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

    Biscayne

    National Park Florida

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Family Fun Fest Revisits BioBlitz

Rachel Stingray, The Swedish Chef and their two sous chefs pose with a lionfish on the set of "Alien Chef America."
Rachel Stingray, The Swedish Chef and their two sous chefs pose with a lionfish on the set of "Alien Chef America."
Thomas M. Strom

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Date: March 24, 2011
Contact: Gary Bremen, 305-230-1144, x007

When the National Geographic Society hosted its first marine BioBlitz at Biscayne National Park last spring, over 2600 people catalogued nearly 1000 species in 24 hours. Nearly half of those species had never been documented in the park before, and two were completely new to science. On Sunday, April 10, Biscayne National Park's multi-award- winning Family Fun Fest will take a look back at one of the largest happenings in the park's 43-year history with "BioBlitz Rewind." The free event takes place 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 interactive and hands-on activities, including:

  • Observe! — Become a field scientist and make detailed observations on some of Biscayne's plants.
  • Identify! — Every good scientist has to be able to name what she finds!
  • Map! — Once scientists gather data, what can they do with it?
  • Tiptoe through the Taxa — So exactly what did Bioblitz's 2600 participants find?
  • BioBlitz Tonight! — Be part of a newscast highlighting some of Bioblitz's key discoveries.

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 earning their fifth button this season (and can prove it by bringing all their buttons with them this month) will receive a Family Fun Fest Fanatic award!

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, the National Park Service South Florida/Caribbean Inventory & Monitoring Network, the National Geographic Society, 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 000 for more information, or visit our website at www.nps.gov/bisc.  

Did You Know?

The Jones family on the porch of their Porgy Key home.

Israel Lafayette Jones purchased land on Porgy Key, at the southern end of Biscayne National Park, in 1898. He, his wife Mozelle and their sons Arthur and Lancelot carved out a life for themselves by farming pineapples and key limes, eventually owning most of the land surrounding Jones Lagoon. More...