Biscayne News

After four years of dormancy, the highly controversial issue of no-fishing zones has been r

Under the turquoise waters in Biscayne National Park, a story of promise or demise is brewing.

On Saturday, July 25, 2009, Biscayne National Park and its concessioner, in cooperation with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) will host the Great Annual Fish Count, an annual event that seeks to inspire recreational divers and snorkele

A federal proposal would open a vast sweep of forest and swamp on both sides of Alligator Alley to hunting and off-road vehicles.

A woman was bitten by a shark as she swam near a sandbar in Biscayne National Park Saturday afternoon.

Lionfish, likened by scientists to underwater locusts, have been found to the south off Key Largo, to the north off 

The park that almost wasn't is celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend. Biscayne National Park -- 173,000 acres, 22 miles long and 14 miles wide; extending from south of Key Biscayne to north of Key Largo; 90 percent underwater -- is America's largest marine park. But if not for the dogged efforts of a handful of local activists, it might have become an oil refinery, a deep-water port, a string of causeways with condominiums and, most recently, a final approach to a commercial airport.

Histories, novels and films featuring the Everglades, its colorful characters and the national park that preserves much of its remaining splendor could fill a room. But the ones about Biscayne National Park, its ignored neighbor, could barely fill a shelf -- and most of those focus on shipwrecks or Black Caesar, pirate namesake of the creek between Old Rhodes and Elliott keys.

Sometimes, Lloyd Miller still can't believe that Biscayne National Park will be celebrating its 40th birthday next weekend -- even as he meanders through it twice a week and chats with staff about preserving it for future generations.

WITHIN sight of downtown Miami, yet worlds away, there is a place that can be considered a living testimony of 10,000 years of human history -- from pirates and shipwrecks to pineapple farmers and presidents. That place is known as Biscayne National Park, which protects and preserves a nationally significant marine ecosystem with mangrove shorelines, a shallow bay, undeveloped islands, and living coral reefs.

Two divers are hospitalized after blacking out in the waters at Biscayne National Park in South Florida. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesman Eddy Ballester says the two young men were apparently free diving off a recreational boat Saturday afternoon. People aboard the vessel plucked the pair from the water and called emergency officials.