NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS CCMA 145

National Status and Trends Program

for Marine Environmental Quality

Biscayne Bay:

Environmental History and Annotated Bibliography

Silver Spring, Maryland

July 2000

US Department of Commerce

noaa NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment

National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science

National Ocean Service
Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment

National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science

National Ocean Service

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

U.S. Department of Commerce

1305 East-West Highway

Silver Spring, MD 20910

Notice

This report has been reviewed by the National Ocean Service of the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and approved for publication. Such approval does not

signify that the contents of this report necessarily represent the official position of NOAA or of

the Government of the United States, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products

constitute endorsement or recommendation for their use.
NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS CCMA 145

Biscayne Bay:

Environmental History and Annotated Bibliography

A. Y. Cantillo, K. Hale, E. Collins, L. Pikula and R. Caballero

Silver Spring, Maryland

July 2000

United States National Oceanic and

Department of Commerce Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service

William M. Daley D. James Baker Nancy Foster

Secretary Under Secretary Assistant Administrator
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................................i

LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................................................ii

ACRONYMS.........................................................................................................................iv

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1

2. INFORMATION GATHERING METHODS................................................................................2

3. GENERAL DESCRIPTION....................................................................................................2

3.1. North Bay........................................................................................................3

3.2. Central Bay.....................................................................................................3

3.3. South Bay........................................................................................................3

4. HISTORY.........................................................................................................................6

4.1 Pre 1910s........................................................................................................6

4.2. 1920s.............................................................................................................19

4.3. 1930s.............................................................................................................24

4.4. 1940s.............................................................................................................29

4.5. 1950s.............................................................................................................34

4.6. 1960s.............................................................................................................36

4.7. 1970s.............................................................................................................37

4.8. 1980s.............................................................................................................37

4.9. 1990s.............................................................................................................39

5. METEOROLOGY................................................................................................................41

5.1. Solar cycles....................................................................................................41

5.2. El Niño Southern Oscillation..............................................................................42

5.3. Hurricanes......................................................................................................42

5.3.1. Hurricane of 1906............................................................................43

5.3.2. Hurricane of 1926............................................................................43

5.3.3. Hurricane of 1945............................................................................43

5.3.4. Hurricanes Donna, Cleo and Betsy.....................................................45

5.3.5. Hurricane Andrew............................................................................45

5.4. Rainfall and temperature..................................................................................46

5.5. Sea level change..............................................................................................46

5.6. Soil subsidence................................................................................................46

6. GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES..............................................................................................47

6.1. Rivers, channels, cuts and canals.....................................................................47

6.1.1. Rivers..............................................................................................47

6.1.1.1. Miami River......................................................................47

6.1.1.2. Oleta River........................................................................49

6.1.1.3. Arch Creek........................................................................49

6.1.2. Channels and cuts.............................................................................50

6.1.2.1. Safety Valve.....................................................................50

6.1.2.2. Bear Cut............................................................................50

6.1.2.3. Norris Cut.........................................................................50

6.1.2.4. Government Cut.................................................................50

6.1.2.5. Bakers Haulover Cut..........................................................50

6.1.2.6. Caesar's Creek, Broad Creek, and Angelfish Creek.............50

6.1.3. Canals and the Biscayne Aquifer........................................................56

6.1.3.1. Mowry Canal.....................................................................56

6.1.3.2. Military Canal...................................................................56

6.1.3.3. Miami Canal.......................................................................58

6.2. Islands............................................................................................................58

6.2.1. Miami Beach.....................................................................................58

6.2.2. Key Biscayne....................................................................................58
6.2.2.1. Fossil mangrove forest......................................................61

6.2.2.2. Biscayne Nature Center.....................................................61

6.2.3. Virginia Key.....................................................................................61

6.2.4. Port of Miami...................................................................................62

6.2.5. Fisher Island.....................................................................................63

6.2.6. Venetian Islands and Pelican Island....................................................63

6.2.7. Watson Island...................................................................................65

6.2.8. Belle Isle..........................................................................................65

6.2.9. Fair Isle...........................................................................................65

6.2.10. Elliott Key......................................................................................65

6.2.11. Chicken Key....................................................................................66

6.2.12. Ragged Keys...................................................................................66

6.2.13. Soldier Key....................................................................................66

6.2.14. Spoil islands...................................................................................67

6.3. Parks and reserves.........................................................................................67

6.3.1. Biscayne National Park.....................................................................67

6.3.2. Bill Baggs Cape Florida Recreation Area............................................67

6.3.3. Crandon Park....................................................................................72

6.3.4. Matheson Hammock Park...................................................................72

6.3.5. Deering Estate and Vizcaya...............................................................72

6.3. Municipal facilities..........................................................................................75

6.3.1. Power plants....................................................................................75

6.3.1.1. Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant......................................75

6.3.1.2. Cutler Ridge Power Plant...................................................77

6.3.2. Sewage treatment plants and waste disposal sites.............................77

6.3.2.1. Virginia Key Sewage Treatment Plant and the Cross

Bay Line...................................................................................77

6.3.2.2. Munisport..........................................................................79

6.4. Defense facilities.............................................................................................79

6.4.1. Homestead Air Force Base................................................................79

6.4.2. Richmond Naval Air Station...............................................................80

6.7. Artificial reefs................................................................................................81

6.6. Stiltsville........................................................................................................82

6.7. Archeological sites and the Miami Circle..........................................................83

7. ECOSYSTEM CHANGES.....................................................................................................84

7.1. Flora...............................................................................................................84

7.1.1. Seagrasses.......................................................................................84

7.1.2. Mangroves.......................................................................................84

7.2. Fauna..............................................................................................................88

7.2.1. Sponges............................................................................................88

7.2.2. "Milk" shrimp syndrome...................................................................89

7.2.3. Lobsters...........................................................................................89

7.2.4. Abnormal fish...................................................................................89

7.2.5. Avifauna..........................................................................................89

7.2.6. Crocodiles........................................................................................90

7.2.7. Manatees..........................................................................................90

7.3. Human population and corresponding pressures.................................................91

7.3.1. Human population..............................................................................91

7.3.2. Agriculture......................................................................................91

7.3.3. Boating.............................................................................................91

7.3.4. Motion pictures, television and popular literature..............................92

8. LEGISLATION..................................................................................................................92

8.1. Federal legislation...........................................................................................92

8.1.1. Clean Water Act...............................................................................92
8.1.2. Clean Air Act...................................................................................92

8.1.3. Toxic Substances Control Act...........................................................93

8.1.4. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.............................93

8.1.5. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act..........................................93

8.1.6. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act.........................................................................................93

8.1.7. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.....................93

8.1.8. The Endangered Species Act..............................................................94

8.1.9. National Marine Sanctuaries Act.......................................................94

8.1.10. Marine Mammal Protection Act.......................................................94

8.1.11. Coastal Zone Management Act.........................................................94

8.1.12. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.........94

8.1.13. Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act...................................................94

8.1.14. Lead in gasoline ban........................................................................95

8.1.15. DDT and metabolites.......................................................................95

8.1.16. Polychlorinated biphenyls ban.........................................................95

9. OTHER ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS......................................................................................96

9.1. Aviation..........................................................................................................96

9.1.1. Chalk's International Airlines............................................................96

9.1.2. Pan American Airways.....................................................................96

9.1.3. Embry-Riddle School of Aviation.......................................................97

9.1.4. Lighter than air ships........................................................................97

9.2. Christo's Surrounded Islands............................................................................97

9.3. Baynanza.........................................................................................................99

10. DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................99

11. CONCLUSIONS...............................................................................................................100

12. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.....................................................................................................101

13. REFERENCES.................................................................................................................102

Color photographs...............................................................................................................117

Appendix I. ........................................................................................................................139

Appendix II. .......................................................................................................................562

Appendix III. ......................................................................................................................600

Appendix IV. ......................................................................................................................619
LIST OF TABLES

1. Significant events in Biscayne Bay..........................................................................7

2. Saffir/Simpson hurricane intensity scale................................................................44

3. Tropical cyclones passing over or near Biscayne Bay from 1900 to 1999................45

4. Artificial reefs within Biscayne Bay.......................................................................81

5. Rare, endangered and species of special concern found in Biscayne Bay....................85

6. Population of Dade and Collier counties from 1900 to 1990......................................91

i
LIST OF FIGURES

1. South Florida..........................................................................................................2

2. Northern Biscayne Bay...........................................................................................4

3. Southern Biscayne Bay...........................................................................................5

4. Northern Biscayne Bay in 1770...............................................................................6

5. Miami River at Brickell Point (1897). ....................................................................11

6. Northern Biscayne Bay in 1887...............................................................................12

7. View of Royal Palm Hotel, the Miami River and Brickell Point (19--?). ...................13

8. Mariners installed a pipe and built a platform to make water from a fresh

spring in Biscayne Bay............................................................................................14

9. Cutting down mangrove forests (1914)...................................................................15

10. Fisher Island, Terminal Island and Government Cut (1918). .....................................15

11. Prinz Valdemar capsized in the ship channel (Government Cut) (1925). ...................16

12. Aerial photograph of Haulover Cut, Miami Beach (1927)..........................................16

13. Aerial view of Miami Causeway and Star Island (1922). .........................................17

14. Shipyard with trains, Biscayne Blvd. (192-)...........................................................18

15. Bayside NE 11th Street (19--)................................................................................19

16. The newly built Venetian Islands (1925). ................................................................20

17. Miami River, Royal Palm Hotel, Henrietta Towers and Granada Apartments

(192-). .................................................................................................................21

18. Miami Beach during the passage of the Hurricane of 1926........................................21

19. Bay Shore Drive after hurricane (1926). ...............................................................22

20. Remains of the bridge at Bakers Haulover Cut after the Hurricane of 1926. .............23

21. Aerial view Baker's Haulover Cut after the Hurricane of 1926 (December 1,

1927). ..................................................................................................................23

22. Numbers of persons in Dade County from 1900 to 1990...........................................24

23. Percent change between 1887 or 1925 and 1976 of various characteristics of

Biscayne Bay. ........................................................................................................25

24. Developed land in northern Biscayne Bay in 1925. ..................................................26

25. Years of major dredge and fill projects prior to 1970.............................................27

26. Biscayne Bay in the late 1930s...............................................................................28

27. Pan American Airport at Dinner Key (193-)............................................................29

28. Pilots in training at the Pan American World Airways facilities in Dinner Key

(194-). .................................................................................................................30

29. View of causeway connecting Miami with Miami Beach from the Goodyear Blimp

(194-). .................................................................................................................31

30. Distribution of mean coliform bacteria in 1949 (unpublished report by Minkin

(1949). ....................................................................................................................32

31. Wind-driven waves threaten to inundate homes. .....................................................32

32. Seawater intrusion at the base of the Biscayne aquifer. ..........................................33

33. The newly built Rickenbacker Causeway between Key Biscayne, Virginia Key

and Miami (194-)...................................................................................................34

34. Biscayne Bay in the 1950s. ....................................................................................35

35. Aerial view of Miami (1969). ................................................................................36

36. Central Biscayne Bay. ............................................................................................38

37. North Biscayne Bay. ..............................................................................................40

38. Miami River, Brickell Key and Port of Miami...........................................................48

39. The Safety Valve. ..................................................................................................51

40. Ragged Keys, Sands Key and the northern end of Elliott Key.....................................52

41. Bakers Haulover Cut. .............................................................................................53

42. Elliott Key, Caesar's Creek and Old Rhodes Key. .....................................................54

ii
43. Broad Creek and Angelfish Creek. ...........................................................................55

44. Hydrologic structures and hydrologic features of the South Florida Water

Management District...............................................................................................57

45. Virginia Key and Key Biscayne prior to Hurricane Andrew.......................................59

46. Key Biscayne after to Hurricane Andrew. ...............................................................60

47. Aerial view of the Port of Miami off Biscayne Blvd (1928)......................................63

48. Belle Isle, the Venetian Islands, Watson Island, and the Port of Miami. .....................64

49. Aerial view of Belle Isle (193-)..............................................................................65

50. Aerial view of Belle Isle and the Venetian Causeway (196-). ...................................65

51. North Bay, Harbor and Treasure Islands. ................................................................68

52. Bird, Legion, Mangrove and Morningside Keys. .......................................................69

53. Morningside Key and 36th Street Causeway ...........................................................70

54. Teachers, Biscayne, San Marco, and Watson Islands, and Port of Miami. .................71

55. Matheson Hammock, ITT Hammock, the Deering Estate and Chicken Key....................73

56. Vizcaya and Mercy Hospital....................................................................................74

57. Turkey Point cooling canals.....................................................................................76

58. Alternate and final routes for the Cross Bay sewer line...........................................78

59. Second fishing shack that belonged to the Ruskin and Orovitz families (194-)...........82

60. Vessel aground, Biscayne Channel, Biscayne National Park (1998)...........................83

61. Grounding and prop scars, Featherbed Shoal, Biscayne National Park (1996)............86

62. Grounding trench, Pelican Bank (1994)....................................................................86

63. Chalks Flying Service on Biscayne Boulevard (19--)................................................96

64. The Goodyear airship 'Mayflower' over Biscayne Bay (19--)...................................97

65. Airship USN 'Los Angeles' over Biscayne Bay..........................................................98

66. US Navy airship 'Akron' over Biscayne Bay (January 4, 1933)...............................98

67. Healthy seagrass bed, Featherbed Shoal, Biscayne National Park (1997)..................101

Color photographs

36. Central Biscayne Bay. ............................................................................................119

37. North Biscayne Bay. ..............................................................................................120

38. Miami River, Brickell Key and Port of Miami...........................................................121

39. The Safety Valve. ..................................................................................................122

40. Ragged Keys, Sands Key and the northern end of Elliott Key.....................................123

41. Bakers Haulover Cut. .............................................................................................124

42. Elliott Key, Caesar's Creek and Old Rhodes Key. .....................................................125

43. Broad Creek and Angelfish Creek. ...........................................................................126

45. Virginia Key and Key Biscayne prior to Hurricane Andrew.......................................127

46. Key Biscayne after to Hurricane Andrew. ...............................................................128

48. Belle Isle, the Venetian Islands, Watson Island, and the Port of Miami. .....................129

51. North Bay, Harbor and Treasure Islands. ................................................................130

52. Bird, Legion, Mangrove and Morningside Keys. .......................................................131

53. Morningside Key and 36th Street Causeway ...........................................................132

54. Teachers, Biscayne, San Marco, and Watson Islands, and Port of Miami. .................133

55. Matheson Hammock, ITT Hammock, the Deering Estate and Chicken Key....................134

56. Vizcaya and Mercy Hospital....................................................................................135

57. Turkey Point cooling canals.....................................................................................136

60. Vessel aground, Biscayne Channel, Biscayne National Park (1998)...........................137

61. Grounding and prop scars, Featherbed Shoal, Biscayne National Park (1996)............137

62. Grounding trench, Pelican Bank (1994)....................................................................138

67. Healthy seagrass bed, Featherbed Shoal, Biscayne National Park (1997). ................138

iii
Appendix IV

IV.1. Sunpots, El Niño and La Niña years, drought index and hurricanes.............................619

IV.2. Sea level rise, soil subsidence and human population. ......................................................620

IV.3. Islands, channels, cuts............................................................................................621

IV.4. Parks and related material, and defense facilities....................................................622

IV.5. Port of Miami, Turkey Point Power Plant and legislation..........................................623

iv
ACRONYMS

AAF Army Air Field

AFB Air Force Base

AOML Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory/ERL/OAR/NOAA

ARB Air Reserve Base

ATC Air Transport Command

BBPI Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative

CAA Clean Air Act

CCMA Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment/NCCOS/NOS/NOAA

CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

DDTs Dichlorophenyltrichloroethane and metabolites

ENSO El Niño/Southern Oscillation

EPA Environmental Protection Agency

EPCRKA Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act

ERL Environmental Research Laboratories/OAR/NOAA

ESA Endangered Species Act

FAU Florida Atlantic University

FIFRA Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act

FIU Florida International University

FP&L Florida Power and Light Co.

FWCA Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act

FWPCA Federal Clean Water Act

MMPA Marine Mammal Protection Act

NAS Naval Air Station

NCCOS National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science/NOS/NOAA

NESDIS National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service/NOAA

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOS National Ocean Service/NOAA

NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

OAR Oceanic and Atmospheric Research/NOAA

PAHs Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

RSMAS Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science/UM

SARA Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act

SOI Southern Oscillation Index

TAC Air Transport Command

TFW Tactical Fighter Wing

TSCA Toxic Substances Control Act

UM University of Miami

v
vi
Biscayne Bay:

Environmental History and Annotated Bibliography

A. Y. Cantillo, K. Hale , E. Collins , L. Pikula* and R. Caballero

NOAA/National Ocean Service

1305 East West Hwy.

Silver Spring, MD

ABSTRACT

Biscayne Bay is located along the southeast coast of the state of Florida. It is

surrounded on the north by urban Dade County which includes Miami and Miami Beach,

and on the south by the Homestead area, sparsely inhabited until recently, and the

northern Florida Keys. Prior to the 1920s, major changes to the Biscayne Bay

ecosystem were caused only by climatic events. Since then, human actions have also

been the cause of major alterations. During the 1920s, there were disruptions from

construction of artificial islands, bulkheading, dredging of channels and construction of

cuts. Construction activities slowed considerably after 1930. Bacterial pollution due to

untreated sewage discharge began during the 1920s and reached maximum levels during

the 1950s. Changes to the sewer system reduced bacterial contamination after 1956.

Turbidity in the water column was identified as a major problem during the 1980s and

abatement measures began at that time. Environmental degradation of the Bay has

slowed although areas of concern remain.

1. INTRODUCTION

"Biscayne Bay, broad and brimming with fish, was the highway on which the people moved

in their small sailing craft under shifting starch-white clouds while great blue and great

white herons, American egrets and roseate spoonbills dipped and wheeled and came to rest

in the shallows along the shore.

"Across the Bay, Miami Beach, actually the first of the Florida keys, was preceded south in

the curved march of islands by Key Biscayne which had its own history. Pedro (el) Biscaino

lived there and gave the Bay its name. He was a Basque who had held the title 'Keeper of

Swans' at the court of Spain."

"The thing that made the Bay country was fresh water. Calusa Indians, discoverers,

pirates, seamen of all descriptions, had been sailing up the Miami River to stock up on fresh

water for centuries. You could dip a tin cup in the Miami River and bring up a crystal-clear

drink, and there were places in the Bay itself where fresh cold water bubbled up."

J. Muir (1953)

Biscayne Bay is located along the southeastern-most portion of the state of Florida (Figure 1).

It is surrounded on the north by the growing urban areas of Dade County, which include Miami

and Miami Beach, and on the south by the sparsely inhabited Homestead area and the northern

Florida Keys. The environment of Biscayne Bay has changed significantly over the last one

 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL.

 NOAA Central Library, Silver Spring, MD.

*

 NOAA Miami Regional Library, 4301 Rickenbacker Cswy., Miami, FL.

1
BISCAYNE

BAY

Florida

Keys

FLORIDA

BAY

Everglades

Miami

Cape

Sable

Gulf of

Mexico

Figure 1. South Florida.

hundred years with the onset of development of Dade County, and only recently has its

environmental degradation reversed. This report documents the environmental history of

Biscayne Bay, which is closely tied to the history of South Florida. An annotated bibliography of

material on the subject, and author and subject indices are included.

 2. INFORMATION GATHERING METHODS

This document has been compiled using various sources and methods. It is based primarily on

the bibliography maintained at the Marine Library of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and

Atmospheric Sciences of the University of Miami (Hale, 1993 and 1996, and unpublished

updates). This bibliography incorporated and updated previous bibliographic works on Biscayne

Bay (Morril and Olson, 1955; Rosendahl, 1975; de Sylva, 1984; and others). Citations

describing studies in which water from Biscayne Bay was used to maintain aquaria or cultures

were not included. The coral reefs located east of the barrier islands and keys are not located

in Biscayne Bay proper and citations concerning them were not included in this work. Only

selected citations about the Miami River were included in the bibliography.

The annotated bibliography can be found in Appendix I. The subject index of the bibliography is

in Appendix II and the author index is in Appendix III.

2
3. GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Biscayne Bay is a shallow tropical saline lagoon located on the southeast coast of the state of

Florida (Figure 1). The eastern boundary of the Bay is composed of barrier islands which

eventually become part of the Florida Keys. The western shore is the Florida mainland. The Bay

is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by several channels and cuts, some natural and some manmade. Major tributaries (north to south) are Arch Creek, Biscayne Canal, Little River, Miami

River, Coral Gables Waterway, Snapper Creek Canal, Black Creek, Goulds Canal, North Canal,

Florida City Canal, and Model Land Canal. Tidal flow enters the Bay (north to south) at Bakers

Haulover Cut, Government Cut, Norris Cut, Bear Cut, the Safety Valve, Sands Cut, Caesar's

Creek, Broad Creek and Angelfish Creek (Figure 2 and 3). There are many islands located in

Biscayne Bay, most of which are man-made.

The geology of Biscayne Bay is described in Wanless (1969). The Bay was formed as rising sea

level filled a limestone depression. It is not a drowned river valley like most estuaries. Unlike

other estuaries, the Bay does not receive a sediment load from major river systems. Most

sediments in the Bay are produced by local biota (Wanless, 1976).

The Biscayne Bay can be divided into three major areas.

3.1. North Bay

North Bay is the heavily urbanized area extending from Broward County in the north to

Rickenbacker Causeway, approximately 10% of the total Bay area (Figure 2). Five waterways

drain to the northern part: the Oleta River, Arch Creek, the Biscayne Canal, Little River and

Miami River. North Bay was estuarine prior to the construction of Haulover Cut. Exchange with

ocean waters occurs at Bakers Haulover Cut, Government Cut and Norris Cut. There are

numerous islands in North Bay. Only Belle Isle and Virginia Key are natural. A description of the

construction and/or development of the islands in Biscayne Bay can be found in Kleinberg

(1997). Most of the shoreline has been bulkheaded and very little remains as mangrove

shoreline. Most of the bottom has been dredged and for many years lacked benthic vegetation.

3.2. Central Bay

The central area of the Bay ranges from Rickenbacker Causeway south to the boundary of

Featherbed Bank just north of Sands Key (Figure 3). The Safety Valve, a series of shoals

through which ocean tidal exchange occurs, serves as the eastern boundary. Three major

canals, the Coral Gables Waterway, Snapper Creek and Cutler Drain, reach the Bay in this

section. Moderate coastal development has occurred in the mainland portion of this area. Much

of the mangrove wetlands in Central Bay remain intact. Seagrasses dominate the bottom

vegetation. Chicken Key and Soldier Key are the only natural islands in this section of the Bay.

A north-south area in the center of the Bay is barren but used to be vegetated by seagrasses

(Harlem, 1979). Small areas of soft corals and sponges are found in the southern-most region

of Central Bay.

3.3. South Bay

The southern portion of the Bay ranges from the Featherbed Bank to Card Bank (Figure 3). This

section is undeveloped and fringed by mangrove wetlands. Benthic habitats are dense seagrass

beds, large hard ground areas and algal communities. The main canals draining into the portion

of the Bay are Black Creek, Princeton Canal, Military Canal, Mowry Canal and Model Land

Canal. Ocean exchange is restricted to the tidal creeks between the islands of the northern

portion of the Florida Keys. The larger creeks are Angelfish, Broad and Caesar’s Creeks. The

3
Miami

Beach

Miami

Rickenbacker

Cswy.

79th Street Cswy.

36th Street Cswy.

(Julia Tuttle Cswy.)

Bakers Haulover Cut

Fisher

Bay Harbor

Biscayne

Bay

Miami

River

MacArthur Cswy.

Venetian Cswy.

Brickell Key

Treasure Harbor North Bay La Gorce

Sunset

Bird Key

Arch Creek

Biscayne Canal

Little River

Oleta River

Teachers Morningside

Legion

Mangrove

Pelican

Quayside Helkers Crescent Little Sand Spur Sand Nautical miles Spur

0 1 2 3

Figure 2. Northern Biscayne Bay.

4
Figure 3. Southern Biscayne Bay.

Old Rhodes Key

Card

Sound

Key

Angelfish Creek

Caesars Creek

Broad Creek

Arsenicker

Keys

Bear

Cut

Key

Biscayne

Dinner

Key

Matheson

Hammock

Shoal

Pt.

