Animals

Canaveral National Seashore has a diverse and fascinating variety of aquatic and terrestrial animals. The park provides habitat for 15 species of federally-listed threatened or endangered animals, the second greatest number in the entire National Park Service.


These include seven reptiles:

Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Carretta carretta
Green Sea Turtle, Chelonia midas
Leatherback Sea Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, Lepidochelys kempii
Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata
Eastern Indigo Snake, Drymarchon coraisi couperi
Atlantic Salt Marsh Snake, Nerodia clarkii taeniata

Five Birds:

Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Wood Stork, Mycteria americana
Florida Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens
Arctic Peregrin Falcon, Falco peregrinus tundrius
Crested Caracara, Caracara cheriway

Three Mammals:

West Indian Manatee, Trichechus manatus
Southern Beach Mouse, Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris
Right Whale, Balaena glacialis

The park and adjacent Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are well known for great birding and are favored destinations for avid bird watchers. In addition to the the three species listed above, large numbers of migrating waterfowl, wading birds and shorebirds can be seen during the spring and fall migration periods and winter.

Canaveral National Seashore is equally renowned for outstanding fishing in the ocean surf and Mosquito Lagoon. The lagoon also harbors abundant populations of oysters, clams, blue crabs and shrimp.