Profiles

Captain Caiti Currie: Steward of Key Largo’s Marine Environment

Caitlin “Caiti” Currie, who captains Key Largo water excursions for Pirates Cove Watersports and school groups out of MarineLab at Key Largo Undersea Park, is passionate about keeping the Florida Keys’ aquamarine waters clean. Through Pirates Cove, located at Reefhouse Resort & Marina, she enjoys captaining and participating in Dive Against Debris trips.

By |2022-11-02T11:06:12-04:00November 2, 2022|

George Bellenger: Steward of the Natural Backcountry

George Bellenger, who co-founded Key West Eco Tours with wife Carla 20 years ago, believes that even a five-minute commitment helps with preserving the Keys’ natural backcountry and dense mangrove islands. The Bellengers’ backcountry eco-tours are operated from the Geiger Key Paddle Hut out of Geiger Key Marina fish camp and RV park.

By |2022-10-05T14:20:52-04:00October 5, 2022|

Lisa Lee Herman: Steward of Keys Marine Life Through Art

Marine artist Lisa Lee Herman, owner of Gallery of the Arts Islamorada, is known throughout the Upper Keys for her gyotaku — the ancient Japanese art form for traditionally recording a catch. In fact, Herman greets her gyotaku-seeking clients, and the prized fish they want to preserve, at the dock following their angling excursions.

By |2022-08-31T15:35:42-04:00August 31, 2022|

Erin Muir: Steward of Mote Marine’s Coral Restoration Outreach

Erin Muir, a sixth-generation Upper Keys native, is descended from two founding Florida Keys families — the Albury and Lowe families that settled in the Keys in the 1860s — whose roots run as deep as those of the island chain’s shoreline mangroves. Now, Erin is Mote Marine Laboratory’s newly named Upper Keys engagement manager.

By |2022-08-03T14:21:25-04:00August 3, 2022|

Autumn Blum: Steward Who Created Reef-Safe Sunscreen

Autumn Blum, founder of Stream2Sea skin and body care products, is a part-time Key Largo resident, avid diver and cosmetic chemist who developed sunscreen products proven safe for saltwater and freshwater fish and coral larvae. With Reef Renewal USA, she’s leading a “Crazy for Coral” mission to plant 10,000 corals by July 31.

By |2022-06-29T16:01:27-04:00June 29, 2022|

Dave Dipre: Steward of the Keys’ Fish and Wildlife

Captain Dave Dipre, Marathon-based operational captain with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Division of Law Enforcement, oversees operations from Key Largo to Key West. His love of the Keys, and his sense of environmental responsibility, run as deep as the 125-mile-long island chain’s waters that he’s charged with protecting.

By |2022-04-27T14:54:18-04:00April 27, 2022|

Spotlight: Drag Performer Kyle Stewart Dazzles Key West Audiences

Kyle Stuart brings his famous drag character Deja to life nightly in the “Sushi and the 801 Girls” show at Key West’s popular 801 Bourbon Bar. When he’s not entertaining audiences with his over-the-top costumes and makeup, he loves to be out on the water fishing and diving — even spearfishing and targeting lobsters.

By |2022-05-03T15:16:00-04:00April 6, 2022|

Mark Hedden: Steward of the Florida Keys Audubon Society

Mark Hedden, executive director of the Florida Keys Audubon Society and artist-in-residence at The Studios of Key West, is perhaps the Keys’ best known “bird man.” A self-taught photographer acclaimed for his recent “South of Southernmost” exhibit, he hopes to use his creative artistry to inspire others to discover the Keys’ natural world.

By |2022-02-25T17:53:07-05:00February 23, 2022|

Ken Nedimyer: Steward of Reef Restoration

Ken Nedimyer, an Upper Keys–based director of Reef Renewal Foundation International, is globally recognized as a father of reef restoration, creating strategies to rebuild coral reefs around the world. He oversees three coral nurseries in the Keys — off Tavernier, Big Pine Key and Marathon — that house 21 coral species with 1,000 genotypes.

By |2021-12-29T16:58:09-05:00December 29, 2021|
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