Ragged

Keys

Soldier

Key

Sands

Key

Elliott

Key

Biscayne

Bay

Cape

Florida

Safety

Valve

Featherbed

Bank

Chicken

Key

Black

Pt.

Snapper

Creek

Coral Gables

Canal

Cutler Drain

Barnes

Sound

Key

Largo

Little

Card

Sound

Model Land

Canal

Turkey

Point

Goulds Canal

Florida City

Princeton Canal

Black Creek Canal

Manatee

Bay

Military Canal

Mowry Canal North Canal

Nautical miles

0 1 2 3

5
Dartmouth

Stream

Biskaino

Island

Salt water marsh

Mangroves

Cape Florida

Dartmouth

Gulf

Boca Ratones

Exposed rocks

0 1 2

Kilometers

Figure 4. Northern Biscayne Bay in 1770. [Redrawn from Chardon

(1978).]

southern portion of the Bay is

connected to Card Sound, a small

bay approximately 3 miles wide

and long, and about 3 m deep.

Restricted openings limit flushing

and water exchange between Card

Sound and Biscayne Bay. There are

numerous keys in this section of

Biscayne Bay and Card Sound.

4. HISTORY

Significant events related to

Biscayne Bay are listed in Table 1

and shown graphically in Appendix

IV.

4.1 Pre 1910s

The coastline of the barrier islands

of what is now known as Biscayne

Bay has changed considerably over

the past 200 hundred years. Some

of these changes were the result of

natural processes such as

hurricanes, while others were

anthropogenic.

Chardon (1978 and 1982)

examined pre-urban historical

maps of the northern portion of

Biscayne Bay. The 1770 De Brahm

chart showed a continuous barrier

island encompassing what is now Miami Beach to the west of the Bay, then known as Dartmouth

Stream (Figure 4). Boca Ratones, a pass leading to the Atlantic Ocean, cut across the barrier

island. The southern end of the barrier island was known as Cape Florida. This pass eventually

became Indian Creek in Miami Beach. South of the barrier island was Biskaino Island (Key

Biscayne). Dartmouth Inlet, the pass between the barrier island and Biskaino Island was

eventually renamed Bear Cut. The main portion of Biscayne Bay was called Sandwich Gulf.

During the early part of the 1900s, the population of South Florida was small, approximately

40,000 people. The largest towns in the area were Cocoanut Grove and Lemon City and the

site of downtown Miami was undeveloped (Figure 5). Most of the inhabitants were dependent on

the Bay for a living. There was abundant fishing in the Bay and the Miami River. Building

materials and assorted items were routinely salvaged off the shores of Key Biscayne.

Agriculture was not well established due to the harsh environmental conditions and swarms of

mosquitoes.

 Many of the geographical names along the coast of South Florida and the Florida Keys have been in use since at least the late

1700s. Romans (1999) mentioned in the reprint of his 1775 natural history book the names Key Biscayno, Key Largo ("Cayo

Largo"), Key Sal, Matacombe, Cape Sable, "Cayo Huesos" (Key West), Cape Florida, Soldier Keys (also known as "La Parida y

su Figuelo"), and many others.

 The spelling was later changed to Coconut Grove and coconuts planted in the area to match the name.

6
Table 1. Significant events in Biscayne Bay.

MAJOR TROPICAL CYCLONES PASSING CLOSE TO BISCAYNE BAY

1903 Storm 3, Sept. 9 - 16

1904 Storm 3, Oct. 12 - 21

1906 Hurricane of 1906 (Storm 8), Oct. 11 - 22

1909 Storm 9, Oct. 6 - 13

1916 Storm 14, Nov. 11 - 14

1926 Hurricane of 1926 (Storm 6), Sept. 11 - 22

1929 Storm 2, Sept. 22 - Oct. 4

1935 Storm 6, Oct. 30 - Nov. 8

1941 Storm 5, Oct. 3 - 14

1945 Storm 9, Sept. 12 - 20

1948 Storm 8, Oct. 3 - 16

1964 Hurricane Cleo (Storm 5), Aug. 10 - Sept. 5

1965 Hurricane Betsy (Storm 3), Aug. 27 - Sept. 13

1992 Hurricane Andrew (Storm 2), Aug. 16 - 28

CANALS, CUTS AND THE MIAMI RIVER

pre 1887 Norris Cut formed as the result of the passage of a hurricane (Chardon, 1977)

pre 1887 Pass at Boca Ratones was no longer observed (Chardon, 1977)

1896 Channel dug from Cape Florida to the Miami River (Harlem, 1979)

1902-1905 Construction of Government Cut (Michel, 1976)

1903 Drainage of the Everglades begun (Harlem, 1979)

1904 Salt intrusion begins

1904-1905 Government Cut (Toner, 1979; Harlem, 1979)

1908 Government Cut widened and deepened

1908 Rapids of the Miami River dynamited (Muir, 1953)

1910 4.25 mi of Miami Canal completed

1911 Miami Canal was 10 mi long

1912-1913 Other canals included Snapper Creek Canal, Cutler Canal, and the Coral Gables

Waterway (Harlem, 1979)

1912 Collins Canal through part of Miami Beach

1913 Miami river dredged and material dumped on current site of Claughton Island

(Gaby, 1990)

1914-1919 Channel built to Vizcaya

1924-5 Bakers Haulover completed (Toner, 1979)

1924 Haulover Cut was opened (Michel, 1976)

1925 Other smaller channels dug prior to 1925

1925? Intracoastal Waterway (Michel, 1976)

1930s River subjected to contamination from commercial activities and sewage

1934 Environmental concerns about the River begins.

1940s Salt intrusion arrested but problems remain

1941 Houseboats ("shanties") removed from the River

7
Table 1. Significant events in Biscayne Bay (cont.).

BULKHEADING AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

1913-1914 Mangroves cut down in southern Miami Beach

1920 Large mangroves cut down in Miami Beach and swamps filled

1920s Fisher Island shape changed by bulkheading and filling

1925 Bayview section of Miami Shores filled (Toner, 1979)

1925 Area east of Biscayne Blvd. filled to create Bayfront Park (Toner, 1979)

1950s Southern one-fourth of Key Biscayne bulk-headed and filled

1970s Dredge and fill activities at Fair Isle (Voss, 1974)

ISLANDS

1902 Lummus and Dodge islands (Chapman, 1993)

1905 Creation of Fisher Island (Toner, 1979)

1912 Belle Isle (Kleinberg, 1997)

1913 Miami river dredged and material dumped on current site of Claughton Island

(Gaby, 1990)

1913 Flagler Monument Island when Carl Fisher merged two piles of dredge spoil

(Kleinberg, 1997)

1915 Some roads built in Key Biscayne and Hurricane Harbor dredged

1916 Claughton Island purchased (Gaby, 1990)

1917 Star Island (Toner, 1979)

1918 Hibiscus Island (Toner, 1979)

1918 Palm Island (Toner, 1979)

1918-1922 Belle Isle built

1918-1922 Palm, Rivo-Alto, and Di Lido Islands (US Army Corps of Engineers, 1922)

1918-1922 Star Island (US Army Corps of Engineers, 1922)

1920s Fisher Island shape changed by bulkheading and filling

1922-1925 Hibiscus, San Marino and San Marco

1922 Flagler monument built on spoil island

1923 Claughton Island bulkheaded and renamed Burlingame Island (Toner, 1979;

Gaby, 1990)

1924 Fair Isle (Voss, 1974)

1925 Pelican Island (Isola Dilolando) outlined north of Venetian Islands (Kleinberg,

1989)

1930s Islands of North Bay Village (Toner, 1979)

1943 Bay Harbor Islands (Toner, 1979)

1944 Pelican Island bought by the City of Miami Beach (Kleinberg, 1989)

CAUSEWAYS

1913 Collins Bridge (Toner, 1979)

1918 County Causeway (Kleinberg, 1989; Toner, 1979)

1925 Venetian Causeway replaced the old Collins Bridge (Michel, 1976; Toner, 1979;

Kleinberg, 1997).

1928 79th Street Causeway (Toner, 1979)

1942 County Causeway renamed MacArthur Causeway (Kleinberg, 1989)

1943 Rickenbacker Causeway (Toner, 1979)

1951 Broad Causeway (Michel, 1976; Toner, 1979)

1960-1961 Julia Tuttle Causeway (Michel, 1976; Toner, 1979)

8
Table 1. Significant events in Biscayne Bay (cont.).

SEWER SYSTEM

1950s Elimination of discharge of raw sewage into the Bay

1956 Completion of sewage disposal system (Wilson, 1995; Stone and Suman, 1995)

1974-1981 Munisport landfill operations (Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative

Services, 1998)

1983 Munisport added to EPA Superfund list

1987 Serious problems encountered with Cross Bay line

1994 Cross Bay Line replaced (Swakon et al., 1995)

POWER PLANTS

1965 Turkey Point opened (Ho, 1998)

1967-1968 Fossil Fuel units began operation (Florida Power and Light, 1994)

1972-1973 Turkey Point nuclear units (Ho, 1998; Florida Power and Light, 1994)

1972-1973 Initial cooling canal operations (Thorhaug and Bach, 1973)

PORT OF MIAMI

1896 Port of Miami opens (Miami-Dade County, 2000)

1920s Port is primary hub for all shipping to South Florida (Miami-Dade County,

2000)

1920s Passenger service to Baltimore and New York begins (Miami-Dade County,

2000)

1930s Passenger service to Havana (Miami-Dade County, 2000)

WWII US Navy assumes control of Port (Miami-Dade County, 2000)

1960 First phase of Dodge Island Seaport (Port of Miami) (Chapman, 1993)

1964 Dodge Island Seaport opens (Chapman, 1993)

1976 First port in history to record more than one million passengers in a year

(Miami-Dade County, 2000)

1981 Port expanded to Lummus Island (Miami-Dade County, 2000)

1991 A record 3.9 million tons of cargo are handled in one year (Miami-Dade County,

2000)

1999 Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever

constructed, is based at the Port (Miami-Dade County, 2000)

PARKS

1948 Crandon Park

1967 Cape Florida State Park opens (Blank, 1996)

1960 City of Islandia incorporates (Shroeder, 1986)

1967 Dept. of the Interior purchases keys and Bay bottom around Elliott Key

(Shroeder, 1986)

1967 Biscayne National Monument established (Shroeder, 1986)

1980 Biscayne National Monument expanded and renamed National Park (Shroeder,

1986)

1993 Soldier Key sold to the National Park Service (Dewar, 1993)

9
Table 1. Significant events in Biscayne Bay (cont.).

ARTIFICIAL REEFS

1982 North Bayshore Park Reef (artificial reef)

1991 San Souci Reef (artificial reef)

1979 Pelican Harbor Reef (artificial reef)

1982 Julia Tuttle Artificial Reef (artificial reef)

1991 Brickell Area Reef (artificial reef)

1986 Rickenbacker Causeway Reef (artificial reef)

1984 Mercy Hospital Reef (artificial reef)

AVIATION

Military

1942 Construction of Richmond Naval Air Station

1943 Construction of Homestead Army Air Field

1945 Destruction of Richmond Naval Air Station during hurricane of 1945

1945 Homestead Army Air Field rendered inactive by hurricane of 1945

1955 Homestead reactivated as an Air Force Base

1992 Destruction of Homestead Air Force Base by hurricane Andrew

1993 Homestead reactivated as an Air Reserve Base

1999 Plans to convert the Homestead facilities to civilian use

Civilian

1917 Red Arrow Flying Service begins operation (Chalk's International Airlines,

1999)

1917 Dinner Key served as a Naval Air Station (Florida State Photo Archive)

1919 Chalk's Flying Services begins operation (Chalk's International Airlines, 1999)

1920s Lighter than air ships begin flights over South Florida

1926 Chalk's terminal built at Watson Island (Chalk's International Airlines, 1999)

1928 Dinner Key became the first customs entry airport of the US Atlantic mainland

(Florida State Photo Archive)

1930s Pan American World Airways purchased Dinner Key to use as home base for the

trans-oceanic seaplane clippers (Florida State Photo Archive)

1932 Dinner Key seaplane basin dredged

1934 Pan American terminal built at Dinner Key (Kleinberg, 1989)

1939 Embry-Riddle School of Aviation begins operations in MacArthur Causeway

(Mormino, 1997)

WWII Pan American navigators served as instructors to US Army, US Navy, British

and Canadian air forces at the Dinner Key facility (Florida State Photo Archive)

1945 Pan American operations out of Dinner Key cease (Kleinberg, 1989)

1954 Dinner Key facility became the City of Miami City Hall (Kleinberg, 1989)

10
Table 1. Significant events in Biscayne Bay (cont.).

STILTSVILLE

1930s-1950s Stiltsville construction (Semple, 1997; Williams, 1990)

1964, 1965 Hurricanes Cleo and Betsy destroy all but 2 dozen houses in Stiltsville

(Williams, 1990)

1992 Hurricane Andrew destroys six of the remaining 13 houses in Stiltsville

1999 Stiltsville scheduled to be removed (Morgan, 1999)

2000 Stiltsville fate to be decided (Morgan, 1999)

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPORTANCE

1938-1939 Sponge blight

1991 Biscayne Bay closed to sponge fisheries

1992 Sponge die-off

1958 "Milk" shrimp first described (Schmale, 1998)

1970s "Milk" shrimp infestation

1970s Federal environmental legislation

1930-1977 PCB use

1942 DDT comes into the market (Stetler, 1983)

1970s DDT use banned (Stetler, 1983)

MISCELLANEOUS

1896 East Coast Railroad reaches Miami

1916 Vizcaya built

1930s Sealevel rise begins (Wanless et al., 1994a)

1980s Baynanza begins

1983 Christo Surrounded Islands

1998 Discovery of the Miami Circle at the entrance of the Miami River

Figure 5. Miami River at Brickell Point (1897). [Photo negative, black and white, 4 x 5 in. PR09460. Print

Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

11
Mangroves

Indian

Creek

Norris

Cut

Bear Cut

Key

Biscayne

Miami River

Kilometers

0 1 2

Biscayne

Bay

et al.
Figure 9. Cutting down mangrove forests (1914). [Glass transparency, black and white (3.25 x 4 in). Lc405.

La Coe Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

Figure 10. Fisher Island, Terminal Island and Government Cut (1918). (View is east towards the Atlantic

Ocean.) [Photograph, black and white (5 x 7 in). WE164. Wendler Collection, Florida State Photo Archive.

<http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

15
Figure 11. Prinz Valdemar capsized in the ship channel (Government Cut) (1925). (Note dredging activities

in the area.) [Photo negative, black and white (4 x 5 in). N040770. General Collection, Florida State Photo

Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

Figure 12. Aerial photograph of Haulover Cut, Miami Beach (1927). (Biscayne Bay is at the top of the

photograph and Atlantic Ocean is at the bottom.( Photo negative, black and white (4 x 5 in). N035204.

General Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

16
Figure 13. Aerial view of Miami Causeway and Star Island (1922). (The Venetian Islands are to the left.)

[Photograph, black and white (8 x 10 in). PR06842. Print Collections, Florida State Photo Archive.

<http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

In 1902, Government Cut was constructed between Miami Beach and Norris Cut to provide

access to the Miami River that avoided the lengthy trip south and around Cape Florida (Figure

10). Government cut was originally 18 ft deep and 60 ft wide, and has undergone a series of

widening and deepening projects since that time.

The islands created south of the channel with dredge spoil during the construction of

Government Cut were named Dodge Island and Lummus Island (Chapman, 1993). Fisher Island,

the southern end of the Miami Beach barrier island, was also created at this time and was

expanded with dredge spoil from the construction of the Cut. Dredged material was placed in a

spoil bank on the north side of the channel, eventually becoming the MacArthur Causeway

(Michel, 1976). As a result of tidal flow through the new Cut, the beaches of Fisher Island,

Virginia Key and Key Biscayne experienced beach erosion (Michel, 1976).

An access channel was built to Vizcaya, the Italian Renaissance style villa built in 1916 on the

mainland shore of Biscayne Bay, just south of the present day Rickenbacker Causeway Other

small channels continued to be built in the Bay.

Fisher Island was once the southern-most part of Miami Beach before it was severed by the

construction of Government Cut in 1905 (Hannan et al. 1972) (Figure 10) (see Section 6.2.5).

The island was known as Rat Island or Peninsula Island. The present form of the island is the

result of bulkheading and filling during the 1920s and the island was renamed after this

developer, Carl Fisher. He planned to develop the island as a resort but the hurricane of 1926

brought this to an end. Since its creation, Fisher Island has undergone a series of natural and

anthropogenic changes and is currently the site of high rise exclusive residential buildings.

Fisher Island is only accessible by boat.

17
Belle Isle, one of the natural islands in North Bay and the easternmost of the Venetian Islands,

was originally known as Bull's Island (Kleinberg, 1997) (see Section 6.2.7). It was little more

than a muddy tidal flat when John Collins built a bridge to it in 1912. The successor to that

bridge is now the Venetian Causeway The adjacent tidal flat was filled to form an island by the

aforementioned Carl Fisher and renamed Belle Isle. Between 1918 and 1922, Fisher expanded

the island to 32 acres and sold lots to mostly millionaires.

The first bridge to Miami Beach was built in 1913 by John Collins, and Carl Fisher began

development of Miami Beach as a tourist resort. This led to the destruction of the mangrove

forests of the barrier island and the bulkheading of the shoreline on the western side of the Bay.

Star Island was the first true fill island totally constructed by bulkheading a previously open

water area (US Army Corps of Engineers, 1922).

Aviation has been a part of South Florida since the early part of the 20th century (Ridings,

1985). In 1917, over a million dollars were spent building the Dinner Key Aero Station. The

Aero Gunners' School for the Army at Chapman Field and the Marine Aviation Station at Curtiss

Field were located in the Miami area (Rainbolt, 1924?). Flying boats flew regular routes from

Miami to the Caribbean and Dinner Key became the first customs entry airport of the US

Atlantic mainland. Flying boats and lighter than air ships have operated in the Bay since that

time. (See Section 9.1.)

Figure 14. Shipyard with trains, Biscayne Blvd. (192-). (Note seaplanes on the lower left. Biscayne Bay is to

the right of the image.) [Photograph, black and white (5 x 7 in). PR06837. Print Collection, Florida State

Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

18
Figure 15. Bayside NE 11th Street (19--). Biscayne Boulevard in the foreground. (MacArthur Causeway,

Chalks Aviation, Flamingo Hotel, Miami Harbor and a lighter than air ship in the background. Biscayne Bay is

towards the upper left of the image.) [Photograph by H. Wolfe. Photo negative, black and white (4 x 5 in).

N038736. General Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

4.2. 1920s

The development of Miami/Miami Beach continued during the decade of the 1920s until the

Hurricane of 1926, the Land Boom bust and the stock market crash of 1929.

During the 1920s Land Boom, fortunes were being made and more land was needed. "Water

acreage" of Biscayne Bay was sold even before islands were built (Rainbolt, 1924?). After

selecting a lot, the customer was rowed out to the appropriate location in the Bay and "shown

the particular wave where his property" was located. Any disputes were soon 'washed out".

When enough orders for "sea lots" accumulated, building began. Two photographs of Biscayne

Bay shoreline during the mid 1920s show the degree of activity taking place in the area

(Figures 14 and 15).

The Venetian Islands are artificial islands located between Belle Isle and the mainland. Their

characteristic shape makes them very recognizable. San Marco, San Marino, DiLido and Rivo

Alto were build in rapid succession during the 1920s and lots on these islands were quickly sold

(Figure 16). The Venetian Islands were to be extended north of DiLido Island, with six additional

islands to be built through the center of the Bay to Miami Shores, close to the location of the

present day 79th Street Causeway (Kleinberg, 1989). However at a 1925 Miami Chamber of

Commerce meeting many objected to the destruction of the beauty of the Bay and set the

precedent for the Chamber to prevent further "mutilation of the waterway". Developers

persuaded the Chamber to proceed with the construction plans by arguing that the Bay was

"now of no utility". Sales of lots in the unbuilt islands began in 1925. Isola Dilolando, the island

planned north of Di Lido Island, now known as Pelican Island, was marked out with pilings (see

Section 6.2.6). The hurricane of 1926, the Land Boom Bust and the Depression ended the plans.

The removal of dredge material for the construction of islands and causeways created an 8-

foot deep borrow channel on the eastern side of the Bay. There was an 8-foot limitation for

19
Figure 16. The newly built Venetian Islands (1925). [Photograph, black and white (5 x 7 in). WE163.

Wendler Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

dredges at that time. Only a series of pits were made on the western side of the Bay since land

filling activities were not continuous. The 8-foot deep Intracoastal Waterway was created at

this time (Michel, 1976).

In 1923, spoil dredged from the entrance to the Miami River was used to create Burlingame

Island, now known as Claughton Island (Toner, 1979).

Bakers Haulover Cut was opened in 1924 (Michel, 1976). The results were changes in the

water circulation of North Bay and deterioration of the beaches of Miami Beach. It is not clear

why the Haulover Cut was made (see Section 6.1.2.5).

The 79th Street Causeway was constructed at about this time. Fortuitously its location is close

to the nodal point where tidal flow from the north and south meet in central Biscayne Bay so

water movement was not seriously affected by construction (Michel, 1976).

Relocation of the Port of Miami created controversy. As early as the 1920s, a proposal was

made to move the Port from its location on the Miami River off Biscayne Blvd. in downtown

Miami to Dodge Island, an island spanning the width of the Bay (Chapman, 1993) (Figure 17).

The City of Miami could not reach a decision regarding the location of the Port and it remained

on Biscayne Blvd. (see Section 6.2.4). The plan re-surfaced in the 1950s and this time led to

the creation of the New Port of Miami in the 1960s.

Shipping activity on the bayfront was an indicator of the intense effort required to keep up with

an accelerating demand for goods and materials of the Land Boom (McIver, 1987). A photograph

of the port area in Biscayne Blvd. shows several types of vessels, trains, cars and seaplanes in

proximity to each other (Figure 14). In 1925, incoming railway shipments of most kinds of

freight had to be stopped to repair overworked equipment and to add more track (McIver,

1987; Chapman, 1993). By winter, 7,600 southbound freight cars were sitting outside

Jacksonville. By the Christmas holidays, 32 schooners, trying to help break the freight

impasse, were in port, and forty more schooners were on their way to Biscayne Bay. This

20
Figure 17. Miami River, Royal Palm Hotel, Henrietta Towers and Granada Apartments (192-). (Biscayne Bay is

to the right of the image. Port facilities are north of the Royal Palm Hotel, in the upper center of the

image.) [Postcard, color (9 x 14 cm.). PC2083. Postcard Collection, Florida State Photo Archive.

<http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

Figure 18. Miami Beach during the passage of the Hurricane of 1926. [Photonegative, black and white, 4 x 5

in. N045921. General Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

21
Figure 19. Bay Shore Drive after hurricane (1926). [ Postcard, black and white (9 x 14 cm). PC2134. Print

Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

bottleneck was made all the worse because the PRINZ VALDEMAR (a 241-feet Danish barkentine

rigged as a floating hotel), the largest sailing vessel ever to enter the Miami Harbor, had ran

aground in the late fall of 1925 in Government Cut, and overturned due to high winds on

January of 1926 blocking the channel for several weeks. Several large vessels were unable to

leave Biscayne Bay (Figure 11).*

At about this time, the Land Boom financial dealings came under scrutiny by the federal

government, and the area was hit by the Hurricane of 1926, one of the most destructive

hurricanes ever to affect Biscayne Bay (Figure 18).

The Hurricane of 1926 is rated four on the Saffir/Simpson scale (see Section 5.3.2). More than

300,000 people living in the affected area were unprepared for the storm and unaware of the

potential danger of hurricanes. The hurricane reached South Florida September 17-18, 1926.

Passage lasted approximately 11 hours. The hurricane moved several large vessels onto dry

land (Figure 19). Many others were sunk, including the dredge that was supposed to deepen

Government Cut (Chapman, 1993). Damage to buildings was severe. The newly built bridge

across Bakers Haulover Cut became unusable as shorelines on either side were washed away

(Figure 20 and 21). Photographs and stories of the aftermath reached northern cities and

destroyed the image of South Florida as a paradise and Fountain of Youth. The pace of

development in the area slowed down. Photographs, newspaper articles and various government

proclamations can be found in Reardon (1986).

