Newsroom Florida Keys

A group depicting an offbeat Kentucky Derby for unicorns performs on Duval Street Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, during the Fantasy Fest Parade in Key West, Fla. The elaborate procession of floats and costumed marchers highlighted the 10-day Fantasy Fest costuming and masking festival, themed “Uniforms and Unicorns,” that ends Sunday, Oct. 29. The Derby takeoff, produced by a group dubbed the Lower Keys Fluffers, was named the parade’s best overall entry. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)

SUGARLOAF KEY, Florida Keys — The setting sun is reflected off the Gulf of Mexico just south of Sugarloaf Key, Fla., in the Lower Florida Keys. The Lower Keys are renowned for their eco-attractions and pristine natural environment. ((Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Marchers in the Key West Pride parade carry a 100-foot-long section of an iconic 1.25-mile-long rainbow flag Sunday, June 11, 2023, up Duval Street in Key West, Fla. The parade commemorated the 20th anniversary of the flag’s 2003 unfurling when it blanketed the entire street from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Called the “sea-to-sea” rainbow flag, the banner was sewn in Key West two decades ago by the late artist Gilbert Baker, who in 1978 designed the original rainbow flag that remains the symbol of the LGBTQ community. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Rob O’Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)

SUGARLOAF KEY, Florida Keys — Kayakers paddle over a stretch of sandy flats near Marvin Key in the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge. Located a few miles off Sugarloaf Key, Fla., at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, the region’s islands and inlets offer boaters, flats fishermen and snorkelers a realm of calm, clear waters year-round. (Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Costumed participants pretend to play faux musical instruments at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival Saturday, July 9, 2022, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Big Pine Key, Fla. Hundreds of divers and snorkelers gathered at Looe Key Reef to listen to a local radio station's four-hour, commercial-free broadcast piped beneath the sea via special underwater speakers. The broadcast featured public service announcements to promote coral reef conservation. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Mike Papish/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)