Biscayne National Park! The park is mostly water, so we spent all day boating, snorkeling, swimming, and paddleboarding! The water was 70 degrees in January! I rented a wetsuit, but didn’t end up needing it! I am so used to our freezing lakes back home that this felt like a swimming pool. It was also crystal clear, bright blue! The tropical vibes were on point, and I couldn’t have asked for better weather!
We started with snorkeling some coral reefs and a shipwreck. Only my second time snorkeling, and the motion of the waves was a fun new element! No photos, unfortunately, since I don’t have anything waterproof. Then we visited an island with the lighthouse for lunch before heading for the mangroves for some paddling and swimming! Got to see all sorts of fish and a few sharks! By the time we got back, it was just about sunset!
More of a nature spotlight instead of a plant spotlight this time around, I want to share a really cool symbiotic relationship. The upside-down jelly, or Cassiopea xamachana, is a jellyfish that, unlike most other jellies, stays upside down since they harbor zooxanthellae, an algae that lives in their tissues and shares the energy they make from photosynthesis. The jellies stays upside down to maximize the sun exposure. They live in the shallow, clear waters. I paddled through a whole underwater grove of these little guys, and it was cool to watch them! They do have a sting to them, so if you see them, make sure not to touch them!
The Fools Journeys 
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