*

 The PRINZ VALDEMAR was eventually refloated and beached at 6th Street and Biscayne Blvd. In 1928 she was converted into

a floating aquarium (Boldrick, 1975). In 1937 a steel bulkhead was placed around the vessel and it was converted into a

building. It served as an Navy officer's club during World War II. It was declared an eyesore in 1949 and dismantled in 1952.

 The PRINZ VALDEMAR was one, if not the only ship to survive the hurricane with little damage (Chapman, 1993; Boldrick,

1975).

22
Figure 20. Remains of the bridge at Bakers Haulover Cut after the Hurricane of 1926. (See Figure 12 for

aerial photograph of bridge before the hurricane.) [Photo negative, black and white 4 x 5 in. N031942.

General collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

Figure 21. Aerial view Bakers Haulover Cut after the Hurricane of 1926 (December 1, 1927). (See Figure 12

for aerial photograph of bridge before the hurricane. Biscayne Bay is at the top of the image and Miami

Beach is at the bottom. Note erosion of the sides of the Cut. Bridge destroyed during the hurricane has

been removed.) [R. B. Hoit, photographer. Photo negative, black and white, 4 x 5 in. N035203 . General

Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

23
0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20Population (x100,000)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Percent increase in population from 

one decade to the next (%)

Year

Figure 22. Numbers of persons in Dade County from 1900 to 1990 [Andriot (1983), and Bureau of the

Census (1994)].

The changes that occurred in and around Biscayne Bay during the 1920s continued to affect the

ecosystem well into the 1980s. While the largest percent increase in population took place

before 1930 (Figure 22), population continued to increase well into the 1990s.

The significant changes to the bottom and shoreline of the Bay prior to 1930 were quantified by

Harlem (1979) (Figures 23 and 24). More than 75% of the land from Broad Causeway to the

Rickenbacker Causeway was developed by this time. Approximately 75% of the Bay bottom

from Venetian Causeway to MacArthur Causeway had been dredged or disturbed by 1925, and

little benthic vegetation remained in this area. The years of major dredge and fill projects in

North Bay are shown in Figure 25. Most major changes occurred prior to the 1930s. The

exception is the construction and expansion of the Port of Miami in the 1960s and 1970s.

4.3. 1930s

During the 1930s, few changes were noted in Biscayne Bay. Bay topography shows little change

from 1920s conditions except for the presence of spoil islands next to the ship channel (Figure

26).

The first Miami cruise ship began regular service between Cuba and Miami in 1931 and

passenger service between Miami and other US ports continued (Chapman, 1993). Further

dredging of the ship channel began to accommodate more passenger traffic.

Commercial aviation continued to grow in the Miami area. Pan American World Airways started

service in 1927 with a flight from Key West to Havana. The airline purchased Dinner Key in

24
Developed land

Dredged bottom Disturbed bottom Benthic vegetation

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

Land area

Percent

0 50 100

Percent

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

0 50 100

1925

1976

Vertical bulkhead shoreline Mangrove shoreline

Percent water area

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

1887

Percent

0 50 100

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

Percent

0 50 100

Bay area

North

South

CHANGE Bay area

North

South

CHANGE Bay area

North

South

CHANGE

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

0

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

0

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

0

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

0

Year

Percent water area Percent water area

Figure 23. Percent change between 1887 or 1925 and 1976 of various characteristics of Biscayne Bay. (Redrawn from Harlem, 1976.) [Area I: North of Broad Cswy; Area II: from Broad to 79th St. Causeway; Area III:

from 79th St. Causeway to Julia Tuttle Causeway; Area IV: from Julia Tuttle Causeway to Venetian

Causeway; Area V: from Venetian Causeway to MacArthur Causeway; Area VI: from MacArthur Causeway to

Rickenbacker Causeway; Area VII: from Rickenbacker Causeway south to the Safety Valve.]

25
Bakers

Haulover

Cut

Key

Biscayne

Miami River

Biscayne

Bay

Norris

Cut

Bear Cut

Miami

Beach

1 Kilometer

Mangroves Developed Other land

land

Figure 24. Developed land in northern Biscayne Bay in 1925. [Causeways not shown. Redrawn from Harlem

(1979).]

26
5

2.5

1926

1927

1942

1931

1924 1940

~1927

1927

1923

to

1926

~1934

1919

to

1926

1927

1959

1900 - 1930

1931 - 1950

After 1950

Year

Figure 25. Years of major dredge and fill projects prior to 1970. [Redrawn from McNulty (1970).]

27
Figure 26. Biscayne Bay in the late 1930s. [Re-drawn from Wakefield (1939)].

1930 to use as home base for the trans-oceanic seaplane clippers (Figure 27). By 1935, Pan

American was connecting Miami with 32 Central and South American countries. During 1938,

its peak year, more than 50,000 passengers flowed through the Dinner Key facilities, making

Miami the leading American city as a port of entry for international air travel at that time

(Florida State Photo Archive caption for image PR00568. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>). Also

during the 1930s, Eastern Airlines was flying daily between Miami, New York, Chicago and

intermediate cities.

By the 1930s, sea level began to rise as evidenced by tide gauge data from Key West (Wanless

et al., 1994a) (Figure IV.2 Appendix IV).

In the 1930s, bacteriological pollution was found from North Bay to Tahiti Beach (located

directly east across the Bay from the Safety Valve) and was traced to the City of Miami, the

greater part of which had sanitary sewers discharging untreated waste (Wakefield, 1939).

Twenty-eight of these sewers emptied into the Miami River. Thirty-six sewers emptied

directly into the Bay and by far the greater number and the larger sewers were in the central

28
Figure 27. Pan American Airport at Dinner Key (193-). [Postcard, black and white (9 x 14 cm). PC2100.

Postcard Collection, Florida State Photo Archive.<http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

part of the City. Between 25th Road and Northeast 55th Terrace, a distance of approximately

five and one-half miles, the sewage from about 7,900 acres of densely-built city entered the

Bay and Miami River through 59 separate outfalls. There were no known sanitary sewers,

either private or public, entering Biscayne Bay from Miami Beach. Coral Gables had no public

sewer system and depended upon private septic tanks and drainfields. Pollution from ships also

contributed to the contamination. Pollution was found only close to shore and the degree of

pollution decreased rapidly with distance from the Miami River or sewer outfalls. The area

between 79th Street Causeway and a line between Dinner Key and Cape Florida received

constant pollution which in many places reached high concentrations. Wakefield recommended

that this area be closed to swimming and the citizens warned not to use the Bay in this area.

4.4. 1940s

World War II brought an economic boom to Miami, with construction, aviation and tourism as

major industries. A few months after the attack of Pearl Harbor, German submarines sank

several ships near the coast of Florida. In 1942, the Mexican oil tanker POTRERO DEL LLANO

was torpedoed near Fowey Rocks (east of the Safety Valve) and sunk (Mormino, 1997;

Kleinberg, 1989). Thirteen crew members of a total of 35 perished. The glow of the burning

tanker could be seen from Miami. Due to U-boat activity just off the coast, all cruise activity

and coast-wide waterborne commerce stopped (Chapman, 1993). The Port of Miami came under

the control of the US Navy and used as a training camp. The Gulf Sea Frontier and Seventh Naval

 Mexico was a neutral country at the time of the sinking of the LLANO. As a result of the attack, Mexico declared war on

Germany two weeks later (Kleinberg, 1989).

29
Figure 28. Pilots in training at the Pan American World Airways facilities in Dinner Key (194-). (Note

seaplanes.] [PR00559. Photograph, black and white (8 x 10 in.). Print Collection, Florida State Photo

Archive.<http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

District headquarters were set up in Miami, the Submarine Chaser Training Center was

established, and a U.S. Naval Air Station to house and service blimps was constructed. Many

cruise ships were converted into troop transports. Miami and Miami Beach hotels were used as

barracks for training and rehabilitation of service personnel. Private and fishing vessels were

repainted and outfitted with .50 caliber machine guns and their owners joined the Coast Guard

Reserves to assist in patrolling the waters off South Florida (Mormino, 1997). Although this

Coast Guard Auxiliary was referred to as The Cockleshell Navy and the Hooligan Navy, they

were credited with reducing U-boat activity.

Pan American Airways' veteran navigators served as instructors in the navigation school at

Dinner Key to US Army, US Navy, British and Canadian air forces at the Dinner Key facility

(Figure 28) (Florida State Photo Archive caption for image PR00559). Biscayne Bay was used

to train aviation and Navy personnel.

In 1942, the County Causeway was renamed MacArthur Causeway (Kleinberg, 1989). The

Rickenbacker Cswy, connecting Miami with Key Biscayne, was built in 1943 (Toner, 1979).

The Bay Harbor Islands were built in 1943 (Toner, 1979). Pelican Island was bought by the City

of Miami Beach in 1944 (Kleinberg, 1989).

New parks were established including: Crandon Park, Cape Florida State Recreation Area,

Biscayne National Park, and Everglades National Park.

Tourism gave birth to the cruise ship industry and today Miami is the "Cruise Ship Capital of

the World" with 3.5 million passengers departing annually from The Port of Miami.

Construction of Homestead Air Force Base began during World War II to serve as a maintenance

stopover point for aircraft being ferried to the Caribbean and North Africa (see Section 6.4.1.)

Construction of the Richmond Naval Air Station south of Miami took place in 1942. The Station

30
was the Navy's largest Airship Station, short of the one in Lakehurst (Friends of Naval Air

Station- Richmond, 2000) (see Section 6.4.2).

The temporary residence in South Florida of thousands of service personnel introduced the area

as a pleasant place to live and after the war many returned to South Florida as permanent

residents.

After the war, control of the Port of Miami was returned to the City of Miami. By the 1950s,

the City recognized that the port site on Biscayne Blvd. could not be expanded further and

another site had to be found. During the post-war era, the cruise industry based in the Port of

Miami began to expand.

During the 1940s, a faunal shift occured in Manatee Bay indicating change from euhaline to

polyhaline conditions present since the 1900s to a highly fluctuating annual salinity conditions

with episodic periods of hypersalinity (Ishman et al., 1998).

Environmental conditions in Biscayne Bay continued to deteriorate. By the mid 1940s, Hoover's

idyllic Bay was in decline. Black coral sea fans, stone crabs and pompano were dying off

(Zaneski, 1997). Development of Miami Beach and continued construction of man-made islands

were fouling the Bay with suspended material and raw sewage. "A boat trip in the bay and out

the main channel gives the visitor a chance to contrast the dark brown-gray polluted water

near the city with the beautiful blue-green ocean water", a state sanitary engineer observed in

1949 (quoted in Iverson, 1979).

Up to the late 1940s, raw sewage was discharged directly into the Bay and the Miami River.

The levels of contamination became so high that recommendations were made that contact with

Figure 29. View of causeway connecting Miami with Miami Beach from the Goodyear Blimp (194-).

(Government Cut is on the right of the image. The spoil islands that became Dodge Island are to the left

of the Cut.) [Photograph, black and white (8 x 10 in). PR06876. Print Collections, Florida State Photo

Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

31
5 2.5

>10,000

1,000 - 10,000

<1,000

MPN

Bay water be avoided thus threatening the

tourist industry (Minkin, 1949; Moore et al.,

1955) (Figure 30). In response to public

demands, the Virginia Key sewage plant was

constructed, and public outfalls to the river

and the Bay were sealed.

In September 1945, a massive hurricane

passed through the area (Figure 31). The

center passed almost directly over

Homestead Army Air Base and Richmond NAS.

The estimated maximum winds were

approximately 275 kph on the east side of the

storm (Gentry, 1974). Property damage in

Dade County was $50 million. Because of

destruction caused by the storm, Homestead

Army Air Base was shut down in December of

that year.

Salt water intrusion into the highly permeable

Biscayne aquifer became significant (Figure

32). In 1945 salinity control dams were

installed in most of the canals in the Miami

area as barriers against further

encroachment (Leach and Grantham, 1966).

Figure 30. Distribution of mean coliform bacteria in

1949 (unpublished report by Minkin (1949).

[Redrawn from McNulty (1970).]

Figure 31. Wind-driven waves threaten to inundate homes. (American Red Cross, September, 1945. NOAA

Photo Collection, NOAA Central Library, Silver Spring, MD. <http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/

lb_images/historic/nws/wea00404.htm>.)

32
1953

Biscayne Canal

Little River Canal

Arch Creek

36th St.

Flagler St.

Coral Way

US 1

79th St. MIAMI WATER

PLANT Canal Miami River

Tamiami

1962

Biscayne Canal

Little River Canal

Arch Creek

36th St.

Flagler St.

Coral Way

US 1

79th St. MIAMI WATER

PLANT Canal Miami River

Tamiami

1969

Biscayne Canal

Little River Canal

Arch Creek

36th St.

Flagler St.

Coral Way

US 1

79th St. MIAMI WATER

PLANT Canal Miami River

Tamiami

Arch Creek

Biscayne

Bay

Miami River

1904

1943

Biscayne Canal

Little River Canal

Arch Creek

36th St.

Flagler St.

Coral Way

US 1

79th St. MIAMI WATER

PLANT Canal Miami River

Tamiami

1946

Biscayne Canal

Little River Canal

Arch Creek

36th St.

Flagler St.

Coral Way

US 1

79th St. MIAMI WATER

PLANT Canal Miami River

Tamiami

Figure 32. Seawater intrusion at the base of the Biscayne aquifer. [Redrawn from Leach and Grantham

(1966) based on the work of Parker et al. (1955) and Kohout (1961).]

33
Figure 33. The newly built Rickenbacker Causeway between Key Biscayne, Virginia Key and Miami (194-).

[Miami and the entrance to the causeway are at the top of the image. Key Biscayne is at the bottom.

Virginia Key is the land mass in the lower middle. Presently UM/RSMAS and NOAA facilities on Virginia Key

are to the left and right of the causeway in this view.] [Postcard, postmarked 1949, black and white (9 x

14 cm). PC2080. Postcard Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

4.5. 1950s

The decade of the 1950s brought a population increase and urban expansion as many servicemen

who were stationed in the area during World War II returned to South Florida (Figure 22). The

physical shape of Biscayne Bay did not change much during the previous decade (Figure 34).

Broad Causeway was constructed in 1951 (Michel, 1976). This causeway restricted the tidal

exchange in North Bay. No significant borrow pits are associated with the construction of this

causeway.

In 1959, Dodge Island was chosen as the site of the Port of Miami (Dodge Island Seaport) by

Metro-Dade County. Construction began on the new facilities (Chapman, 1993).*

Over 80 ha of wetlands were destroyed in southern Key Biscayne through dredge and fill

operations associated with failed developments (Milano, 2000). These wetlands were replaced

with Australian pines which were destroyed by Hurricane Andrew.

The Dinner Key airport facility became the City of Miami City Hall in 1954 (Kleinberg, 1989)

*

 The year 1956 is listed in the Miami-Dade County web site (Miami-Dade County, 2000).

34
5

2.5

Figure 34. Biscayne Bay in the 1950s. [Redrawn from

Moore at al. (1955).]

During the 1950s, the number of outfalls

was reduced and the level of coliform

bacteria in Biscayne Bay waters

declined. McNulty (1970) compared the

benthos, sediment, plankton, and fouling

organisms of northern Biscayne Bay

before (1956) and after (1960-1961)

pollution abatement. Care was taken to

use the same sampling techniques at

many of the same stations sampled in

1956 before pollution abatement

measures were instituted. Pollution

came from the 136 to 227 million liters

per day of untreated domestic sewage.

Four years after abatement certain

changes were noted. Populations of

benthic macro invertebrates in the area

near the City of Miami and the Miami

River declined from abnormally large

numbers of species and individuals to

normal numbers of each. In hard sandy

bottoms adjacent to outfalls, numbers of

species and numbers of individuals

increased. In poorly flushed waters,

volumes of zooplankton decreased to

about one-half the pre-abatement

values. Abundance of amphipod tubes

declined. Populations of other fouling

organisms remained about the same.

There was no evidence of improved

commercial and sports fishing.

Due to abnormally high river water

discharge in 1954, the pollution

situation was comparable to that of

1949. Pollution was less severe than

expected (Hela et al., 1957).

The area from the mouth of the Miami

River north to the west end of the

MacArthur Causeway was expected to

remain polluted until major changes

were made to contaminant input to the

Bay from the Miami River (Voss, 1972).

The waters of the area were turbid,

reducing illumination and limiting growth

of marine plants. Bottom sediments

were very fine grained. There were

indications of eutrophication. Surveys in

1954-57 and 1959 showed the area to

be almost totally devoid of attached

benthic life. Fishing in the area was

minimal.

35
Figure 35. Aerial view of Miami (1969). (The Port of Miami at the upper left of the image. Cloughton Island

is the triangular-shaped island to the left. The entrance to the Miami River is just past the island. The

shoreline between Cloughton Island and Rickenbacker Causeway (just off the image) remained undeveloped

and was known as Millionaire's Row.) [Photograph, black and white (8 x 10 in). PR06844. Print Collection,

Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

The waters of the ship basins were found to be traps for the collection and sinking of debris and

garbage.

4.6. 1960s

Urban development in South Florida continued during the 1960s with the influx of Cuban

refugees.

The Julia Tuttle Causeway was built in 1961 (Michel, 1976). Fill was obtained from an area

just north of the new causeway. The resulting borrow pit is 29 feet deep. This causeway

further restricted circulation in North Bay.

The Dodge Island Seaport officially opened in 1964 when port operations were moved from the

old site in Biscayne Blvd. Port activity continued to increase as cruise lines used the Port as a

base of operation (Chapman, 1993) (Figure 35). Several NOAA vessels including the

DISCOVERER and the RESEARCHER, and University of Miami vessels including the R/V

COLUMBUS ISELIN were based at the port.

36
During the 1960s Hurricanes Donna, Cleo and Betsy passed near or over Biscayne Bay. These

storms were less devastating than the 1926 storm (see Section 5.3.4).

4.7. 1970s

The environmental movement, begun in the 1970s, brought public attention to the growing

environmental problems in the US. In 1974, the Biscayne Bay Ecology Committee organized a

symposium on the status of the Bay and the papers published in the proceedings are a synthesis

of the physical, geological and biological processes, and man's uses and interaction with the Bay

(Thorhaug and Volker, 1976).

The last major change to North Bay took place with the expansion of the Port of Miami onto

Lummus Island (Figure 36).

In 1974, the Florida State Legislature enacted a law designating Biscayne Bay as an aquatic

preserve thus placing stringent controls on further development of the Bay (Michel, 1976;

Dade County, 1984; Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2000a). The Preserve

consists of two separate areas of the Bay: North Bay south to a line connecting Cape Florida to

Chicken Key; and Card Sound. The two areas are separated by Biscayne National Park.

The nuclear units of the Florida Power and Light Turkey Point Power Plant in South Bay began

operations in 1972 (see Section 6.3.1.1). The effect of thermal pollution on the fauna and flora

of southern Biscayne Bay and Card Sound were extensively studied during the 1970s before and

after the cooling canals were put into use.

Pollution inputs to the Bay during the 1970s were attributed to runoff from the metropolitan

areas introduced via the canals and rivers (Waite, 1976). Sewage pollution continued to occur

and further monitoring of Bay conditions was recommended.

Teas et al. (1976) studied changes in shore vegetation up to the 1970s at five sites: Interama,

Cocoplum, Saga, a section south of Black Point, and Card Point. The shoreline vegetation of

Biscayne Bay changed significantly since the turn of the century. Shore vegetation was

eliminated in most of the northern Bay and seriously impacted elsewhere. Anthropogenic

effects on the shore vegetation were of two types: physical (land fill, vegetation removal,

erosion by boat wakes) and water quality- and quantity-related (reduction of freshwater and

changes in salinity). There is evidence that vegetational changes took place in the shores of the

Bay prior to human settlement. The authors recommended revegetation using mangroves to

stabilize shorelines.

Walter Kandrashoff began to catch sick and deformed fish in Biscayne Bay, and brought this

problem to the attention of local scientists to determine the reason for the emaciated condition

of the animals. A description of the problem is found in Section 7.2.4.

A cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. was isolated from an area of Biscayne Bay where a

massive fish kill occurred in the 1970s (Reyes-Vazques, 1985). Hemolytic compounds are

produced by this strain.

4.8. 1980s

During the 1980s, fine suspended material was identified as a major problem in Biscayne Bay

(Wanless et al., 1984). Fine bottom sediment became suspended in the water column through

several mechanisms, such as wind events, cold fronts, wave action, and boat traffic. Fine

37
Figure 36. Central Biscayne Bay. [Some of the channels, such as the one between the Miami River and the

Virginia Key Sewage Treatment Plant can be observed. The left-most rectangular indentation in the Port of

Miami was home base to NOAA and University of Miami research vessels. The deep area north of the 36th

Street Causeway is the dark colored area. Note seagrass bed at the top left of the image.] [Aerial

photograph 5WGQ2987, 1992. Scale 1:48000, azimuth 191.1, 25.76833° N, 80.14556° W. (Coastal Aerial

Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/

photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WGQ2987.gif>. Black areas are

artifacts in original photograph. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color version on p. 119.

38
material can also enter the Bay waters via runoff. The suspended material can smother bottom

communities thus destabilizing additional areas of Bay bottom. During the passage of cold

fronts, there is a southward longshore drift of sand along the beaches and southward transport

of unstable sands along the Bay bottom (Warzeski, 1976). Sediment is stirred into suspension

and is redeposited elsewhere in the Bay, carried out to form tidal deltas and bars, or taken out

of the Bay. It is well documented that higher levels of trace metals and organic contaminants

are found in fine sediments than in coarse ones. Steps were taken to reduce the amount of

suspended material, including installation of natural sediment traps, such as restored mangrove

wetlands, planting of native trees and shrubs in the mid-Bay islands, placing limestone boulders

along shorelines, and creating reefs in silty depressions in the Bay bottom (Zaneski, 1995). As

the amount of suspended material in the water column was reduced, light penetration increased,

and bottom communities, including seagrasses, showed signs of recovery and expansion.

The amount of suspended solids decreased in the Bay from 1979 to 1983 (Dade County, 1985).

Nonetheless, initial efforts to restore seagrasses failed due to high turbidity. The only sections

in North Bay that appeared healthy were flushed with ocean water from Bakers Haulover Cut,

and the seagrass bed north of the Julia Tuttle Cswy (Figure 37). The most turbid water was

found between the 79th Street and Broad Cswys., probably the result of the dredge pits created

during waterfront development in the 1920s.

Corcoran et al. (1983) conducted a survey of hydrocarbon concentrations in Biscayne Bay

sediments in 1982-1983. High concentrations were found in Little River, the Miami River,

Black Creek/Goulds Canal and Military Canal. The Miami River, with its shipping activity and

urban runoff, had the highest concentrations. Military Canal drains Homestead Air Force Base

(see Section 6.1.3.2). Black Creek merges with Goulds Canal before emptying in to Biscayne

Bay. It has small boat traffic and two marinas. Little River has minimal boat traffic but

receives high amounts of urban runoff.

Development of Cloughton Island, renamed Brickell Key, began at this time.

During the 1980s, there were many events centered on Biscayne Bay that helped raise

awareness of its environmental condition and importance to South Florida. These events

included Christo's Surrounded Islands (see Section 9.2), the annual Baynanza boat races (see

Section 9.3), and the use of Biscayne Bay in film, television and print media (see Section

7.3.4).

4.9. 1990s

Restoration efforts continued during the 1990s. The passage of Hurricane Andrew resulted in

damage to the Bay ecosystem as well as new restoration opportunities.

Hurricane Andrew, a category 4 storm, passed directly over Biscayne Bay in August 1992

(see Section 5.3.5). Homestead and towns nearby suffered severe damage. Homestead Air

Force Base was virtually destroyed and the Air Force decided not to re-open the facility (see

Section 6.4.1). Hurricane Andrew literally removed tons of vegetation from the mainland and

Bay islands. Most of the plant species lost, such as the Australian pine, were foreign to Florida.

The removal of the vegetation provided a unique opportunity to restore many sites to conditions

as close as possible to those found in the 1900s. Planting of native species, such as mangroves,

sea oats and gumbo limbo, stabilizes shorelines and reduces runoff of fine sedimentary material

(Maass, 1992). As of 1995, one million mangrove trees were planted on the shores of Biscayne

Bay, 100 acres of wetlands were restored or created, and twelve artificial reefs were created

(Zaneski, 1995). The eight “spoil” islands created during the dredging of the Intracoastal

Waterway have been transformed into beaches and picnic areas, surrounded by rock boulders to

39
Miami

Figure 37. North Biscayne Bay. [Note seagrass bed north of 36th Street Causeway (Julia Tuttle

Causeway).] [Aerial photograph 5WPA1338, 1999. Scale 1:39800, azimuth 186.1, 25.82484° N, 80.14796° W.

(Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.

noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/

Photos/5WPA1338.gif>. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color version on p. 120.

40
reduce fine material runoff and protect mangrove plantings. The underwater craters in North

Bay are being filled with concrete rubble to create artificial reefs. Restoration efforts continue

at present.

Hook and line, and crab trap surveys were used to determine the nature and distribution of

abnormalities and diseases in fish and blue crabs from sites throughout Biscayne Bay during the

1990s (Gassman et al., 1994). Missing or deformed dorsal fin rays were the most common

abnormalities observed in gray snapper. Scale disorientations were most common in pinfish

while sea bream exhibited both types of abnormalities. The highest prevalence rates for these

three species were found at Sunset Harbor Marina and at Miami Beach Marina. Blue striped

grunt had a low frequency of a variety of abnormalities. The prevalence of abnormalities for all

fish surveyed was correlated with the concentration of total and aromatic hydrocarbons in

sediment samples from sites within 2 km of the faunal survey sites. However, no correlations

were found with sediment concentrations of aliphatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls,

or five metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg, and Zn). No correlations were found between contaminant

concentrations and the distribution of abnormalities in the individual fish species or blue crab

except between sediment Cu levels and abnormalities in the blue striped grunt.

Contamination hot spots were identified at Biscayne Canal, Arch Creek, Little River and the

Miami River in North Bay. Shoreline dumpsites were identified and targeted for clean up, while

damage to the ecosystem from boating activities continues.

Military Canal was identified as a potential source of contamination to South Bay (see Section

6.1.3.2.). Conversion of Homestead Air Reserve Base to civilian use may pose other

environmental problems (see Section 6.4.1.).

The initial Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Plan for Biscayne Bay was

prepared and adopted by the South Florida Water Management District in 1988 and modified in

1989 and 1995 (South Florida Water Management District, 1995). The 1995 plan addressed the

issues identified in the previous plan and the effectiveness of the initial strategies, as well as

new issues and problems.

In 1999, the Florida Legislature and the South Florida Water Management District funded the

Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative (BBPI), coordinated by the Biscayne Bay Foundation and the

FAU/FIU Joint Center for Environmental and Urban Problems (Biscayne Bay Partnership

Initiative, 2000). BBPI will foster a management forum and program incorporating federal,

state, county and local governments, as well as marine industries, tourism and business

development interests, members of the conservation community, recreational organizations,

and citizens of South Florida. BBPI Survey teams were formed to identify and discuss issues in

management, social and economic values, science, and regulations. The Science Team is

currently preparing a document on past and current research efforts in Biscayne Bay,

information gaps, and priorities.

Fishing improved in Biscayne Bay during the 1990s perhaps due to reduction of contaminant

input, above-average rainfall reducing the salinity, and the statewide ban on coastal net fishing

protecting game-fish and bait established in 1995 (Cocking, 1997). Fishermen reported clearer

waters in the northern Bay.

41
5. METEOROLOGY

5.1. Solar cycles

The sun provides all of the energy that fuels the atmosphere and oceans, and changes in solar

output can affect planetary weather. Sunspots are dark (cool) areas on the Sun's surface that

interrupt the regular pattern of solar emissions (NOAA, 1991). Sunspot frequency rises and

falls with the 11-yr solar cycle. Monthly mean sunspot values are shown in Figure IV.1

(Appendix IV) (NOAA, 2000a). It has been found recently that the solar radius is variable, with

variations on an ~80 yr time scale, and that these variations may result in large changes in

solar luminosity (Gilliland, 1982). This ~80 yr cycle, as well as the shorter 11-yr solar

sunspot cycle and 22-yr Hale cycle of solar magnetic reversals, may explain hemispheric

temperature trends. A third possible cycle is the 18.6-yr lunar nodal cycle in which tidal

influences may also play a role.

5.2. El Niño Southern Oscillation

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the largest single source of interannual climatic

variability on a global scale and its effects are wide ranging (Diaz and Markgraf, 1992). The

Southern Oscillation is a large scale sea level pressure "seesaw" across the tropical Pacific

Ocean. The anomalous oceanic and atmospheric conditions that occur periodically along the

upwelling zone of the Equatorial Pacific along the coast of Ecuador and Peru are known as El

Niño and are a manifestation of coupled ocean-atmosphere processes. The warm phase of this

coupling is known as El Niño and the cold phase as La Niña. Winter et al. (1994) found a very

good correspondence between low 13C values (indicative of cloud cover) in a core taken from a

specimen of Montastrea annularis and strong El Niño events indicating that the Caribbean is

sensitive to ENSO activity.

The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) is defined as the normalized difference in surface pressure

between Tahiti, French Polynesia and Darwin, Australia, and it is a measure of the strength of

the trade winds, which have a component of flow from regions of high to low pressure (NOAA,

2000b). High SOI (large pressure difference) values are associated with stronger than normal

trade winds and La Niña conditions, and low SOI (small pressure difference) values are

associated with weaker than normal trade winds and El Niño conditions. El Niño and La Niña

years as defined by SOI values are shown in Figure IV.1.

Hanson and Maul (1991) identified rainfall anomalies associated with major El Niño events in

the climate record of the seven climatic divisions of Florida. Only El Niño events that were

strong enough to persist over two successive years were examined in this study. Therefore

only "moderate" and "strong" events as defined by Quinn et al. (1987) were used. An additional

requirement was that the year prior to the two-year event must be a non-El Niño year. The

two-year events that met this criteria were: 1911-12, 1917-18, 1925-26, 1930-31, 1939-

40, 1957-58, 1972-73, and 1982-83 (other events have been identified since 1991). The

most significant anomalies were: below normal rainfall over the State of Florida during winter

(December, January and February) and spring (March, April and May) of the year prior to an El

Niño event; and above normal rainfall over the State during the winter and spring of the second

year of an El Niño event. The largest rainfall anomalies occurred in the southern climatic

divisions of Florida (the Everglades and southeast coast, lower east coast, and the Keys).

5.3. Hurricanes

Hurricanes are tropical cyclones with wind speeds of 119 km per hour (Table 2) or higher that

occur over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico usually during summer and

fall. These storms originate in warm waters in areas of low pressure and with wind circulation

42
counterclockwise around the center. The annual number of hurricanes is greater in South

Florida than in any other place in the US and hurricanes have struck in half the years during the

past century (Gentry, 1984). The annual numbers of all hurricanes in the Atlantic was below

average from 1894 through 1930, and was especially low from 1911 through 1921. During the

1930s, the numbers increased above average and remained so through 1982, with the

exception of a few years around 1940. In Florida, the frequency was above average from

1933 - 1938, 1945 - 1952, and 1964 - 1966. Frequencies were below average until the onset

of El Niño. Tropical cyclones passing over or within a radius of approximately 50 mi of

Biscayne Bay from 1910 to 1999 are listed in Table 3 and are shown graphically in Figure IV.1.

Meteorological information about tropical cyclones from 1921 to 1999 can be found in the

NOAA National Hurricane Center internet site (<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.html>), and

information about cyclones from 1886 to 1998 can be found at the Unisys internet site

(<http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/ index.html>).

5.3.1. Hurricane of 1906

In October 1906 Miami was hit by a minimal strength hurricane (Kleinberg, 1989). Few of the

approximately 5000 residents had experienced a hurricane and none of the buildings in the area

had been through such a storm. The city suffered considerable damage. Eyewitness accounts

report the sinking of the paddle wheeler St. Lucie, and of survivors clinging to mangroves in an

effort to survive the storm surge.

5.3.2. Hurricane of 1926

The Hurricane of 1926 struck South Florida in the morning of September 18. High winds and

storm surges of 3 - 4 m caused severe destruction to Miami and Miami Beach (Figures 18 - 21)

(see Section 4.2). Recorded winds were 132 mph before the anemometer was blown away. The

storm surge destroyed many buildings and carried large vessels into Bayfront Park. Damage in

Florida was estimated at $100M (Gentry, 1974) and more than 100 lives were lost in Miami

(Kleinberg, 1989). This hurricane severely reduced the rate of urban development in South

Florida.

5.3.3. Hurricane of 1945

The Hurricane of 1945, a category 4 storm, passed directly over Homestead Air Force Base on

September 15 (Figure 31). Maximum sustained winds of 177 Kph were recorded at Carysford

Reef Light, a few miles west of the point of entry to the coast but on the weak side of

Table 2. Saffir/Simpson hurricane intensity scale (Morgan and Morgan, 1989).

Category Central pressure Wind speed Storm surge Damage

(mb) (in) (mph) (km/hr) (ft) (m)

1 >980 >28.94 74-95 121-154 4-5 1-2 Minimal

2 965-979 28.50-28.91 96-110 155-178 6-8 2-3 Moderate

3 945-964 27.91-28.47 111-130 179-210 9-12 3-4 Extensive

4 920-944 27.17-27.88 131-155 211-250 13-18 4-6 Extreme

5 <920 <27.17 >155 >250 >18 >6 Catastrophic

43
Table 3. Tropical cyclones passing over or near Biscayne Bay from 1900 to 1999 (Neumann et

al., 1993; NOAA, 2000d; Unisys 2000).

Year Category (when nearest to the Bay) Storm name Date

1901 TS Storm 4 Aug. 4 - 18

1903 2 Storm 3 Sept. 9 - 16

1904 1 Storm 3 Oct. 12 - 21

1906 3 Storm 8 Oct. 11 - 22

1909 1 Storm 9 Oct. 6 - 13

1916 TD (off shore) Storm 5 Aug. 21- 25

1916 1 Storm 14 Nov. 11 - 14

1924 TS (north of Bay) Storm 7 Oct. 14 - 23

1926 4 Storm 6 Sept. 11 - 22

1926 2 (south of Bay) Storm 10 Oct. 14 - 24

1929 3 Storm 2 Sept. 22 - Oct. 4

1932 TS (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 3 Aug. 26 - Sept. 4

1935 1 Storm 6 Oct. 30 - Nov. 8

1936 TS Storm 1 June 12 - 17

1936 TS Storm 5 July 27 - Aug. 1

1941 3 Storm 5 Oct. 3 - 14

1945 4 Storm 9 Sept. 12 - 20

1947 5 (north of Bay) Storm 4 Sept. 4 - 21

1947 1 (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 8 Oct. 9 - 16

1948 2 Storm 8 Oct. 3 - 16

1950 2 (north of Bay) Storm 11 (King) Oct. 13 - 19

1960 4 (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 5 (Donna) Aug. 29 - Sept. 14

1964 2 (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 5 (Cleo) Aug. 10 - Sept. 5

1965 3 (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 3 (Betsy) Aug. 27 - Sept. 13

1966 1 (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 9 (Inez) Sept. 21 - Oct. 11

1968 TD (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 4 (Dolly) Aug. 10 - 17

1970 TD (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 7 (Felice) Sept. 12 - 17

1972 TD Storm 5 (Dawn) Sept. 5 - 14

1987 1 (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 7 (Floyd) Oct. 9 - 14

1992 4 Storm 2 (Andrew) Aug. 16 - 28

1999 TS (north of Bay) Storm 8 (Harvey) Sept. 19-22

1999 TS (Florida Bay/Florida Keys) Storm 9 (Irene) Oct. 13 - 19

TS - Tropical storm. : A tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind speed from 39 mph (63 kph) to 73 mph

(118 kph).

TD - Tropical depression: A tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind speed 38 mph (62 kph) or less.

44
275 Kph. Richmond Naval Air Station, one of the largest lighter than air ship bases in the US,

was destroyed by fire during the passage of this storm (Gentry, 1974) (see Section 6.4.2).

Homestead Army Air Field suffered severe damage and was closed for several months (see

Section 6.4.1).

5.3.4. Hurricanes Donna, Cleo and Betsy

Hurricane Donna reached South Florida in September 1960. The storm moved across the Florida

Keys and Florida Bay on a northwesterly course. Winds of 80 mph were recorded in the

northern part of Biscayne Bay, and of 100 mph in the southern portion. Storm surge on

southern Biscayne Bay was 5 - 6 feet above mean sea level (Perkins and Enos, 1968).

Hurricane damage to vegetation was generally most severe in the mangrove belt and on the

Florida Keys. Hurricane Donna caused storm effects in an area where detailed data on prestorm

sea floor conditions existed (Ball et al., 1967). The amount of boulder-sized rubble formed by

hurricane surf on platform-edged reefs far exceeded the amount produced by day-to-day

processes, and death and deterioration. Donna was considered the most destructive hurricane

ever to affect the US up to that time (Gentry, 1974).

Hurricane Betsy was a slow-moving storm that reached South Florida in September 1965

passing over the Florida Keys on a westerly course (Perkins and Enos, 1968). Sustained winds

of between 120 and 140 mph were recorded. Winds from the north brought high tides of up to

10 feet above mean sea level to southern Biscayne Bay. The water spilled over the narrow bank

into Florida Bay washing out two sections of US Highway 1.

The effects of hurricanes Donna (1960) and Betsy (1965) were compared (Perkins and Enos,

1968). These hurricanes were of comparable size and intensity but their effects differed. Both

caused extensive damage to the outer reefs but Betsy acted essentially on fauna from which

Donna had already removed the weaker elements.

Hurricane Cleo approached the South Florida coast from Cuba on August 26, 1964. As the

center approached Miami, winds intensified to approximately 105 mph with gusts of

approximately 135 mph resulting in a category 2 storm. The eye of the hurricane moved over

Key Biscayne August 27 (Dunn et al., 1965). The geometric center of the eye passed over

Virginia Key and reached the west side of Biscayne Bay at about the 36th Street Causeway

There was minimal damage to buildings in Dade County. Principal damages were uprooted trees,

disrupted communications and power, sand blasting of buildings and automobiles, overturned

parked aircraft and agricultural losses. Cleo was the first hurricane to strike South Florida

since 1950.

5.3.5. Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew passed directly over Biscayne Bay August 24, 1992 and moved rapidly

west. Andrew was a relatively dry hurricane, with strongest sustained winds of 144 mph

(Rappaport and Sheets, 1993). The effects of this storm on Biscayne Bay and the northern

Florida Keys have been well documented (Tilmant et al., 1994). Its effect has been described as

that of a 25-mile wide tornado. The major environmental impact occurred in South Bay.

Homestead Air Force Base, which was sevely damaged by hurricanes in 1926 and 1945, was

again nearly destroyed (see Section 6.4.1).

The most evident impact of Andrew on coastal ecosystems was uprooted and defoliated

mangroves. Many of the small keys in the Bay and most of Cape Florida were denuded of

vegetation or severely damaged. Hurricane Andrew flattened over 70,000 acres of mangrove

forest on the east and west coasts of south Florida (Gelsanliter, 1993). This flattening was

primarily caused by high winds The areas of severe mangrove destruction in Biscayne Bay

45
were Soldier Key to Caesar's Creek, and south of Matheson Hammock. The catastrophic

modification by Hurricane Andrew is a normal part of the geological dynamics of these

mangrove wetlands. Mangrove environments contain well-preserved storm layers from

previous storms. These storm layers are capped by a coarse charcoal layer which represents

burning of the mangrove forest that had been flattened. Sediments were disturbed and organic

material from coastal areas entered the Bay resulting in discolored waters and low oxygen

conditions. Seagrasses did not appear to suffer much damage since Andrew was a fast moving

storm. Since Andrew, vegetation of many keys and coastal areas has begun to recover to

natural conditions. The effects of the storm on the ecosystem of Biscayne Bay continue to be

studied.

5.4. Rainfall and temperature

The cycles of rainfall and temperature for South Florida can be found in NOAA (2000c). The

Palmer Index was developed in the 1960s and uses temperature and rainfall information in a

formula to determine dryness. The Palmer Index is most effective in determining long term

drought and is standardized to local climate. The Palmer Index for South Florida is shown in

Figure IV.1 (Appendix IV). From the 1940s to the present, correlations can be observed in

drought conditions in South Florida and the presence of El Niño or La Niña in the Pacific. Data

prior to the 1940s may not be as abundant or of the same quality as recent data.

5.5. Sea level change

Global sea level has been rising since the last glacial maximum approximately 18,000 yrs ago

and this rise has not been at a uniform rate. Wanless et al. (1994b) has shown that the sea level

rise for the past few thousand years has been about 0.04 cm/yr compared to that of the

Holocene, approximately 0.25 cm/yr. Maul and Martin (1993) have determined the sea level

rise at Key West using instrument records from 1846 - 1987. The linear sea level rise has

been about 30 cm and there is a statistically weak but consistent indication that the rate of rise

has increased slightly since the 1920s (Figure IV.2, Appendix IV). Should the sea level rise

continue, changes to the coastal ecosystem are expected as more land is submerged. The

changes include an increased level of coastal turbidity and nutrients; storm driven loss of

coastal wetlands; storm driven modification and migration of coastal levees, mud and sand

banks, and barrier islands; deepening of coastal bays; and breaching of low areas along the

Keys to create new tidal passes.

5.6. Soil subsidence

A review of subsidence of organic soils in the Everglades can be found in Stephens (1984) and

is abstracted in this section. The Everglades, adjacent to Biscayne Bay, contains the largest

single tract of organic soils in the world, over 3,100 square miles. These soils, formed under

marshy conditions, subsided when drained. Subsidence is caused by compaction due to:

dessication, consolidation, and tillage; biochemical oxidation; wind erosion; and/or burning.

Biochemical oxidation accounted for approximately two thirds of the total loss of arable soils in

the region. Subsidence has had serious environmental effects on agriculture, water supplies and

wildlife. The sequence of observed subsidence of organic soils at three sites in the Everglades

is shown in Figure IV.2. The sites are the North River Canal, just below old South Bay Lock; the

Bolles Canal, a major drain at Okeelanta; and the Everglades Experiment Station. Ground

surface elevation has decreased by approximately 9 ft at all three sites. Soil losses have been

greatest near the original drainage canals and "subsidence valleys" several miles wide were

formed along both sides. Valley depths were greatest where drainage was best.

46
6. GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

6.1. Rivers, channels, cuts and canals

6.1.1. Rivers

6.1.1.1. Miami River

"The mouth of the Miami River, which we were about entering, was before us, flanked

by high banks, well-built houses (the best on the bay) were on either shore, in fact the

river's brim was fringed with really handsome and stately rows of fruitful

cocoa-palms, while back of them could be seen the dense and vivid foliage of

sweet-orange trees, royal bananas, lemons, limes, guavas, and the graceful,

unsurpassed crowns of delightful maumees.

The Miami River, like all others on this coast, has a course of but a few miles, but is a

full-grown stream at its source, bursting, as though propelled from a hydrant, out of

the vast and accumulation reservoir of the Everglades, and forcing its widening way to

the Bay. Indeed, at times, in the rainy season, so much fresh water is driven into this

salt bay of thirty miles in length, from the various streams, that the entire body

becomes freshened, and salt-water fish are obliged to leave for the time or die."

J. Buck, 1877 (Buck, reprinted 1979)

The Miami river is the major river flowing into Biscayne Bay, flowing west to east through the

center of the city of Miami (Austin, 1971). The River ranks fifth largest among Florida's

international seaports, handling $1.7 billion of cargo, approximately 9% of Florida's port cargo

value and 18% of total cargo from the Miami Custom District. Approximately 80% of all river

cargo is containerized, and the rest is bulk (Beacon Council, 1991) The major exporting

partners are Haiti, the Bahamas, the West Indies and Mexico. Industrial facilities along the

Miami River include seafood processing and metal recycling. The navigable portion of the River

is currently from the Miami International Airport through congested commercial and residential

areas to Brickell Point, just south of downtown Miami.

The river varies in width from 150 to 250 ft, and navigable depths range from 15 ft at high

water to 13 ft at low. The natural river extended only four miles west from Biscayne Bay into

the Everglades (Gaby, 1990). It was fed by numerous fresh water springs. The major tributary

of the natural Miami River was Wagner Creek which joined the river at about 8th Avenue. The

rapids of the Miami River that were located near today's 27th Ave. were dynamited in 1908. In

1913, the river was dredged and the material removed was dumped on the current site of

Cloughton Island (now named Brickell Key) (Figure 38). In 1918, John Seybold dug the Seybold

Canal from the Miami River north along 7th Avenue and northwest to a turning basin, and

widened Wagner Creek. During the 1930s, the Army Corps of Engineers widened the Miami

River and Canal and deepened them to 15 feet.

By the 1930s, the river was receiving contamination from commercial activities and sewage

from the Miami area. In 1934 the first targets of an environmental campaign were cheaply built

barge housing called "shanties". These houseboats were removed in 1941.

The inflow of salt water into the River is the result of tidal action from Biscayne Bay and

changes in the water table resulting from the construction of the drainage canal system. Salt

water intrusion and fresh water discharges in the River and canal system are controlled

through a series of dams.

47
Figure 38. Miami River, Port of Miami. and Brickell Key (Note Miami river sediment plume. Some of the old

channels are still visible to the east of Brickell Key.) [Aerial photograph 5WG68412, 1992. Scale 1:15000,

azimuth 189.7, 25.77778° N, 80.17917° W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service,

<http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.

noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WG68412.gif>. Black areas are artifacts in original photograph. Figures 38 and

newb through newe were reduced to the same scale. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color

version on p. 121.

48
The Miami river is currently a slow moving body of water, still contaminated by untreated

sewage effluents and urban runoff. Acute coliform bacteria contamination events are

characterized by coliform concentrations hundreds of thousands of times higher than water

quality standards (Markley et al., 1990). These episodes affect widespread areas of the River

itself, its tributaries and adjacent portions of the Bay, and are the result of raw sewage

discharge from emergency overflows and from manholes during flow conditions that exceed

pump station capacity. Chronic contamination of the River is characterized by coliform levels

tens of times higher than standards and is primarily caused by contamination of storm drains

by raw sewage.

The sediments of the Miami River are contaminated. Arsenic, Cd Hg, Pb and Ag are above

natural levels (Ryan et al., 1985; Ryan and Cox, 1985). In general, contaminant concentrations

at the two farthest upstream (at the salinity barrier) locations were lower than those

downriver. Corcoran et al. (1984) found similar trends for organic contaminants. Results

indicated that there is considerable input of pollutants from the river into adjacent areas of

Biscayne Bay. Compared to other Florida navigation system studies, sediments from the Port of

Miami and the Intracoastal Waterway were in general the most contaminated of all samples

analyzed. Particle bound pollutants appeared to be accumulating in deep dredge holes.

6.1.1.2. Oleta River

The Oleta River State Recreation Area is the largest urban park in Florida, occupying almost

1000 acres (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2000b). The most prominent

natural feature of the park is the Oleta River. Tequesta* sites dating as far back as 500 BC

have been found along the river. When Spaniards first visited the area they encountered bear,

deer, panthers, bobcats, wolves, alligators, manatees and numerous birds and small animals. In

1841, the river was named Big Snake Creek and was used by southern-moving Federal troops

during the Second Seminole War. In 1881, Captain William Hawkins Fulford explored the river

and settled further inland in the area known today as North Miami Beach. Once "discovered",

other settlers ventured north from Miami and by the 1890s, pineapple and vegetable farms had

sprung up along the river. An Indian trading post was established at what is now Greynolds

Park. In 1922, Big Snake Creek was renamed the Oleta River. Waterbirds feed along the

mangrove-lined shoreline and West Indian manatees find refuge in the area. The Phase I of the

wetlands enhancement effort at the Oleta River State Recreation Area, completed in 1990, was

funded by Miami-Dade with matching funds from the Dade County Seaport Dept. Phase II is

ongoing. The mangrove enhancement effort in the area was also completed in 1990 and was

funded by Miami-Dade with matching funds from the South Florida Water Management District.

The restoration effort is described in Milano (1999).

6.1.1.3. Arch Creek

Arch Creek was an underground stream carrying water from the Everglades into Biscayne Bay

that eventually became exposed (Kleinberg, 1989). It was well known for a natural bridge,

which was part of the road from Fort Dallas (present day Miami) to Fort Lauderdale in the

1850s. It is an archeological site of Tequesta Native People. Chrysler Corporation bought the

property in 1972 and planned to build an auto dealership on the site. The State of Florida bought

the site from Chrysler in 1973. Within hours of the purchase, the natural bridge collapsed. The

site is currently a state park.

