There’s an uninhabited island in Biscayne Bay
where a dozen species of birds whoop loudly in the treetops, stingrays nudge
the shore, manatees linger and dolphins are a common sight.
It’s called Bird Key. And it’s covered in
garbage.
From the waterline deep into the mangroves,
there are tires, deck chairs, wood planks, beer cans, plastic bottles,
children’s toys, fishing line, shoes, crates, coolers, plastic drums and an
endless array of urban debris that Biscayne Bay swallowed up and spat out.
Sitting 500 yards offshore, just south of the
79th Street Causeway, Bird Key is one of Biscayne Bay’s oldest and most
ecologically important islands. It was surveyed by the British crown and fought
over by early settlers. Investors acquired it, and preservationists covet it.
Yet little has been written about the island. And litter has been accumulating
there for decades.
Formed by the outflow of the Little River, Bird
Key is one of only two natural islands in the bay north of the Rickenbacker
Causeway. At least 20 other uninhabited islands were created from spoil
material dredged from the bay bottom when navigation channels were dug in the
early 1900s. Those manmade islands serve as habitats for plants and recreation
areas for boaters, but have little permanent birdlife.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/14/3140746/the-island-that-miami-forgot-historic.html#storylink=cpy
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