles east of Homestead, Florida. Call 305-230-7275, extension 0 or visit the park's website at www.nps.gov/bisc for more information. For regular updates from the park, "like" us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/BiscayneNPS and "follow" us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BiscayneNPS.