*

 The Tequestas were part of the Calusa Nation that dominated the Florida peninsula between fifteen hundred and two thousand

years ago (Blank, 1996).

49
6.1.2. Channels and cuts

6.1.2.1. Safety Valve

The Safety Valve is a complex carbonate tidal bar belt extending approximately 10 miles

southward of Key Biscayne to Soldier Key (Figures 39 and 40). The belt is composed of about

10 east-west trending bars separated by tidal channels. Sediment thickness varies from 4-5 m

in the north to 1 m in the southern end. Carbon dating indicates that the northern section began

forming in the northern end about 3600 BP at about the time Biscayne Bay was reflooded by the

rise in sea level (Plescia and Stipp, 1975). Stiltsville, a cluster of homes set on pilings, is

located at the northern end of the Safety Valve.

6.1.2.2. Bear Cut

Bear Cut is a natural channel connecting the northern part of Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean

(Figure 3). There is strong tidal flow through this channel. The University of Miami's Rosenstiel

School of Marine and Atmospheric Science is located on the northern side of the Cut and some of

the School's research vessels are docked on the Cut. The bridge across Bear Cut is the only

connection between Key Biscayne and the mainland.

6.1.2.3. Norris Cut

Norris Cut was apparently formed by the passage of a hurricane prior to 1887, probably the

storm of 1835 (Chardon, 1977) (Figure 6). Norris Cut is not open to large vessel traffic.

6.1.2.4. Government Cut

Government Cut is a man-made channel providing access to the Port of Miami from the ocean

(Figure 10). Construction of Government Cut began in 1902 when the Port was still in the

Miami River (Michel, 1976). Since then, a series of deepening and widening projects have taken

place as the size of the vessels using port facilities increased. Material dredged during the

construction of the Cut was used to create the MacArthur Causeway and Dodge and Lummus

Islands, the current site of the Port of Miami.

6.1.2.5. Bakers Haulover Cut

Bakers Haulover Cut, built in 1924 - 1925, connects North Bay with the Atlantic Ocean (Figure

41) (Michel, 1976; Toner, 1979). Prior to opening of the Cut, North Bay was estuarine.

Reasons for construction of the Cut included decrease in the residence time of water in North

Bay thereby decreasing bacterial contamination and faster access to the Atlantic Ocean.

6.1.2.6. Caesar's Creek, Broad Creek, and Angelfish Creek

Caesar's Creek, Broad Creek, and Angelfish Creek provide tidal exchange for South Bay and

Card Sound (Figures 42 and 43). These channels are shallow passages through the upper islands

of the Florida Keys chain. Caesar's Creek was named after Black Caesar, an escaped African

slave, who became a pirate and operated out of Elliott Key (Atkinson, 1970).

50
Figure 39. The Safety Valve. (The southern end of Key Biscayne is at the top. Soldier Key is at the bottom

right.) [Aerial photograph 5WGS3280, Jan. 2, 1992. Scale 1:48000, azimuth 208.8, 25.62889° N, 80.17889°

W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.

gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/

5WGQ2991.gif>. Black area at the top of the image is an artifact in original photograph. See Figure 3 for

identification details.] See color version on p. 122.

51
Figure 40. Ragged Keys, Sands Key and the northern end of Elliott Key. (The southern end of the Safety

Valve is north of the Ragged Keys.) [Aerial photograph 5WGN2919, Jan. 17, 1992. Scale 1:48000, azimuth

11.3, 25.52917° N, 80.14528° W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service,

<http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.

noaa.gov/images/Photos /5WGN2919.gif>. See Figure 3 for identification details.] See color version on p.

123.

52
Figure 41. Bakers Haulover Cut. (The Oleta River is just off the image at the upper right. The Munisport

Landfill site is almost directly east of Bakers Haulover Cut. Note sediment deltas on either side of the cut.

Delta inside the Bay appears to have formed prior to dredging of the Intercoastal Waterway.) [Aerial

photograph 5WPA1416, 1999. Scale 1:40000, azimuth 31.1, 25.88965° N, 80.16151° W. (Coastal Aerial

Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/

photos/photos.html>, <http:// mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WPA1416.gif>. See Figure 2 for

identification details.] See color version on p. 124.

53
Figure 42. Elliott Key, Caesar's Creek and Old Rhodes Key. (Biscayne Bay and Card Sound are to the right of

the image.) [Aerial photograph 5WGN2887, 1992. Scale 1:48000, azimuth 209.2, 25.37861° N, 80.23139° W.

(Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:

80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/

5WGN2887.gif>. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color version on p. 125.

54
Figure 43. Broad Creek and Angelfish Creek. (Biscayne Bay and Card Sound are to the right of the image.)

[Aerial photograph 5WGN2889, 1992. Scale 1:48000, azimuth 209.2, 25.34333° N, 80.25306° W. (Coastal

Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/

mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/

5WGN2889.gif>. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color version on p. 126.

55
6.1.3. Canals and the Biscayne Aquifer

The canal drainage system of South Florida is managed by the South Florida Water Management

District and the US Army Corps of Engineers (Figure 44). Construction of canals to drain land

for urban and agricultural uses began during the 1900s. The canal system encompasses most of

South Florida. No chronological record of construction of the canal system could be found as of

this writing.

The Biscayne Aquifer is a highly permeable unconfined aquifer more than 200 feet thick in north

Broward County, that thins to an edge 40 miles inland in the Everglades (Klein and Hull, 1978)

(Figure 40). The aquifer is composed of limestone, sandstone and sand. Generally the sand

proportion increases as the aquifer thickens to the north and east. The Biscayne Aquifer is

primarily independent of the Everglades and recharges by local rainfall. Discharge is by

evaporation, canal drainage, coastal seepage and pumping. Prior to 1900, discharge into

Biscayne Bay occurred through well-known solution holes in the Miami oolite and this flow

produced numerous freshwater springs (Figure 8) (see Section 4.1). Since then, anthropogenic

changes to the natural flow reduced or eliminated spring flow. Recent changes to the drainage

canal system may have reversed this effect.

Saltwater intrusion along the southeastern boundary of the Biscayne Aquifer has been

documented since 1904, shortly after the construction of drainage canals began in the area

(Halley et al., 1998; and others) (Figure 32). Since the 1940s, the salt intrusion has been

regionally arrested although localized problems exist (Halley et al., 1998). Willard et al.

(1999) investigated hydrologic changes over the past century using floral and faunal

assemblages in sediment cores as proxies for vegetation and environmental parameters and

found indications that the major, system-wide biotic changes occurred by 1940. This date

coincides with the construction of the major canals in the area. Several authors have suggested

that the increased salinity in Florida Bay, the salt water intrusion into the Biscayne Aquifer and

the reduction of the offshore freshwater springs are the result of the drainage canals. The

greater head potential of the Biscayne Aquifer acted as a salinity barrier (Reich, 1998).

Contaminants can enter the aquifer by direct infiltration from land surface or controlled canals,

septic tanks and other drainfields, drainage wells, and solid waste dumps. Most of the

contamination is concentrated in the upper 20 to 30 feet of the aquifer.

6.1.3.1. Mowry Canal

The Mowry Canal (C-103) is located approximately 25 mi south of Miami and plays an

important role in flood protection and the salt water intrusion control network. It is one of the

major canals draining into Biscayne Bay.

6.1.3.2. Military Canal

Military Canal connects Homestead Air Reserve Base (ARB) to Biscayne Bay providing a conduit

for storm water drainage (US Air Force, 1998). A series of small canals and ditches in the

base drain into Boundary Canal and flow into a reservoir that discharges into Military Canal via

natural flow or pumping. Military Canal and Boundary Canal were constructed before 1942 and

modified in 1942. Military Canal is managed by the South Florida Water Management District.

EPA conducted sediment analysis, toxicity tests and ecological risk assessments of Military

Canal and found no significant contamination or ecological risk (US Air Force, 1998). EPA and

the US Air Force have drafted plans to clean up the canal (Zaneski, 1999). Yet, polycyclic

aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the sediment of the Canal may be the result of illicit dumping

56
C-7

C-11

C-8

C-4

C-13

C-14

C-2

C-9

S-34

S-9

S-39

S-5

S-13

Fort

Lauderdale

HGS

4

S-2

S-8 S-7

S-6

Figure 44. Hydrologic structures and hydrologic features of the South Florida Water Management District.

[Redrawn from Klein and Hull (1978).]

57
activities of organic debris, an old boat, and asphalt shingles. Pesticides and petroleum

products were commonly mixed before application to open water bodies to control human

disease vectors such as mosquitoes and may be the source for the pesticides detected in the

sediment of the Canal. The anomalous trace metal concentrations in the sediment can be linked

to recreational fishing (lead sinkers), illicit solid waste dumping and car disposals.

6.1.3.3. Miami Canal

The Miami Canal is a part of the canal system of South Florida. The Miami Canal ran from Lake

Okeechobee in the north, through the Everglades, to the Miami river between 1916 and 1923.

At that time, there was shallow draft boat traffic through the canal. After a flood in 1923, a

dam was constructed across the canal east of the South New River Canal thus ending water

traffic.

6.2. Islands

6.2.1. Miami Beach

Miami Beach was a barrier island between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. There were

natural channels between the Atlantic and Biscayne Bay across Miami Beach. These channels

were probably opened and closed as the result of tropical storms. In 1904, Government Cut

was built to provide fast access to the Port of Miami (see Section 6.1.2.4). Government Cut

separated the southern end of the barrier islands from the rest thus creating Fisher Island (see

Section 6.2.5). During the 1920s, development of the barrier islands began and as a result the

mangrove forests covering the islands were removed beginning in 1913 (Figure 9). The Collins

Canal through part of Miami Beach was built in 1912. In 1924, a channel was cut across a

narrow section of the barrier island to provide access between the Atlantic and North Bay thus

avoiding the trip south to exit the Bay via Government Cut. This channel is Bakers Haulover Cut

(see Section 6.1.2.5). Miami Beach is now completely urban and very few areas of vegetation

remain.

6.2.2. Key Biscayne

Key Biscayne is the largest natural island in Biscayne Bay. It is the southern-most of the sand

keys, and for a greater part of its length a sand bar lies off shore about 1500 ft. This sand bar

affects the beach by reducing the heavy surf and undertow. During the 1940s, seagrasses took

root along various sections of Crandon Park beach and it was decided to dredge the fine silt of

the seagrass beds and replace it with clean sand.

There have been settlements in Key Biscayne since the 1700s and evidence of occupation of the

island by Native Peoples before that. An account of the history of Key Biscayne from the

Spanish Conquista to the date of publication can be found in Blank (1996).

The Bill Baggs Cape Florida Recreation Area is located at the southern portion of Key Biscayne

(see Section 6.3.2). Crandon Park is located on the Atlantic coast of Key Biscayne (see Section

6.3.2).

Hurricane Andrew destroyed the forest of Australian pines (Causarina) that covered Cape

Florida and the northeast end of the island. These areas have been revegetated with native

plants (Figures 45 and 46). The restoration effort in the Cape Florida area is described in

Section 6.3.2. The Bear Cut Preserve Wetlands Restoration, completed in 1996, was funded by

58
Fossil 

mangrove 

forest

Figure 45. Virginia Key and Key Biscayne prior to Hurricane Andrew. (Note extensive Australian pine cover

at the southern end of Key Biscayne.) [Aerial photograph 5WGQ2991, Jan. 17, 1992. Scale 1:48000,

azimuth 191.1, 25.70722° N, 80.15889° W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service,

<http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.

noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WGQ2991.gif>. Black area at the bottom of the image is an artifact in original

photograph. See Figure 3 for identification details.] See color version on p. 127.

59
Figure 46. Key Biscayne after Hurricane Andrew. (Note difference in plant cover at the southern end of

Key Biscayne. Restoration sites are the light colored areas on the Atlantic site just south of Bear Cut and

the area to the south on the Bay side.) [Aerial photograph 5WPA1342, 1999. Scale 1:40000, azimuth

187.6, 25.70489° N, 80.16356° W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service,

<http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.

noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WPA1342.gif>. See Figure 3 for identification details.] See color version on p.

128.

60
Miami-Dade County with matching funds from Miami-Dade Water and Sewer and the Biscayne

Bay Environmental Enhancement Trust Fund. The effort is described in Milano (1999 and 2000).

6.2.2.1. Fossil mangrove forest

Along the southern shore and northeastern shore of Key Biscayne there is a small rock reef

approximately 400 yds long and extending out for 115 yds seaward (Hoffmeister and Multer,

1965) (Figure 45). This reef is composed of a framework of fossilized black mangrove

(Avicennia nitida) roots. The mangrove swamp probably extended seaward beyond the present

edge of the reef and landward over at least the northern part of what is now Key Biscayne. The

reef is barely awash at high tide and it is exposed at low tide. The roots turned into calcareous

rods and are embedded in a friable calcareous-quartzitic sand which can be washed away by

wave action thus exposing the lattice work of the root systems. Part of the reef has been

hardened and protected by coatings of barnacles. Marine algae also cover part of the reef but it

is not as effective as the barnacle coating in protecting the area from erosion. Radiocarbon

dating indicates the age of the rods to be between 1000 and 2000 yrs old. This is believed to be

the first reported occurrence of fossilization of mangrove roots.

6.2.2.2. Biscayne Nature Center

The site of the new Biscayne Nature Center is in the northeast corner of Crandon Park. The

Center is sponsored by Dade County Public Schools, the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Biscayne

Nature Center organization (a private non-profit organization), and the Miami-Dade County

Parks and Recreation Department. Part of the project’s program includes replanting native

plants to repair the extensive damage suffered from Hurricane Andrew. The sand dunes nearby

are an evolving natural community which will become a living interpretive display. The Center

will also act as a park visitor center and as a gateway to the Bear Cut Preserve to the north,

currently under restoration.

6.2.3. Virginia Key

Virginia Key, one of the three natural islands in North Bay, was created in the 19th Century

when a hurricane formed the channel now known as Norris Cut (Figures 4 and 5). Until then,

Virginia Key was the southern tip of the barrier islands that is now Miami Beach. Virginia Key

is separated from Key Biscayne by Bear Cut, another of the natural channels of Biscayne Bay.

In 1945, Virginia Beach, on the Bear Cut side of Virginia Key, was designated as the county's

only beach for African Americans (Bragg, 1999). It was accessible only by ferry until 1947

when the Rickenbacker Causeway was built. A hurricane in the mid 1960s destroyed many of

the buildings. Virginia Beach is not open to the public at this time.

Facilities on the island are Virginia Key Sewage Treatment Plant (see Section 6.3.2.1), the

Miami Seaquarium, the Miami Marine Stadium (severely damaged by Hurricane Andrew and

currently unusable), the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, the

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center, and the University of

Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) and the Maritime and

Science Technology High School.

RSMAS maintains private docking facilities for research vessels on Bear Cut south of

Rickenbacker Causeway The Seaquarium Flats are located south of the Rickenbacker Causeway

and across from the Miami Marine Stadium. This area has been the subject of several research

projects by RSMAS faculty and students.

61
There have been numerous plans to use the land between the treatment plant and Virginia Beach

(City of Miami, 1987). None have been put into effect. The area is used as training facilities for

law enforcement agencies and a common location for movie making.

The Virginia Key Dune/Wetland Restoration project is ongoing and is funded by Miami-Dade with

matching funds from City of Miami, Biscayne Bay Environmental Enhancement Trust Fund, and

the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection. The effort is described in Milano (1999).

6.2.4. Port of Miami

At the turn of the century, port activities in the Miami area were centered in the Miami River.

Henry Flagler funded construction of the Port and began collecting dockage fees in 1896

(Miami-Dade County, 2000). A shallow channel was dredged between Cape Florida and the river

to provide access to larger vessels. In 1915, Government Cut was constructed through Miami

Beach, providing port access to larger vessels and creating Fisher Island and spoils banks on

the side of the cut. In 1918, the County Cswy, later known as MacArthur Causeway, linking

Miami and Miami Beach, was built parallel to Government Cut.

During the 1920s, the Port of Miami became the primary hub for all shipping to South Florida.

Passenger service to Baltimore and New York began at this time (Miami-Dade County, 2000).

Burlingame Island was built with dredge material from deepening of the Miami River port site in

1923. In 1925 the western edge of the Bay was dredged to provide fill for Bayfront Park, the

area on the east side of the City of Miami (Figure 47). In this same year, Government Cut was

deepened and broadened. Port facilities moved to a site north of Bayfront Park. The Port

remained at that location until the construction of the Dodge Island Seaport in the 1960s.

Shipping activities declined after the Land Boom, Stock Market Crash and Hurricane of 1926.

Cruise service to Havana began during the 1930s (Miami-Dade County, 2000). During World

War II, the US Navy assumed control of the Port (see Section 4.4 for wartime activities in

Biscayne Bay). In 1956, the Port selected Dodge Island for future expansion. The City of Miami

transferred port administration to Dade County in 1960 and work began on the Dodge Island

Seaport in 1962. Port operations at the new site began in 1963. By 1968, a cruise port record

was set with four maiden voyages in one month (Miami-Dade County, 2000). The Port of Miami

was the first in history to record more than one million passengers in a year. Oceanographic

research vessels of NOAA and the University of Miami Rosenstiel Institute of Marine Sciences

used the Port of Miami as home. The Seaport was expanded in the 1980s by joining Dodge and

Lummus Islands (Miami-Dade County, 2000). Passenger and cargo records continued to be set.

In 1991, a record 3.9 million tons of cargo were handled in one year. One of the last

modifications to the Port was the infilling of small ship basins on the perimeter of DodgeLummus Islands (Figure 48).

The area around the Biscayne Blvd. port facilities was one of the most heavily polluted with

coliform bacteria in the Bay (Voss, 1972). McNulty repeated the pollution study of the area

after pollution abatement measures began in the late 1950s. Little change was noted in the port

facility area. Organic matter was present in large amount and benthic animals were few. High

turbidity, water depth, lack of mixing and flushing, and input from the Miami River were also

reported (Voss, 1972). The aesthetic quality of the Biscayne Blvd. port facilities was poor.

The various stages of Port construction since the turn of the century increasingly constricted

water flow in the Bay, and dredging operations resulted in a severely impacted bottom

ecosystem (Voss, 1972).

62
Figure 47. Aerial view of the Port of Miami off Biscayne Blvd. (1928). (The city of Miami is at the center of

the image. The Miami River entrance is beyond the city and to the left of the image. The spoil island that

became Cloughton Island is just beyond the river entrance. [Photo negative, black and white, 8 x 10 in.

PR06894. Print Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

6.2.5. Fisher Island

Fisher Island, once the southern-most part of Miami Beach before it was severed by the

construction of Government Cut in 1905, covered 33 acres before it was expanded with

sediment from the Cut (Figures 10 and 36). Its first name was Rat Island and then Peninsula

Island. The present form of the island is the result of bulkheading and filling during the 1920s. It

is now 200-plus acres. The geological history of the island can be found in Hannan et al. (1972).

Fisher Island is currently the site of high-end residential housing.

6.2.6. Venetian Islands and Pelican Island

The Venetian Islands are man-made islands with a characteristic elongated oval shape located

between the mainland and Miami Beach (Figures 16, 29 and 36). Real estate on the Venetian

Islands sold quickly and plans to build an additional series of islands north of Di Lido Island were

proposed. Isola Dilolando was supposed to be part of the northward extension of the Venetian

Islands. Today it is known as Pelican Island, located between the Julia Tuttle Causeway and the

Venetian Causeway It is not a true island but a network of pillings outlining a rectangular area

of the Bay bottom about 3 feet deep. In 1944, the City of Miami Beach purchased the land inside

the pillings (Kleinberg, 1989). Although several plans were considered for the site, no further

development took place.

63
Figure 48. Belle Isle, the Venetian Islands, Watson Island, and the Port of Miami. [Miami Beach is at the top

left of the image, and Fisher Island is at the top right. Note that the rectangular ship berthing basins have

been filled in (see Figure 38).] [Aerial photograph 5WPB1537, 1999. Scale 1:20000, azimuth 290.2,

25.78139° N, 80.15513° W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder

.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images

/Photos/5WPB1537.gif>. Black areas are artifacts in original photograph. See Figure 2 for identification

details.] See color version on p. 129.

64
Figure 50. Aerial view of Belle Isle and the Venetian

Causeway (196-). (Miami Beach is to the left of the

image.) [Photonegative, black and white, 8 x 10 in.

PR07001. Print Collection, Florida State Photo

Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

Figure 49. Aerial view of Belle Isle (193-). (Miami

Beach is to the left of the image.) [Photonegative,

black and white, 8 x 10 in. PR09460. Print

Collection, Florida State Photo Archive.

<http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

6.2.7. Watson Island

Watson Island is located at the western end of the MacArthur Causeway and was constructed

during dredging operations (Figure 36). The island has been the site of Chalks Airlines, the

Goodyear blimp facilities, a helicopter charter service, and the Japanese garden. Voss (1973)

found that the area from the mouth of the Miami River north to the west end of the MacArthur

Causeway was contaminated and was expected to remain so until major changes were made in

the Miami River. The waters of the area were turbid, reducing illumination and limiting the

growth of marine plants. Bottom sediments were very fine grained. There were indications of

eutrophication. Surveys in 1954-57 and 1959 showed the area to be almost totally devoid of

attached benthic life. Fishing in the area is minimal. The waters of the ship basins are traps for

the collection and sinking of debris and garbage.

6.2.8. Belle Isle

Belle Isle, one of the three natural islands in North Bay, is the eastern most of the Venetian

Islands and was so named by Carl Fisher. Belle Isle was originally known as Bull’s Island. It was

a tidal flat, mucky at low tide, when John Collins built the bridge to it in 1912 as part of the

causeway connecting Miami to Miami Beach. The bridge was eventually rebuilt as the Venetian

Causeway and the tidal flat was filled forming an island. During the 1920s, Fisher extended it

to 32 acres and sold lots to millionaires. The shape of the island has changed little since the

1930s (Figures 49 and 50).

6.2.9. Fair Isle

Fair Isle is a man-made island south of the Mercy Hospital grounds. The major and initial dredge

and fill damage occurred in 1924 when seagrass beds were covered by the spoil bank (Voss,

1974). Possible damage may have occurred in the area due to dredge and fill since the 1970s.

6.2.10. Elliott Key

Elliott Key is the northernmost of the Florida Keys. Pioneering families settled on Elliott Key by

the beginning of the 20th century (Niemiec, 1996; Niedhauk, 1969 and 1973) (Figures 40 and

65
42). Charles Brookfield built the Ledbury Lodge on Elliott Key in 1936 using primarily driftwood

and cypress washed up on the island. Many notable people stayed at the Lodge (Shroeder,

1986). After World War II, it became derelict.

During the 1960s, Elliott Key became the focus of developers and conservationists since the

proposed Islandia development centered on the northern part of the Key. Islandia was conceived

as the "last sparkling jewel of the ocean", a city in the style of Miami Beach. Extensive

development of Elliott Key and the smaller keys in the area and a causeway connecting Cape

Florida with Elliott Key were planned. As a first step, Islandia was incorporated as a city in

1960 (Shroder, 1986). In opposition to the development, the US Department of the Interior

recommended Federal purchase of the island and the Bay bottom in 1967 for preservation as a

natural area. The Mayor of Islandia vowed to continue development and proceeded to build

Elliott Key Blvd. which would eventually connect with the planned causeway between Key

Biscayne and Elliott Key. In 1968 bulldozers cut through the vegetation and construction began.

Opposition to Islandia increased and discussions became heated. Islandia was declared a

"National Monument", a designation just short of that of National Park. In 1980, Biscayne

National Monument was expanded from 104,700 to 175,000 acres and designated a National

Park. The City of Islandia still exists but development never occurred.

The eye of Hurricane Andrew passed very close to Elliott Key. The effects of the storm are

discussed in Section 5.3.5.

6.2.11. Chicken Key

Chicken Key is one of the six natural islands in the Central Bay. Legend has it that it was thus

named because sailors trying to escape pirates and too "chicken" to confront their foes would

hide in this small island (Rabin, 1996). Most of the island's vegetation was destroyed in the

1940s when the government dredged a channel just north of the island so military barges would

reach Chapman Field. More than 30,000 cubic yards of fill were pumped onto the Key, and this

material eventually eroded and reached the Bay. Australian pines and Brazilian pepper trees

invaded the key displacing native vegetation. Hurricane Andrew destroyed the vegetation of the

Key and provided an opportunity to restore the Key. Chicken Key will be managed by the

Deering Estate for the Metro Parks and Recreation Department. The Chicken Key Bird Rookery

Restoration effort, completed in 1997, was funded by Miami-Dade with matching funds from

the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, the South Florida Water Management District and

the Biscayne Bay Environmental Enhancement Trust Fund. The effort is described in Milano

(1999).

6.2.12. Ragged Keys

The Ragged Keys are five small islands located north of Elliott Key (Figure 40). These keys are

the northern-most end of the Florida Keys. During the 1950s, it was proposed that the Ragged

Keys be consolidated as part of a bulkhead and fill project (Tabb, 1958). The project was not

put into effect. The Ragged Keys were also part of the planned Islandia development (see

Section 6.2.9).

6.2.13. Soldier Key

Soldier Key is a very small island located in the Safety Valve (Figure 39). The key was so

named because, according to legend, a soldier was stranded there. Soldier Key was devastated

by Hurricane Andrew. All vegetation and the caretakers house were razed from the key. The

 A newspaper account described the result of one of the public meetings: "The wife of an Islandia property owner ended a

discussion with a conservationist by clobbering the bird watcher on the head with her purse" (Shroeder, 1986).

66
National Park Service bought the key in 1993 after plans to develop the property into a resort

fell through (Dewar, 1993). Restoration of the key is underway.

6.2.14. Spoil islands

The spoil islands created during the construction of the Intercoastal Waterway have been or are

currently undergoing restoration. These islands in North Bay are: Flagler Memorial Island,

Teachers Island, Morningside Island* , Mangrove Islands (two islands), Legion Island, Pelican

Island, Quayside Island, Helkers Island, Crescent Islands (two islands), Little Sandspur Island,

and Sandspur Island (Figures 51 - 54) (Milano, 2000). These islands were used by the

environmental artist Christo Javacheff for his Surrounded Islands: project for Biscayne Bay,

Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-1983 (see Section 9.2).

6.3. Parks and reserves

6.3.1. Biscayne National Park

Biscayne National Monument was established in 1968 (Markley and Milano, 1985; Flik, 1993).

Park boundaries expanded in 1974 and 1980, changing its name to Biscayne National Park. The

Park encompasses most of southern Biscayne Bay and extends seaward to the 10 fathom line,

encompassing 49 acres of keys and 20 miles of reef (Voss et al., 1969). The largest keys are

Elliott Key, Old Rhodes Key, Sands Key, Totten Key, Long Arsenicker Key, Swan Key and

Adams Key. Biscayne National Park has 47 documented resource sites. The Park is unique in

that it is 95% water.

6.3.2. Bill Baggs Cape Florida Recreation Area

The Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area is located on the southern part of Key

Biscayne and was named after the late Miami newspaper editor who championed this area for a

state park.

Ponce de Leon visited the Biscayne Bay area in 1513 and named the southern end of Key

Biscayne "Cape of Florida" (Hurley, 1989; Florida Department of Environmental Protection,

2000c). When Florida became a U.S. Territory in 1821 the national network of lighthouses was

extended and in 1825 the Cape Florida Lighthouse was built. The lighthouse is still there and is

the oldest building in south Florida. In 1836 during the Second Seminole War the lighthouse was

attacked and damaged by fire. It was restored in 1846 and placed back in service in 1847. In

1861, Confederate sympathizers removed the lamps and burners and smashed the crucial

center prism so it could not be used by the Union sailors. The lighthouse was repaired and re-lit

again in 1866. When the Fowey Rocks Light was placed into service in 1878, the lens and

illuminating apparatus atop the Cape Florida lighthouse were removed and shipped to Staten

Island, NY. A century passed and in 1978, the light was reinstalled by the U. S. Coast Guard to

again serve as a navigational aid.

Hurricane Andrew destroyed the Australian pines that once covered the area thus providing an

opportunity to restore the natural plant communities and systems historically associated with

the island (Figures 45 and 46)) (Colon, 1998; Florida Department of Environmental Protection,

2000c). Seventy five acres of mangroves, beach dunes, the maritime hammock and the

freshwater wetland are also being restored. The Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area

*

 Morningside Key, previously known as Spoil Island No. 2, was cleaned and converted into a recreation area during Baynanza

1997 (Tomb, 1997).

67
Figure 51. North Bay, Harbor and Treasure Islands. [Note spoil islands and Intercoastal Waterway.] [Aerial

photograph 5WJ68404, 1992. Scale 1:15000, azimuth 189.7, 25.87195° N, 80.16028° W. (Coastal Aerial

Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/

surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/ 5WJ68404.gif>. Black

areas are artifacts in original photograph. Figures 38 and newb through newe were reduced to the same

scale. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color version on p. 130.

68
Figure 52. Bird, Legion, Mangrove and Morningside Keys. [North Bay, Harbor and Treasure Islands are at the

top of the image. Note channels cutting across seagrass bed.] [Aerial photograph 5WJ68406, 1992. Scale

1:15000, azimuth 189.7, 25.84833° N, 80.165° W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean

Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://

mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WJ68406.gif>. Black areas are artifacts in original photograph.

Figures 38 and newb through newe were reduced to the same scale. See Figure 2 for identification details.]

See color version on p. 131.

69
Figure 53. Morningside Key and 36th Street Causeway [Teachers Key is at the bottom of the image.]

[Aerial photograph 5WJ68408, 1992. Scale 1:15000, azimuth 189.5, 25.825° N, 80.16672° W. (Coastal Aerial

Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/

surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WJ68408.gif>. Black

areas are artifacts in original photograph. Figures 38 and newb through newe were reduced to the same

scale. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color version on p. 132.

70
Figure 54. Teachers, Biscayne, San Marco, and Watson Islands, and Port of Miami. [Oblong shapes on the

north side of the Port are cruise ships.] [Aerial photograph 5WJ68410, 1992. Scale 1:15000, azimuth 189.7,

25.80139° N, 80.17445° W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service,

<http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/ mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.

nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WJ68410.gif>. Black areas are artifacts in original photograph. Figures 38 and

newb through newe were reduced to the same scale. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color

version on p. 133.

71
Wetlands Restoration, completed in 1999 was funded by Miami-Dade County with matching

funds from the Florida Inland Navigation District, South Florida Water Management District,

Miami-Dade Water and Sewer, Biscayne Bay Environmental Enhancement Trust Fund, US

Department of Agriculture/Forest Service and the Village of Key Biscayne. The effort is

described in Milano (1999).

6.3.3. Crandon Park

Crandon Park opened in 1948 and is located along the northeastern shore of Key Biscayne,

between the fossil mangrove forest and the Bill Baggs Cape Florida Recreation Area. Crandon

Park was the last public beach development in the Metropolitan Dade County area. Bonds for

initial development were sold in 1940 but active construction did not take place until the end of

World War II. Rickenbacker Causeway connecting the mainland to Virginia Key and Key Biscayne

was started early in 1942. Construction was delayed due to the war. The causeway was opened

in 1949 providing access to the Park.

In 1948, a one-truck traveling menagerie in financial difficulties consisting of a couple of

bears, some monkeys, ocelots and a goat became the nucleus of the Crandon Park Zoo, the

predecessor of the current Metrozoo. The animals were housed in Key Biscayne until they were

moved to the mainland facility in 1978.

6.3.4. Matheson Hammock Park

Matheson Hammock Park* , the oldest in Miami-Dade County, is a man-made Atoll Pool which is

flushed naturally with the tidal action of Biscayne Bay (Figure 55). The Park was named after

Commodore W. J. Matheson, a New York chemical and dye manufacturer, who arrived in Dade

County in 1902. Upon his death in 1930, 100 acres of mangrove and hammock were willed to

Dade County and became the basis of the Park, built during the 1930s by the Civilian

Conservation Corps. The Atoll Pool is fed from Biscayne Bay through four aluminum-grated

gates and aerated to reduce bacterial levels.

6.3.5. Deering Estate and Vizcaya

The Deering Estate is located on the shore of Biscayne Bay and some of South Florida's earliest

buildings, dating to 1896, are found in the site (Miami-Dade County, 2000) (Figure 55). Fossil

bones have been found in the area dating as far back as 50,000 years. Tequesta Indians lived on

the site from about 2000 years ago to the late 1700s. In 1838, the US awarded a provisional

land grant, the Perrine Grant, to Dr. Henry Perrine for the propagation of commercially

valuable tropical plants, in what is currently the Deering Estate. Perrine was killed during the

Second Seminole War and never settled in the area. After the Second and Third Seminole Wars,

several settlers established home sites in the area. By the 1890s, the area became known as

"Cutler". In 1900, the Richmond family added a structure to their 1896 house and opened the

"Richmond Cottage," the first hotel between Coconut Grove and Key West. The Richmond family

home and the Richmond Cottage are two of the most significant historic buildings on the Estate.

Industrialist Charles Deering bought the Richmond property in 1913 and remodeled it into his

private winter residence. His brother, James Deering, built Vizcaya in 1916, an Italian

Renaissance-style villa and formal gardens as a winter residence (Figure 56).*

*

 Information from upublished material provided by Matheson Hammock Park (2000).

*

 Vizcaya is just south of the present day Rickenbacker Cswy.

72
Figure 55. Matheson Hammock, ITT Hammock, the Deering Estate and Chicken Key. [The Matheson Hammock

Atoll Pool is the circular feature at the top left of the image. The Snapper Creek Canal (C-2) passes

through the ITT Hammock. The Deering Estate is to the right (west) of Chicken Key at the bottom left of

the image.] [Aerial photograph 5WGQ2977, 1992. Scale 1:48000, azimuth 11.2, 25.65028° N, 80.29361° W.

(Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.

gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/

5WGQ2977.gif>. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color version on p. 134.

73
Figure 56. Vizcaya and Mercy Hospital. [Vizcaya is near the top center of the image. The old access channel

leading to the stone "boat" (the small oval-shaped island) built on the water at the back of the house can

be seen. The Mercy Hospital complex is south of Vizcaya. The Rickenbacker Causeway is at the top left of

the image.] [Aerial photograph 5WJ68378, 1992. Scale 1:15000, azimuth 9.5, 25.73583° N, 80.21333° W.

(Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov:80/

mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/

5WJ68378.gif>. See Figure 2 for identification details.] See color version on p. 135.

74
Construction of the Estate's keyhole-shaped Boat Basin began in 1916 and was completed in

1918. The Boat Basin was built directly on an axis with the Richmond Cottage, as a focal point

for the arrival of his yacht, the "Barbee," schooners bringing construction materials, and other

vessels. Deering descendants inhabited the property until 1980. The Estate was purchased by

the State of Florida and Miami-Dade County in 1985. The Estate is managed by the Miami-Dade

Park & Recreation Department, in partnership with the Deering Estate Foundation.

The Estate contains over 115 acres of coastal tropical hardwood hammocks and 150 acres of

globally endangered pine rockland forests. A variety of wildlife such as grey foxes, spotted

skunks, squirrels, bobcats and birds inhabit the area. Mangroves, salt marshes and the offshore

island of Chicken Key occupy 130 acres of the Estate and are accessible by canoe.

The Deering Estate was seriously damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and restoration

efforts are in progress.

6.3. Municipal facilities

6.3.1. Power plants

6.3.1.1. Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant

The Florida Power and Light Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant is located in Homestead and

covers 22,295 acres (Ho, 1998). The facility is a combination of two fossil fuel and two

nuclear units, and it is linked to the statewide electrical power transmission system. The fossil

fuel units began operation in 1967 and 1968, and the nuclear units in 1972 and 1973. The fossil

fuel storage units hold 554,000 barrels of low sulfur oil. The fossil fuel units consume 20,000

barrels of oil and 4,000 barrels of natural gas daily. Approximately 300 tons of uranium are

required to produce a year's supply of fuel for both nuclear units.

The effect of thermal pollution on the fauna and flora of southern Biscayne Bay and Card Sound

were extensively studied during the 1970s before and after cooling canals were installed. In

1972, a 2700 ft/min thermal effluent flowed directly into Card Sound at a point 6 miles south

of the Florida Power and Light Company's Turkey Point site (Thorhaug and Bach, 1973). In

March 1973, a self-circulating canal system was opened and effluent stopped entering Card

Sound (Figure 57).

During the period when effluent was discharged into Card Sound, the maximum temperature

rise was about 1° C over ambient in an area of about one acre directly in front of the canal

mouth. This same area was covered to about 30 cm depth with suspended matter from the

canal. A two-year study of attached algae in Card Sound revealed no significant changes in the

normal seasonal pattern of productivity and standing crops of four major calcareous

macro-algae (Penicillus, Halimeda, Udotea, and Rhipocephalus) and green algae except in the

area of deposition of suspended matter directly in front of the canal mouth where the plants

were apparently smothered (Thorhaug et al., 1979). The distribution of the red algal

macrophyte association was affected by flow from the canal since this group, predominantly

Laurencia poitei, forms large rolling mats that are subject to influence by currents.

The self-circulating cooling canal system has affected the fauna and flora of the area. About

64% of the system is water and about 36% is spoil berm (Gaby et al., 1985). The berms were

created from material dredged during the construction of the canals and support a variety of

vegetation. While vegetation of the surroundings is dominated by mangrove swamp, the

dominant vegetation of the cooling canals is Widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima).

75
Card Sound

C-107

Turkey Point 

Nuclear Power 

Plant

Figure 57. Turkey Point cooling canals. [Composite image prepared from aerial photographs 5WGS3233 and

5WGS3235, Jan. 2, 1992. Scale 1:48000; azimuth 191 and 192.1; 25.40778° N, 80.31194° W and 25.37195°

N, 80.31972° W. (Coastal Aerial Photography, NOAA/National Ocean Service, <http://mapfinder.

nos.noaa.gov:80/mapfinderhtml3/surround/photos/photos.html>, <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/

Photos/5WGS3235.gif> and <http://mfproducts.nos.noaa.gov/images/Photos/5WGS3233.gif>. Black areas on

the left of the image are artifacts in original photographs. See Figure 3 for identification details.] See color

version on p. 136.

76
Chemistry studies of Biscayne Bay were non existent prior to the building of Turkey Point

(Roessler and Tabb, 1974). The construction of the canal system and potential thermal pollution

resulted in comprehensive studies of southern Biscayne Bay and Card Sound (e.g., Bader, 1969;

Bader and Tabb, 1970; Gerchakov et al., 1971; Gilio and Segar, 1976; Segar et al., 1971; and

others).

No changes were observed in salinity, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, Fe, Cu, and alkalinity of the

cooling water itself during a two-year monitoring effort (Gerchakov et al., 1971).

Gaby et al. (1985) found that the American crocodile used the berms of the cooling canals as

nesting sites. The Turkey Point population contributes 10% of the annual production of

hatchlings in south Florida. The resident population exhibits differential habitat preference

according to size class, and shows seasonal changes in distribution. Salinity was a factor in

these trends. Ecology and population structure were similar to those of the population residing

in the more pristine habitat of Everglades National Park.

6.3.1.2. Cutler Ridge Power Plant

The Cutler Ridge Plant is a fossil fuel power plant that discharges heated water into a small,

shallow, partially enclosed portion of central Biscayne Bay. A study was conducted of water

and sediment temperatures, sediment character and benthic plants (Smith and Teas, 1977).

Analysis of aerial photographs showed that there had been an increase in the area of denuded

seafloor near the thermal discharge point from 8.5 ha in 1956 to 35 ha in 1973, when full

capacity of the plant was reached. Ground truth checks indicated that the bare region at the

effluent canal was an area of macrophyte loss, which corresponded to the highest temperatures

of the thermal effluent.

Cutler Bay has considerable protection from the wave action of Biscayne Bay and thus appears

to be a sump for fine sediments. Some of the fine material could be the result of materials in

the water that are precipitated or coagulated by passage through the power plant cooling

condensers. Aerial photographs show an increase in macrophyte cover in Cutler Bay since 1938

probably associated with the deposition of sediment associated with deepening the boat channel

and dredging of the power plant effluent canal. Macrophyte standing crop in Cutler Bay is

positively correlated with sediment depth.

In 1963, Florida Power and Light (FP&L) proposed to expand the Cutler Plant by adding two

conventional units (Atkinson, 1970). Miami refused to grant the license. In 1964, FP&L

proposed building a new plant at Turkey Point. In 1966, FP&L applied to the Atomic Energy

Commission to build two nuclear units to supplement the existing two conventional units. In

1967, the Dept. of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service voiced concern about thermal pollution

generated by the cooling system needed for the nuclear units.

6.3.2. Sewage treatment plants and waste disposal sites

6.3.2.1. Virginia Key Sewage Treatment Plant and the Cross Bay Line

During the 1950s, discharge of raw sewage into the Bay was eliminated or reduced by

collecting sewage at large pumping stations and sending it under pressure through the Cross

Bay Line to a treatment plant in Virginia Key. This system was completed in 1956 (Stone and

Suman, 1995). Currently there are three wastewater collection zones (North, Central and

South Districts) in Dade County. The North and South Districts have regional wastewater

treatment plants that provide secondary treatment of the sewage before it is discharged into

the ocean via outfalls. The sewage from the Central District continues to be sent to the Virginia

Key facility through the Cross Bay Line.

77
VIRGINIA KEY

CRITICAL WILDLIFE AREA

AND MANATEE

SANCTUARY

Rickenbacker

Cswy.

Hobie Beach

West

Bridge

Landfill

Central

Dsitrict

Wastewater

Treatment

Plant

ALTERNATE ROUTES

Virginia Key

Figure 58. Alternate and final routes for the Cross Bay sewer line. [Redrawn from Swakon et al. (1995).]

The Cross Bay Line, in operation since 1956, is a 72-in diameter reinforced concrete cylinder

pipe (Figure 58) (Wilson, 1993; Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, 1994; Stone and

Suman, 1995). The line crosses under Biscayne Bay from Bayside to the shore of Virginia Key,

a distance of approximately 14,400 ft. Building specifications required the pipe to be buried

below the bottom to a minimum cover of 5 ft. The invert elevation at Bayside is 28 ft below

mean sea level and rises to a depth of 15.5 ft at Virginia Key. There are nine manhole covers

along the crossing. The manholes rise from the pipe to the top of the sediment. Additionally,

there is a 16-in sludge force main from the North District Plant paralleling the Cross Bay Line.

In recent years, leaks have developed in the Cross Bay Line due to corrosion* /scouring, joint

leaks, and pipe segment break. Pipe and manhole failures can occur independently or in

combination and may result from internal or external events. Contingency plans are in place in

case of line rupture, but 90 million gallons of raw sewage could flow into the Bay every day for

at least two weeks resulting in severe damage to the ecosystem (Wilson, 1995). There were

several years of ongoing discussions to replace the Cross Bay Line before failure. The options

considered for replacement of the pipe had severe environmental restrictions since Biscayne

Bay is now a protected Aquatic Preserve. Permits for replacement of the pipe were issued in

1993 and the in-water portion of pipeline replacement was completed in 1994. By 1995, some

natural re-growth of seagrasses was noted in the disturbed bottoms area (Swakon et al.,

1995).

The Cross Bay Line Contingency Plan Update detailed the course of action for the Miami-Dade

Water and Sewer Department in the event of a Cross Bay Line failure resulting in the discharge

of pollutants to Biscayne Bay (Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, 1994). Of primary

importance was the minimization of adverse effects on human health and welfare by users of

*

 Corrosion can occur from the formation of sulfuric acid from the hydrogen sulfide in the saw sewage.

78
the Bay and the beaches. Preservation of water quality and protection of environmentally

sensitive areas were also essential concerns.

6.3.2.2. Munisport

Munisport is 290-acre inactive municipal landfill owned by the City of North Miami. A detailed

description of the site can be found in Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services

(1998) (Figure 41). The landfill operated from 1974 through 1981. The site received several

million cubic yards of solid waste including clean fill, construction debris, municipal and

hospital refuse and drums containing tricresol phosphate, ethyl cyanoacetate and acetate

(Hicks, 1989). Groundwater associated with the landfill is contaminated with high

concentrations of ammonia and low levels of trace metals, pesticides and volatile organics.

Movement of the groundwater is towards a residential canal, a Florida State Mangrove

Preserve and Biscayne Bay. The Florida Mangrove Preserve is approximately 130 acres and is

subjected to daily tidal exchange with North Bay. Tidal exchange takes place through two

culverts. A dike separates the landfill from the mangrove preserve. In 1983, the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) added this site to the Superfund National Priorities List. There has

been no remediation at this site since landfill operations ceased in 1980. EPA is considering

removing the Munisport landfill site from the Superfund list (Park, 1998).

Despite its contamination, Interama, an international business concern, proposed to locate at

the site. It did not but the site became the Bay Vista Campus Florida International University.

The Bay Vista Campus Wetland Restoration project, completed in 1995, was funded by MiamiDade with matching funds from the Dade County Public Works Dept. The effort is described in

Milano (1999).

6.4. Defense facilities

6.4.1. Homestead Air Force Base

During the 1940s, Pan American Ferries, Inc. constructed a landing strip in rural Dade County

that was turned over to the US Government before the beginning of World War II. Shortly after

the attack on Pearl Harbor, Army Air Corps officials decided the site would serve defense

needs as a maintenance stopover point for aircraft being ferried to the Caribbean and North

Africa and construction of a fully operational military base, the Homestead Army Air Field

(AAF), began. By 1943, the base assumed a more vital role with the activation of the 2nd

Operational Training Unit that provided advance training for air crews. As the need for trained

transport pilots grew, the entire base was transferred to Air Transport Command's (ATC)

Ferrying Division, with the sole mission of preparing C-54 air crews to fly from Burma to

China.

After World War II in September 1945, a massive hurricane passed through the area causing

such destruction the base was shut down in December of that year (see Section 5.1.3). The base

property was then turned over to Dade County and was managed by the Dade County Port

Authority for the next eight years. During this period, the runways were used by crop dusters

and the buildings housed a few small industrial and commercial operations.

In the early 1950's, as the Korean conflict was winding down, defense officials once again

looked toward Homestead as a key site in continental defense. In mid-1954, an advance party

arrived at the old base to begin clean up, and in February 1955, it was reactivated as

Homestead AFB. The base quickly became home for the 823rd Air Division, an umbrella

organization encompassing the 379th and the 19th Bomber Wings. By this time, Homestead AFB

represented the largest four-engine transport training operation in the entire ATC. In 1962, the

31st Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW), a tactical air fighter unit, was moved from George AFB, CA,

79
to Homestead in response to the growing Communist threat from Cuba. In October of that year,

it was discovered that the Soviet Union was placing medium-range missiles on the island.

Troops and aircraft were sent to Homestead, swelling its population to tens of thousands.

Though still nominally a Strategic Air Command base, Homestead then had the dual mission to

stand ready to project air power around the world, and to maintain an operationally ready

tactical air force. With the presence of the 31st TFW made permanent, the role of the Tactical

Air Command (TAC) at Homestead AFB increased rapidly throughout the 1960s. In late 1966,

the 31st TFW was deployed to Vietnam, and the 4531st TFW was activated to maintain TAC's

presence at Homestead. In 1968, TAC officially took control of the base. In 1970, the 31st TFW

returned from Vietnam and became the host unit. In 1981, the 31st TFW became the 31st

Tactical Training Wing and took the task of training F-4 air crews. Training remained the Base's

primary mission until 1985, when the first F-16 arrived. With that event, the host unit again

reclaimed the designation of the 31st TFW.

Hurricane Andrew struck Homestead AFB in 1992, the base was home to the 31st and the

482nd Fighter Wings. Both units flew F-16s. Other units in the base were the 301st Rescue

Squadron, Air Force Reserve; the Det 1, 125th Fighter Interceptor Group, Florida Air National

Guard; and the US Customs Miami Air Branch. The storm caused such severe damage that all

these units were relocated during the salvage and recovery phase. Even though the 301st

Rescue Squadron along with the Coast Guard provided the only emergency medical rescue

capability in south Dade County immediately after the hurricane, it too was removed.

In 1993, the Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended

the conversion of the base to a military/civilian joint use airfield. The Commission

recommended that the host unit, the 31st Fighter Wing, be activated and that the 482nd Fighter

Wing, the 301st Rescue Squadron, and the 125th Fighter Interceptor Group be returned to the

base. The US Customs unit was scheduled to return. Other units were transferred elsewhere.

Approximately one third of the base was to remain a military installation, the Homestead Air

Reserve Base (ARB), and the rest will eventually be transferred to Dade County.

It has been proposed that the Homestead ARB be converted into an international airport ten

times the size of the original base. The proposed action is to transfer the 1,632 acres of now

surplus property, including the runway, to Miami-Dade County for use as a commercial airport.

Alternative plans, including a commercial spaceport, are under consideration (US Air Force and

Federal Aviation Administration, 1999).

Biscayne National Park is directly connected to the Homestead ARB by Military Canal, which

carries storm run-off from the base into the Bay (Zaneski, 1999; Heinrich, 1997) (see Section

6.1.3.2). The canal is considered a Superfund site. Additional run-off from the airport could

include jet fuel, solvents and other hazardous materials which could result in harmful effects

on the Bay's ecosystem.

There are concerns about the impact of increasing aircraft noise from initial activity level up

to the maximum capacity of the existing one runway (Heinrich, 1997; Mackay, 1998; Landrum

and Brown, 1999). Alternative traffic routing has been proposed to modify or reduce noise

within properties owned and operated by the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife

Service.

6.4.2. Richmond Naval Air Station

The Richmond Naval Air Station (NAS) was the Navy's largest Airship Station, short of the one

in Lakehurst (Friends of Naval Air Station - Richmond, 2000; Atwood, 1996). It was built in

1942, 20 miles south of Miami. Three large airship hangars and all of an active navy base's

support buildings and barracks were built quickly and by the summer of 1942 the first airship

80
arrived at the base. Richmond NAS was home to ZP-21, the largest squadron of airships in the

Navy. Five more squadrons and a dozen smaller K-Ship bases reported to NAS Richmond. Its

three hangars were the largest wooden buildings on earth at that time (16 stories). The Navy's

first giant M-Class Airships were assigned to NAS Richmond for testing and deployment. From

its headquarters, NAS Richmond oversaw the defense of the Panama Canal, and anti-submarine

warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Gulf Sea Frontier. PBYs, fighters, and other HTAs

(Heavier than Air aircraft) routinely landed at NAS Richmond's airstrip.

As the Hurricane of 1945 approached, 14 K-Ships stood moored in the cavernous hangars.

Another 11 airships were deflated and crated for space. Aircraft from NAS Fort Lauderdale,

NAS Opa Locka, and NAS Key West, and TBMs, F-4 Hellcats, Widgeons, patrol and cargo planes

arrived at NAS Richmond and were brought into the hangars totalling in all 213 naval aircraft.

Eastern Air Lines requested hangar space for its aircraft. Embry-Riddle Aviation School, which

had trained thousands of military aviators, also appealed for safe haven for its fleet of

Steerman trainer biplanes. The Base granted permission and 152 more planes joined the Navy

blimps and aircraft in the hangars. One hundred automobiles and trucks were also stored in the

hangars. About mid afternoon the hurricane came ashore and NAS Richmond was directly in its

path. Shortly after 5 PM, a fire broke out in Hangar One. High winds spread the fire to the other

hangars and within minutes, all three hangars were ablaze. The hangars and their contents were

a total loss. It was the largest fire of 1945, assessed at $30 million (in 1945 dollars). The

damage constitutes the largest peacetime loss of federal property, in the shortest time, on

record.

6.7. Artificial reefs

Florida is the leading state in number of artificial reefs (Pybas, 1997). The first artificial reef

permit on file is dated 1918. Heaviest reef construction took place from 1987 to 1991. Within

the boundaries of Dade County, there are 21 artificial reef sites, most with more than one

structure and located outside the barrier islands. The seven artificial reefs located within

Biscayne Bay proper are listed in Table 4. Additional reefs have been constructed since 1997.

Table 4. Artificial reefs within Biscayne Bay (Pybas, 1997).

Year Name Depth Location Composition

(ft.) [Latitude (N),

longitude (W)]

1982 North Bayshore Park Reef 7 25° 53.2', 80° 9.0' Concrete rubble, pipe

1991 San Souci Reef 25 25° 52.9', 80° 8.5' 3611 tons limerock boulders

1979 Pelican Harbor Reef 7 25° 50.5', 80° 10.0' Concrete culvert

1982 Julia Tuttle Artificial Reef28 25° 48.8', 80° 10.2' 133 Autos, 12 vessels, 27

tanks, 2540 tons concrete

1991 Brickell Area Reef 12 25° 44.9, 80° 11.2' 3370 Tons limerock boulders

1986 Rickenbacker Causeway Reef 10 25° 44.8, 80° 10.9'

Concrete piles,

limestone boulders

1984 Mercy Hospital Reef 10 25° 44.3', 80° 12.7' Concrete rubble, bicycle racks,

vessels, habitats

81
Figure 59. Second fishing shack that belonged to the Ruskin and Orovitz families (194-). [The Cape Florida

Lighthouse is on the far right of the photograph.] [Photonegative, black and white (4 x 5 in). ms25975.

MOSAIC Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

6.6. Stiltsville

Stiltsville is the local name for a group of houses built on pilings approximately a mile offshore

in Biscayne Bay. The first structure was Crawfish Eddie's bait shack built in the 1930s on a

barge that had run aground about one mile south of the Cape Florida lighthouse (Semple, 1997).

During the 1930s and 1940s, houseboats and barges were towed to the sand flats and either

moored or sunk and houses built atop (Williams, 1990). Later on, these structures were

replaced by more permanent houses on stilts (Figure 59). Stiltsville's heyday was in the 1950s

with 25 or so residences and two nightclubs. Regulars of the two nightclubs could sit on a

barstool and fish right through the floor. The lack of liquor licenses and outhouse sanitation

resulted in regular raids by the Police, and the clubs closed in the 1960s. Soon after that

hurricanes Cleo and Betsy destroyed all but thirteen structures. Hurricane Andrew destroyed

six of the remaining thirteen houses in 1992.

Stiltsville has seven surviving houses. No new houses are permitted on the site. It is currently

within the jurisdiction of the Biscayne Bay National Park. Stiltsville could be demolished,

preserved, or left as is until the houses are destroyed by natural causes. Under Park rules, all

structures were scheduled to be removed by July 1, 1999. As of this writing, negotiations

regarding the fate of Stiltsville will continue until December 2000 (Morgan, 1999).

Stiltsville has served as an unofficial navigation aid to the inexperienced boater: "No body of

water in North America attracts more certifiable morons in high powered yachts and

speedboats than Biscayne Bay. Most of them don't know the difference between a channel

marker and a lobster pot, but they do know a double-decker house when they see one looming

off their bow" (Hiaasen, 1999) (Figure 60).

82
Figure 60. Vessel aground, Biscayne Channel, Biscayne National Park (1998). [Note prop scarring in the

seagrass bed. One of the houses of Stiltsville is seen at the upper left of the image.] (Photo by Karen

Battle, Biscayne National Park.) See color version on p. 137.

6.7. Archeological sites and the Miami Circle

During routine excavations in June 1998 prior to construction of a planned apartment building,

the Miami-Dade County Historic Preservation Division uncovered a 38-foot diameter circle of

holes cut into the limestone of Brickell Point (Milanich, 1999; Miami-Dade Parks, 2000). The

site is known as the Miami Circle. Brickell Point is the southern side of the Miami River where

it flows into Biscayne Bay (see Figures 6, 7 and 17 for site location). The Circle site is part of

the village of Tequesta, once located on both the north and south banks of the Miami River in

what is now downtown Miami. Shell middens, Glades pottery, shell, stone and bone artifacts,

and human and animal remains have been uncovered at the site. Archeological activities in the

area prior to the discovery of the Miami Circle can be found in Laxon (1959 and 1968). The

discovery of the site halted construction and triggered a complex legal and media battle

between the County, the City of Miami, the builders and the public. Controversy about the site

continues. A detailed description of the site can be found in Miami-Dade Parks (2000).

83
7. ECOSYSTEM CHANGES

The rare, endangered and species of special concern found in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic

Preserve are listed in Table 5 (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2000a).

7.1. Flora

7.1.1. Seagrasses

The major vascular plants found in Biscayne Bay are Thalassia testudinum (turtle grass),

Halodule wrightii (Cuban shoal grass), and Syringodium filiforme (manatee grass). Thalassia is

dominant in many areas of the Bay and Thalassia beds support a rich animal community

(Zieman, 1982). These plants function as a food source, provide shelter and protection,

stabilize sediments, and act as a chemical sink (Thorhaug, 1976). There is a progression of

these seagrasses with distance from shore in non-disturbed areas of Biscayne Bay.

Intertidally, there is a band of Halodule. From sublittoral, there is a band of Thalassia

interspersed with Halodule and Syringodium. This thins out into green alga and a sand bottom

towards mid-Bay. Seagrasses in the northern part of the Bay have been heavily impacted by

man's activities and the normal Thalassia community is not observed north of the Port of

Miami.

Sediment is generated by Thalassia communities and major disruptions to the seagrass beds

result in modifications to the sediments.

Attempts were made in 1982 and 1984 to rehabilitate approximately 110 ha of barren sea bed

with seagrass (Thorhaug, 1977; Thorhaug, 1980; Thorhaug, 1987; and others). Efforts have

been carried out to revegetate areas of Biscayne Bay with seagrasses and currents, wave

action and turbidity difficulties in these efforts.

The effect of the thermal effluent released by the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant on

Thalassia beds has been studied extensively. Thalassia disappeared in areas of water 5° C

above ambient, and declined by 50% in waters 3-4° C above ambient temperature (Thorhaug et

al., 1973). Environmental stress caused by temperature or salinity changes may make

Thalassia more susceptible to disease.

An increasing problem in Biscayne Bay is the scarring of seagrass beds, commonly made when

a boat's propeller tears and cuts up roots, stems and leaves (Sargent et al., 1995; Zaneski,

1998). The greatest acreage of moderate to severe scarring occurred in areas of dense human

population and a large number of registered boats. An assessment of the degree of seagrass bed

scarring statewide indicated that approximately 8% of the seagrass beds in Dade County were

scarred, and approximately 6% were rated with moderate/severe scarring (Figures 61 and

62).

7.1.2. Mangroves

The information in this section was found in Hanlon et al. (1975). A thorough discussion of

mangrove forest ecology can be found in Odum et al. (1982).

The most common mangrove species in the tropical coastlines of North America are: the red

mangrove (Rhizophora mangle); the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans); the white mangrove

(Laguncularia racemosa); and the buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus). The mangroves

characterize and dominate a large portion of the world's tropical coastal margins and their

84
Table 5. Rare (R), endangered (E) and species of special concern (SSC) found in Biscayne Bay

(Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2000a).

State Federal

designation designation

FISH

Common snook Centropomus undecimalis SSC

Mangrove rivulus Rivulus marmoratus SSC

REPTILES

American alligator Alligator mississippiensis SSC

American crocodile Crocodylus acutus E E

Atlantic green turtle Chelonia mydas mydas E E

Atlantic hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata imbricata E E

Atlantic loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta caretta T

Atlantic ridley turtle Lepidochelys kempi E

Eastern indigo snake Drymarchon corais couperi T T

Gopher tortoise Gopherus polyphemus SSC

Miami black-headed snake Tantilla oolitica T

BIRDS

Arctic peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus tundrius E T

American oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus SSC

Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus T E

Brown pelican Pelecanus occidentalis SSC

Burrowing owl Speotyto cunicularia SSC

Cape Sable seaside sparrow Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis E E

Least tern Sterna antillarum T

Little blue heron Egretta caerulea SSC

Limpkin Aramus guarauna SSC

Osprey Pandion haliaetus SSC

Piping plover Charadrius melodus T T

Red-cockaded woodpecker Picoides borealis T E

Reddish egret Egretta rufescens SSC

Roseate spoonbill Ajaia ajaja SSC

Snowy egret Egretta thula SSC

Tricolored heron Egretta tricolor SSC

White-crowned pigeon Columba leucocephala T

Wood stork Mycteria americana E E

MAMMALS

Florida panther Felis concolor coryi E E

West Indian manatee Trichechus manatus latirostris E E

85
Figure 61. Grounding and prop scars, Featherbed Shoal, Biscayne National Park (1996). (Photo by Karen

Battle, Biscayne National Park.) See color version on p. 137.

Figure 62. Grounding trench, Pelican Bank (1994). (Photo by Mark Nicholas, Gulf Islands National Seashore.)

See color version on p. 138.

86
habitat is a unique blend of land and aquatic ecosystems. There is a natural succession of

mangroves from seaward to landward. The red mangrove occurs at the seaward edge, the black

mangrove occurs further landward, and the white mangrove occurs farthest from the shore.

The red mangrove, with its thick mass of prop roots, is particularly well established in the

substrate, and only the most violent of hurricanes can disturb it. It forms a protective barrier

along the coast, behind which the other mangroves and associated flora take root. The

accumulation of sand, leaves, and debris which is caught in this web of roots eventually

decomposes and raises soil levels. At the same time, red mangrove seedlings take root farther

seaward as the soil level increases. In time, the result is a gradual seaward extension of the

coastline. The landbuilding quality of the red mangrove is important. It does well on nearly all

types of soil or substrate provided they are wet. The black mangrove does well on all soils,

including some dry and salty ones. The white mangrove does best in sandy and drier soil, thus

explaining its general occurrence on higher ground.

Until recently, mangrove forests in Florida were regarded as a wasteland suited only for

development. However, these forests contribute in many ways to man's economic betterment.

Ninety-five percent of the annual mangrove leaf production eventually enters the aquatic

system. The fallen leaves from the mangroves collect between the roots and begin to be

decomposed bacteria and fungi, which turn the leaves into detritus. The detritus, or plant

debris, of mangrove origin accounts for 35-60% of the suspended material in estuarine waters.

Most of the other detrital material comes from the sea grasses. This detritus is the basis of the

estuarine food chain, contrary to previous thought which maintained that all estuarine food

chains were based upon phytoplankton.

A host of small invertebrate animals, ranging from nematodes to small crabs and shrimp, feed

on this detritus. They in turn are eaten by the larger predators, including commercial and game

fish. It has been pointed out that the commercial shrimp of the Dry Tortugas are dependent upon

the mangrove swamp as a nursery ground. Equally important is the fact that several other

commercially valuable species, including mullet, gray snapper, red drum, blue crabs, tarpon,

snook, and spotted sea trout, also rely on the mangrove swamp as a nursery and feeding

ground. It is therefore evident that the destruction of mangroves would be tantamount to the

removal of the primary food source upon which many animals of commercial and recreational

importance depend.

The role of the mangroves in landbuilding, shore protection and stabilization, and reforestation

is of paramount importance. The tropical belts of the world are subjected annually to tropical

depressions and hurricanes and mangrove forests are well suited to protect the coastline

against the force of these storms.

Mangroves along Biscayne Bay can be classified into five communities: Coastal Band, Dense

Scrub, Sparse Scrub, White and Mixed, and Black Marsh (Teas, 1974). The Coastal Band of

mature mangroves along the shore is the most productive, and the dwarfed Sparse Scrub the

least. Red mangroves along Biscayne Bay suffer from infestation by the marine isopod

Sphaeroma and from tumors, and all mangrove species suffer from lightning damage and storm

erosion.

During the last few years, mangrove dieoffs have been observed. There is no evidence of

seasonality. The dieoffs were first observed in black mangrove at higher elevations but are

currently observed in red mangrove at lower elevations. There is a rough correlation with

seagrass dieoffs suggesting possible correlation to high salinities (Brown and Ortner, 1994).

Davis (1940) reported that, in numerous instances, fishermen and guides pointed out changes

they observed during the past 20 to 40 yrs in mangrove forests, and some of these

87
observations, when checked against maps, were found to be reliable. Snedaker (1994) suggests

that changes in precipitation and runoff are the most important factors concerning mangrove

survival. Reduced rainfall and runoff would result in higher salinity and greater seawater

exposure. This change would likely be associated with decreased primary production and

increased sediment organic matter decomposition leading to subsidence. Higher rainfall and

runoff would result in reduced salinity and exposure to sulfate, and also increase delivery of

terrigeneous nutrients. Consequently, mangrove production would increase and sediment

elevations would be maintained. Support for this scenario derives from studies of the high

production in saline mangrove impoundments which are depleted in seawater sulfate.

In addition to changes in mangrove ecosystems due to climatic factors, mangrove forests along

the shores of Biscayne Bay were destroyed beginning in the 1910s as the result of urbanization

(Figures 9 and 23). The construction of the drainage canal system changed the hydrology of the

area further changing the mangrove ecosystem.

7.2. Fauna

7.2.1. Sponges

The information in this section was found in Stevely et al. (1978). A historical account of the

sponge fishery along the east coast of Florida can also be found in Shubow (1969).

Up until the 1940s, the sponge fishery was one of the most valuable fisheries in Florida.

However, a combination of disease, heavy harvesting, and the introduction of synthetic sponges

reduced the industry to a small fraction of its former importance. Low level sponging activities

in Florida for the last 30 yrs indicates that the sponge industry, as it is currently structured,

will probably never return to its former production levels. Production in the Tarpon Springs

area, the traditional center for sponging in Florida, declined to extremely low levels and Dade

County emerged as the center of the now much smaller industry.

In the 1880s, schooners harvested the sponge beds of Elliott Key, Soldiers Key and other parts

of Biscayne Bay as far north as Miami. During the early part of the century, the sponges of

Biscayne Bay were evaluated for commercial purposes and found to be of excellent quality.

Sponge industry activities, however, remained low key as the main centers of the fisheries

were in Tarpon Springs and Key West. During 1938 - 1939 sponge beds on both coasts of

Florida were affected by a blight. The disease first appeared in the Bahama Islands and rapidly

spread throughout the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. The progress of the mortality was

recorded in a detailed manner and transmission of the disease was attributed to water

currents. This disease has been attributed to the fungus Spongiophaga communis.

During 1947 - 1948, a disease affecting the commercial sponges along the west coast of

Florida was reported. Investigation of this phenomenon by members of the Marine Laboratory,

University of Miami, did not identify the cause of this sponge mortality. No evidence of fungal

disease was found. Mortality of sponges due to the outbreak of red tide has been noted. Sponge

fishermen have reported that sponges in shallow water are occasionally killed off by a

phenomenon they call "mallee". This "mallee" is a heavy growth of fine algae that usually

smothers sponges.

The sponge population recovered and during the 1960s, fishermen who had engaged in the

sponge business in Cuba began to harvest the sponge beds of Biscayne Bay.

Sponge dieoffs were observed in 1992 in central Florida Bay to the southeast, adjacent to the

Keys (Brown and Ortner, 1994). They were apparently related to microalgal blooms, with a

time lag of 5-7 days after blooms.

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Currently, highest sponge densities occur in Biscayne Bay in hard bottom areas with moderate

currents, constant salinity, low sedimentation, shallow, coarse sediments and sparse

vegetation (DiResta et al., 1995). The highest densities are in a north-south cluster in Central

Bay. To preserve the populations, Biscayne Bay was closed to commercial sponging in 1991.

Widespread mortality occurred during the passage of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (DiResta et al.,

1995). Mortality was highest for the smaller sponges. Recovery of sponge populations has been

noted at some sites in the Bay. It was recommended that Biscayne Bay remain closed to

commercial sponge harvesting.

7.2.2. "Milk" shrimp syndrome

The dominant shrimp species in Biscayne Bay is the pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum). Specimens

have occasionally been observed with an opaque abdomen and thorax resulting from infection by

the microsporidian species Thelohania duorara and Pleistophora spp. Thelohania were first

observed in pink shrimp in 1958 (Schmale, 1998). In a 1998 study, less than 3% of the shrimp

studied exhibited gross microsporidian infection. No conclusion can be made as to whether the

percent of infected shrimp has changed since the problem was first noted in the 1950s. No

regional differences were observed in the Bay.

7.2.3. Lobsters

The importance of Biscayne Bay to juvenile spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) has resulted in a

large portion of the Bay (roughly from Cape Florida south through Card Sound) having been

designated as a Lobster Sanctuary.

7.2.4. Abnormal fish

In 1968, Walter Kandrashoff moved to Miami from his native New York and started fishing

commercially in Biscayne Bay. The fish were abundant and well formed (Wright, 1977; Skinner

and Kandrashoff, 1988; Browder, 1990; Browder et al., 1993; and others). By 1969, he began

to take emaciated croakers and his concern about the state of the Bay began. By 1970 he was

taking hundreds of fish that were just "skin and bones". Kandrashoff brought some of the

abnormal fish to the biologists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and

Atmospheric Science (UM/RSMAS), who were not able to assert that the emaciated condition of

the fish as abnormal since no baseline data was available. By the following year, Kandrashoff

began to find fish with tumors and deformities, and his efforts to determine what was causing

the problem in fish began in earnest. By 1971, a croaker collected by Kandrashoff was

diagnosed with lymphoblastoma, a form of leukemia. In 1973, UM/RSMAS received funding to

study the abnormal fish.

Many of the fish collected by Kandrashoff were stored frozen at the NOAA/NMFS Southeast

Fisheries Science Center in Virginia Key, and the documentation by Kandrashoff is kept at the

UM/RSMAS Library.

7.2.5. Avifauna

Many species of birds are found in Biscayne Bay. Many are permanent residents while others

use the Bay as a resting area during migration. Major bird rookeries include Bird Key and

Chicken Key, the mangrove shoreline south of Matheson Hammock, Biscayne National Park, Key

Biscayne, Virginia Key, and the mangrove islands in North Bay.

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7.2.6. Crocodiles

Crocodiles are an endangered species throughout their range in South Florida which includes

Biscayne Bay, Card Sound and Barnes Sound (South Florida Water Management District, 1995).

The South Florida crocodile population represents a large part of the breeding population in the

US. Currently, crocodiles are mostly found in South Bay and the Sounds. Nesting distribution in

southern Biscayne Bay and northeastern Florida Bay is discussed in Kushlan and Mazzotti

(1989). Nesting sites in Miami Beach and the upper Florida Keys have been lost to development.

This loss has been compensated by the creation of artificial nesting sites on spoil banks along

the cooling canals of southern Biscayne Bay. The general distribution of the crocodile in Florida

is the same as that historically documented.

7.2.7. Manatees

The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), also known as the West Indian manatee,

is regarded as a regional subspecies. Manatees are herbivores requiring access to vascular

aquatic plants, freshwater sources, proximity to channels 1 to 2 m deep, and access to warm

water during the winter. Manatees are found along most of the coast of Florida (Ashton, 1992).

Their geographical distribution is seasonal. During the summer, they migrate to warmer waters

and are known to aggregate in natural or industrial warm water sources. Man is the only

predator of the manatee, and the greatest threat to these animals is collision with boats.

Concern for the survival of the manatee in Florida was recognized as early as the 1700s when

the English Crown established all of Florida as a manatee refuge (Gimble 1986). By 1893, the

State of Florida passed laws prohibiting the capture or killing of a manatee without a permit. In

1907, a $500 fine and three months in jail were added as penalties. The manatee was listed an

endangered species in 1967 and thus came under the protection of the Endangered Species

Preservation Act of 1966. A series of subsequent legislative actions to protect endangered

species, including the manatee, took place and by the 1970s US Fish and Wildlife Service

organized a Recovery Team to prepare an overall recovery plan for manatee. During this

decade, further measures for manatee protection in Florida came into effect and the first

manatee conceived in captivity was born at the Miami Seaquarium in 1975. Public education to

increase awareness of manatee conservation increased during the 1980s and continues.

An important factor in conservation efforts has been the successful marketing of the manatee

image. It has been said that manatees are so ugly they are cute. They evoke sympathy and

support from the legislators, the media and the public.

Manatees continue to suffer a high degree of human induced mortality and injury. The latter are

usually the result of wounds caused by boat propellers.

Biscayne Bay is a Federally Designated Critical Habitat for the Florida manatee (South Florida

Water Management District, 1995). Surveys indicate a winter population of 80 to 100 animals

in open waters and tributaries of the Bay. More than 100 manatees have been found dead in

Dade County between 1974 and 1993, and more than 80 of these mortalities were directly

caused by human activities (29 deaths were caused by boating activities and 41 were due to

crushing or drowning in water control structures). The two major causes of manatee deaths

have been addressed in order to reduce mortalities.

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Table 6. Population of Dade County from 1900 to 1990 (Andriot, 1983; and Bureau of the

Census, 1994).

Year Dade

1900 4955

1910 11933

1920 42753

1930 142955

1940 267739

1950 495084

1960 936047

1970 1267792

1980 1629701

1990 1937094

7.3. Human population and corresponding pressures

7.3.1. Human population

The population of the southeast United States has increased in recent decades and is projected

to continue to do so at the highest rate of all regions in the Nation (Culliton et al., 1990) further

stressing ecosystems within the Southeast. Eastern Florida counties are expected to grow at

the fastest rate, and are projected to have the highest population density in the Southeast

United States by 2010. The population in Dade County from 1900 to the present is listed in

Table 6 and shown graphically in Figure 15.

7.3.2. Agriculture

Agricultural activities in and around the Everglades, south of Lake Okeechobee, began after the

drainage projects of 1906 - 1927, and intensified after the water control projects of the early

1950s, which created the Everglades Agricultural Area (Snyder and Davidson, 1994).

Currently, more than $750 million is earned annually from production of sugarcane,

vegetables, sod, and rice and over 20,000 full-time equivalent jobs are provided by the

agricultural industry of South Florida. The future of this industry is uncertain since the loss of

organic soils, concerns over nutrients and pesticides drainage, and possible flooding of lands as

part of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Project may result in a reduction of

agricultural activities.

7.3.3. Boating

Boating activities by residents and tourists are an increasing problem in Biscayne Bay resulting

in conflicts between recreational use and ecosystem health (Austin, 1976). There is

competition for the same resource as, for example, between recreational and commercial

fishermen, land developers and conservationists. Marinas occupy space along the shoreline that

used to provide breeding and nursery habitats but are now sources of contaminants, especially

petroleum-derived chemicals. Scarring of seagrass beds by boat propellers is significant in

Biscayne Bay and the rest of Florida (Sargent et al., 1995). Of the estimated 145,000 acres of

91
seagrass beds in Dade County, almost 8% show scarring, and 5.8% show moderate to severe

scarring.

7.3.4. Motion pictures, television and popular literature

Biscayne Bay has been featured in still photography, feature films, commercial production and

television, and music videos. The motion picture "Moon Over Miami" (1941) was shot in South

Florida during World War II and was instrumental in showing the attractions of Miami and Miami

Beach to a wide audience. Recent motion pictures such as "The Birdcage" (1996)* were filmed

in and around Biscayne Bay. Virginia Key Beach is often used as a set for generic tropical island

scenes. The film industry is very active in South Florida.

During the 1960s, the television series "Flipper" was filmed in Biscayne Bay, and images of the

Bay were thus shown worldwide. During the 1980s, the popular television series "Miami Vice"

opened each episode with an aerial shot of a motor boat speeding past the city of Miami.

The restoration of South Beach in Miami Beach into a world class tourist attraction has brought

the area to international attention through such diverse media activities as music videos and

fashion photography.

During the past decade, there have been many popular literature works set in Biscayne Bay and

South Florida. These include the works of C. Hiaasen, E. Buchanan, C. Garcia-Aguilera and many

others.

8. LEGISLATION

8.1. Federal legislation

[Some of the information in this section is condensed from NOAA (1981), Hildreth and Johnson

(1983), McClain (1991), and Wolf (1988) and checked in the 1999 General Index, United States

Code Annotated (Anonymous, 1999).]

8.1.1. Clean Water Act

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), originally enacted on June 30, 1948

(Publication 845, 62 Stat. 1155), is also called the Clean Water Act. It has been amended many

times. The Act was enacted in 1972 to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and

biological integrity of the nation's waters. The three objectives of the Act were: to eliminate

the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters by 1985; to attain, whenever possible, water

quality that allows for fishing and recreational use by 1983; and to prohibit the discharge of

toxic pollutants in toxic amounts. The FWPCA also established a national policy for providing

financial assistance to construct publicly owned waste water treatment plants. EPA was given

the principal responsibility for administering the FWPCA. The National Pollutant Discharge

Elimination System (NPDES) is part of the FWPCA. The FWPCA prohibits discharges into

navigable waters unless authorized by an NPDES permit.

8.1.2. Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act (CAA), also called the Air Pollution Control Act, was enacted on July 14,

1955 (Public Law 159, 69 Stat. 322) and extended and substantially amended in 1977. The

*

 Several scenes were filmed on MacArhur Cswy. facing Government Cut and the Port of Miami.

92
purpose of this act is to protect and enhance the quality of the nation's air resources in order to

promote public health and welfare and the productive capacity of the population. The CAA

provides for two principal ways of controlling air pollution: national ambient air standards, and

point source emission limitations. EPA is required to publish a list of air pollutants which are

subjected to ambient air standards.

8.1.3. Toxic Substances Control Act

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (Public Law 94-469, 90 Stat. 2003) was enacted on

October 11, 1978 and its primary purpose is to regulate the chemical substances that present a

hazard to human health or to the environment. This act greatly expanded regulation of

chemicals. It is intended to control chemical hazards at the source. TSCA applies not only to

pure chemical substances but also to the impurities contained in these materials.

8.1.4. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (Public Law 102, 61 Stat. 163)

was originally enacted on June 25, 1947 and was amended significantly in 1972, 1978 and

1988. When first enacted, FIFRA was primarily a pesticide labeling law. The 1972 legislation

required registration of all pesticides, constituting a premarket clearance for these substances.

In order to approve registration of a pesticide, EPA must ensure that the substance will not

affect the environment or the population. EPA must also determine that the benefits of using the

pesticide outweigh the risks associated with its use.

8.1.5. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) (Public Law 94-580, 90 Stat.

2795), also known as the Solid Waste Disposal Act, was enacted on October 21, 1976. The Act

substantially changed the Federal regulations for solid waste disposal and control of hazardous

waste.

8.1.6. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (Public

Law 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767), also known as the Superfund Act, was enacted on December 11,

1980. It established a federally-directed program to clean up the nation's most hazardous

waste and chemical contamination sites. CERCLA enabled the federal government to respond to

actual or threatened releases of hazardous substances and to recover damages for the

destruction or harm to natural resources. The original Superfund legislation was disappointing

because EPA, which was responsible for the administration of the Act, was only able to begin

clean up of a few sites of the thousands identified nationwide. The Superfund Amendments and

Reauthorization Act (SARA) (Public Law 99-499, 100 Stat. 1613) of 1986 amended CERCLA

and expanded and toughened the cleanup authority of the Federal government.

8.1.7. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRKA) (Public Law 99-

499, Title III, 100 Stat. 1728) established emergency planning, reporting and notification

requirements that were meant to protect the public in the event of a release of hazardous

substances.

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8.1.8. The Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Public Law 93-205, 87 Stat. 884) was approved on

December 28, 1973 and last amended in 1988 (Public Law 100-707, Title I, 102 Stat. 3835).

The purpose of this Act is to provide a program for the conservation of threatened and

endangered species of plants and animals, and the habitats in which they are found. The Act

provides the legislative authority to implement the treaties and conventions on endangered

species to which the US is signatory. The endangered and threatened species found in Biscayne

Bay are listed in Table 2.

8.1.9. National Marine Sanctuaries Act

The National Marine Sanctuaries Act (Public Law 95-532, Title III, 86 Stat. 1061) was

approved on October 23, 1972 and last amended on October 11, 1996 (Public Law 104-283,

110 Stat. 3363). The purposes and policies of this Act are to identify marine areas of special

significance, provide for their management, support research, enhance public awareness, and

promote all public and private uses of the marine environment to the extent that these issues

are compatible with resource protection. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary was

established in 1990 under this Act and implemented in 1994.

8.1.10. Marine Mammal Protection Act

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 (Public Law 92-522, 86 Stat. 1027) was

last amended in 1998 (Public Law 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681). The purpose of this Act is to

protect, conserve, and encourage international research on marine mammals.

8.1.11. Coastal Zone Management Act

Congress passed the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act in 1972 (Public Law 92-583, 86

Stat. 1280) to further a national interest in the effective management, beneficial use,

protection, and development of the coastal zone.

8.1.12. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-

265, 90 Stat. 331) authorizes the Federal government to conserve and manage all fishery

resources, except tuna, within the US fishery conservation zone which extends from the

seaward boundary of the territorial sea to 200 nmi from shore NOAA, 1981). The Act also

provides for exclusive management authority over Continental Shelf fishery resources and

over anadromous species beyond the US fishery conservation zone. The Act has been amended

many times.

8.1.13. Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act

The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (FWCA) was enacted on March 10, 1934 (Public Law

121, 48 Stat. 401) and subsequently broadened and modified by amendments in 1948, 1958,

and 1965. The Act was originally named the Conservation of Wildlife, Fish and Game Act, and

later renamed the Wild Life Conservation Act. Sections of this Act deal specifically with

wildlife resources in relation to Federal water resource development actions. FWCA recognizes

the importance of wildlife resources and mandates that wildlife conservation shall receive

equal consideration and treatment as other features of water resources development.

94
8.1.14. Lead in gasoline ban

Use of alkyl lead in gasoline began after 1940 and ended in the early 1970s. Shen and Boyle

(1987) used a sample of the coral Montastrea annularis collected 1 km from shore at 4 m depth

at the Hens and Chickens Reef in 1978 and 1983, respectively, to reconstruct historical

industrial Pb fluxes to the ocean surface. The Florida Keys maintained a surface water

concentration of 38 pM Pb until about 1930, which was probably supported by

shelf/resuspended Pb inputs. Levels grew gradually to a peak of 190 pM in 1977, followed by a

decline to 142 pM in 1982. Relative to the Bermuda records, the Florida coral lacks a strong

industrial revolution signal and exhibits a moderated post-World War II Pb increase and muted

maximum. These patterns reflect dilution of US Pb sources and delayed response due to longrange horizontal transport.

8.1.15. DDT and metabolites

DDT (4,4'-DDT), or 1,1'-(2,2,2-trichloroethylidene)bis[4-chlorobenzene], was first described

early in the century and resynthesized during the late 1930s as part of a research program at

Geigy (Stetler, 1983). This program was a search for a contact insecticide characterized by a

long duration of activity. Following the discovery of the pronounced insecticidal properties of

the new agent and the registration of the first patents in 1940, the product, formulated in

Switzerland, was introduced to the market in the spring of 1942 for use in crop protection and

hygiene. The epidemic-promoting circumstances of World War II and the post-war years

brought about increased and effective use of DDT in the field of medicinal hygiene. Malaria,

typhus, typhoid fever, and cholera were drastically reduced by the effective control of

Anopheles mosquitoes, lice, and flies of all types or, as in the case of malaria, were virtually

eradicated in many countries. It has been estimated that almost 1 billion people in all parts of

the world have been saved from malaria by the use of DDT. 4,4'-DDT is metabolized by the loss

of a chlorine to yield the non-insecticidal 4,4'-DDE {(1,1'-(dichloroethylidene)bis[4-

chlorobenzene]}, and by the substitution of a chlorine by a hydrogen to yield 4,4'-DDD {(1,1'-

(2,2-dichloroethylidene)bis[4-chlorobenzene]}. DDT and some of its metabolites are toxicants,

with long-term persistence in soil and water. They are widely dispersed by erosion, runoff,

and volatilization, and accumulate in adipose tissue in wildlife and humans.

Restrictions introduced by most Western industrialized countries on the production of DDT and

other chlorohydrocarbons at the start of the 1970s have reduced use of these chemicals to a

fraction of the original quantities. The use of DDT was banned in the US in 1972. The special

situation of the Third World countries, however, resulted in production peaks (on a worldwide

basis) as late as the mid-1970s. Without sufficient quantities of DDT and dieldrin, the World

Health Organization is unable to fulfill its vector-control programs.

8.1.16. Polychlorinated biphenyls ban

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are widely distributed in the environment, and have no known

natural source. PCBs were manufactured by Monsanto and were available in the US from 1930

to 1977 as a series of mixtures of congeners called Aroclors, having different average

compositions of congeners. PCB concentrations have also been reported as Aroclors (EPA,

1993). There are 209 congeners, having from one to ten chlorines. Twenty of these congeners

have non-ortho chlorine substitutions and so can attain a planar structure which makes them

similar in structure to the highly toxic polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans

(McKinney et al., 1985; Sericano et al., 1991).

95
Figure 63. Chalks Flying Service on Biscayne Boulevard (19--). [Photoprint, black and white (8 x 10 in).

Rc06653. Reference Collection, Florida State Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

9. OTHER ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

9.1. Aviation

9.1.1. Chalk's International Airlines

Red Arrow Flying Service began service from Biscayne Bay to Tampa and St. Petersburg in

1917, the first scheduled air service in the US (Chalk's International Airlines, 1999). The

airline operated off the dock of the Royal Palm Hotel near the entrance to the Miami River.

During World War I, the owner of Red Arrow, A. B. Chalk, joined the Air Corps and after the

war returned to Miami and resumed the business under the name of Chalk's Flying Services in

1919. During prohibition, Chalk expanded service to the Bahamas. In 1926, Chalk built a small

terminal on Watson Island, a newly built landfill island at that time (Figure 63). The airline has

been sold several times since the 1920s and the seaplane fleet modernized as technology

improved. Service continues to the present making it one of the oldest, continuously operating

airlines in the world (Smith, 1982).

9.1.2. Pan American Airways

When Pan American Airways received the contract to fly US Mail between US and Cuba it was

stipulated that operations begin no later than 1927 (Smith, 1982; Pan American World Airways

Historical Foundation, 2000). Due to equipment limitations at that time, the base of operations

had to be situated in Key West, the closest US airport to Havana. The flight to Havana was the

first scheduled international flight by a United States airline. Once the airline received the

longer range Fokker F-10 Trimotors, operations were moved to a barge off Dinner Key in Miami

in 1928. In 1939, the barge was replaced by the Pan American flying boat terminal which is

currently used as the Miami City Hall (Figure 27). During World War II, Pan American

navigators served as instructors for pilots and navigators (see Section 4.4) (Figure 28).

Airline operations ceased at Dinner Key when use of flying boats ended after World War II.

96
Figure 64 The Goodyear airship 'Mayflower' over

Biscayne Bay (19--). (The Venetian Islands are to

the left of the image. View is towards Miami

Beach.) [C. Hansen, photographer. Photoprint,

black and white, 8 x 10 in. WE054. Wendler

collection, Florida State Photo Archive.

<http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

9.1.3. Embry-Riddle School of Aviation

The Embry-Riddle School of Aviation opened in

1939 in response to concerns about US entry

into World War II (Mormino, 1997). The school

operated from a site in MacArthur Causeway It

is estimated that one tenth of all American

World War II pilots were trained at EmbryRiddle. Aviation mechanics were also trained at

the school. In 1965, the school moved to

Daytona Beach and continues operations to this

day as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

(Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2000).

9.1.4. Lighter than air ships

Lighter than air craft have been seen in the

skies over Biscayne Bay since at least the

1920s (Figures 64 - 66). For many years, the

Goodyear blimp terminal was located on Watson

Island next to Chalks Airlines. The German

"Graf Zeppelin" visited Miami in October 23, 1933 (caption for image Rc06268, Florida State

Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>). Lighter than air ships based in South Florida

were used in anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico during World

War II.

The Richmond Naval Air Station (NAS) contained the largest aircraft hangars in the world in

order to house and service the large dirigibles that patrolled the Atlantic Ocean (Mormino,

1997; Friends of Naval Air Station - Richmond, 2000) (see Section 6.4.2). Richmond NAS was

destroyed during the Hurricane of 1945 (see Section 5.3.3).

9.2. Christo's Surrounded Islands

Christo Javacheff is an environmental artist whose well-known works include Running Fence,

Sonoma and Marin Counties Coast, 1972 - 1976, Wrapped Coast, Little Bay, Australia 1969,

and Wrapped Walk Ways, Loose Park, Kansas City, Missouri, 1977 - 1978. Christo's work is

temporary and leaves no mark upon the earth, and is public in that the community is involved in

the plans from the beginning (Christo, 1986; Stewart, 1990). Surrounded Islands: project for

Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-1983 consisted of surrounding eleven small

islands spread over 7 mi of Biscayne Bay with pink woven plastic fabric floating on the surface

of the water for a period of two weeks, a work reminiscent of Monet's Water Lilies.* As with

previous art projects, Surrounded Islands was entirely financed by the artist through the sale

of the preparatory pastel and charcoal drawings, collages, lithographs and early works, and a

$700,000 personal loan.

The eleven islands and the submerged lands that were used in the project were leased to the

artist by the State of Florida for approximately $12,000. Three communities had to give their

consent: the City of Miami, the Village of Miami Shores and North Miami City. State approval

was given in 1982. Opposition reached critical proportions by 1983. Jurisdiction over the

project was eventually given to Federal Court thus no other authority could touch Surrounded

*

 Photographs of Surrounded Islands can be seen at the Internet site <http://www.beakman.com/christo/xtojc/xtojc.html>.

97
Figure 65 Airship USN 'Los Angeles' over Biscayne Bay (January 13, 1929). (Downtown Miami is at the

center of the image.) [Photoprint, black and white, 8 x 10 in. Rc09329. Reference collection, Florida State

Photo Archive. <http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

Figure 66. US Navy airship 'Akron' over Biscayne Bay (January 4, 1933). (The 'Akron', built by Goodyear, was

based west of Opa Locka and was destroyed next spring in a storm off the coast of New Jersey.)

[Photoprint, black and white, 8 x 10 in. Rc15158. Reference collection, Florida State Photo Archive.

<http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/>]

98
Islands. Only the Justice of the Federal Supreme Court could stop the project. Permits were

obtained from the following governmental agencies: The Governor of Florida and the Cabinet;

the Dade County Commission; the Department of Environmental Regulation; the City of Miami

Commission; the City of North Miami; the Village of Miami Shores; the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers; and the Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management.

More than 40 tons of garbage including refrigerator doors, tires, kitchen sinks, plastic,

bottles, cans, dead animals and an abandoned boat were removed from the islands prior to

deployment of the pink fabric. Studies were carried out to determine if the placement of the

fabric along the shoreline of the islands would have any adverse environmental effects

especially on seagrasses (Thorhaug)*, algae, birds (Owre and Cummings)* and marine mammals

(Odell)* . To determine if manatees would be affected by the project, Odell covered a tank at

Orlando Sea World containing five manatees with the pink fabric. The US Fish and Wildlife

Service was invited to observe that the manatees were neither panic stricken nor driven

neurotic by the pink sky above them. The biologists were interested in observing that these

mammals showed a predilection for seeking shelter in the new ambiance created by the fabric

and once there were roused to sexual behavior.

Detailed surveys of the shape of each island were used to determine how the 6.5 million sq. ft

of woven propylene mesh-like pink fabric were to be cut and sewn. Cutting and sewing of the 79

sections of fabric that followed the outline of the islands were done at the Opa Locka Blimp

Hangar. A flotation strip was sewn in each seam. The fabric sections were accordion folded for

transport to the Bay. Anchors were placed under the trees on the islands and 200 ft away on

the Bay bottom, approximately 50 ft apart. A series of radial lines were deployed between the

anchors forming a circle around each island. The folded fabric sections were towed to the sites

and the sections hooked to the radial lines forming a pink ring around the islands. Blossoming

Day, the day in which the folded fabric was unfurled, was May 4, 1983. Each fabric section

was unfolded, the fabric pulled towards the anchors set in each island, and secured. The fabric

covered the surface of the island beaches so only the dark green vegetation surrounded by

bright pink could be seen. Fabric sections were laced together through grommets on the edge of

the overlapping sections. By May 7, all eleven islands were completely surrounded by pink

fabric and remained thus for two weeks. Surrounded Islands was tended by monitors in

inflatable boats during that time. Surrounded Islands was best viewed from the air and the work

focused world attention on South Florida and Biscayne Bay.

9.3. Baynanza

Baynanza is a public awareness effort begun in the 1980s to bring attention to the Biscayne Bay

ecosystem. The event is sponsored by the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental

Resources Management and many organizations and businesses in South Florida including the

Biscayne National Park, the Everglades National Park, the Florida Department of Environmental

Protection, the Florida Marine Patrol, the Zoological Society of Florida and Florida Power and

Light. Baynanza 2000 included teacher workshops on the marine environment, clean-ups of

urban areas and shore lines, restoration work, and field trips to various places in the Bay such

as the Fossil Reef in Key Biscayne and Boca Chita Key.

10. DISCUSSION

There exist significant numbers of documents and data related to the environment that for

various reasons remain unpublished or are only available as internal reports. Such material is

*

 The reports produced by these investigators are unpublished (K. Hale, UM/RSMAS/ personal communication, 1999).

99
extremely difficult to obtain and is thus mostly unavailable to the scientific community and the

public. These unique documents and data are important because they define the state of the

marine environment in the past, and they are essential for estimating rate of change of

ecosystems.

During the preparation of this document, many documents related to Biscayne Bay were

available solely through the efforts of South Florida-based faculty and librarians, who saw the

value of this material and stored copies in libraries or in their private files. Due to the nature

of the materials on which they are printed and in some cases the conditions in which they are

housed, they are in jeopardy of being lost.

An effort should be made to search for unpublished data and documents related to the Biscayne

Bay and prepare a metadata file of the material. Information judged valuable to current

activities can be converted to electronic and printed form, and archived and distributed

electronically. Preliminary data and document rescue of Biscayne Bay-related materials has

been done and the results are available on the Internet, at the NOAA/Miami Regional Library

and at the Marine Library of the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and

Atmospheric Science.*

Photographs proved extremely valuable in this work and in others. Efforts should continue to

search, archive and make available images of the South Florida marine environment for future

use.

Maps and charts of the area are also invaluable and old versions should be archived and made

accessible through libraries or the Internet.

11. CONCLUSIONS

The changes observed in Biscayne Bay since the 1900s are the result of natural and

anthropogenic factors. Over the past 200 years, Florida Bay and Biscayne Bay have been

driven primarily by climatic and oceanographic factors and these factors were disrupted early

in the 20th century by man's influence (Willard et al., 1998). The anthropogenic disruptions

resulted in changing salinity patterns, water circulation, benthic fauna and flora, levels of

suspended particulates, and salt water intrusion. Recognition of the serious effects of the

ecosystem disruption resulted in remediation efforts in the 1980s. There are indications that

the Biscayne Bay ecosystem is recovering although conditions are not expected to return to

those of the 1900s (Figure 67).

Briefly, major events related to the environment of Biscayne Bay are:

Prior to the 1920s, major changes to the Biscayne Bay ecosystem were caused by climatic

events and changes (hurricanes, sea level changes, rainfall, etc).

During the 1920s, there were major changes in North Bay due to construction of artificial

islands, bulkheading, dredging of channels and construction of Government Cut and Haulover

Cut. Construction activities in and around the Bay slowed considerably after 1930.

Construction of drainage canals beginning at the turn of the century resulted in systemwide ecological changes.

*

 Coastal and Estuarine Data Rescue and Archeology (CEDAR) web site at <http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/

lib/CEDAR.html>.

100
Figure 67. Healthy seagrass bed, Featherbed Shoal, Biscayne National Park (1997). (Photo by Karen Battle,

Biscayne National Park.) See color version on p. 138.

Bacterial pollution due to untreated sewage discharge into the Bay began during the 1920s.

Bacterial pollution and turbidity reached maximum levels during the middle 1950s.

Major sewers discharging directly into the Bay were closed in the late 1950s.

Construction of Dodge Island in the 1970s and subsequent expansion of the Port of Miami

again changed circulation patterns of North Bay.

Abatement measures to decrease turbidity began in the 1980s with changes in bulkheading

practices and planting of mangroves.

Turbidity in the Bay decreased by the 1990s. Bottom communities returned. Sports

fisheries improved.

Effects of hurricanes are localized and part of the South Florida ecosystem.

The Miami River remains polluted with sewage outfalls, hydrocarbons and trace metals.

12. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, the Florida State Photo

Archive, and the South Florida Water Management District for the use of images in their

collections. The images compiled by the NOAA/NOS Coastal Photography project and the NOAA

101
Central Library Photo Collection were invaluable. The authors wish to thank H. Albertson, M.

Bello, K. Battle, R. Britter, J. Browder, V. Hackman, A. Lorenzo, G. Maul, T. O'Connor, J.

Proni, E. Taniuchi, S. Theberge, H. Wanless, C. Woods, NOAA/AOML Staff, and the many

librarians who assisted in document searching and availability. The first author wishes to

especially thank Manatee for advice on how to go with the flow and reduce stress. May the sky

be blue, the water clear and warm, and the plants tasty.

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