Biscayne Bay

Are you a storyteller who wants to make a splash?

Biscayne National Park is holding a storytelling contest with cash prizes. The theme? Water.

Organizers are seeking people to tell five- to seven-minute true stories about experiences with water: frozen or fresh, sparkling or still, floating on top or diving below. It's part of the 50th anniversary celebration for the park, which is 95 percent water.

Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, wants Senate leaders to establish a select committee to review the recent discovery of a radioactive isotope in Biscayne Bay linked to a nuclear power plant in southeast Miami-Dade County.

Flores' request to Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, follows the March 7 release of a study by Miami-Dade County that indicated tritium --- a radioactive isotope of hydrogen --- has leaked from Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point plant's cooling canals into groundwater and toward Biscayne National Park and the Biscayne aquifer.

Conservation groups plan to sue Florida Power & Light after the discovery of a radioactive isotope in Biscayne Bay linked to a nuclear power plant in southeast Miami-Dade County.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Tropical Audubon Society on Tuesday issued a 60-day notice of a pending federal lawsuit against the Juno Beach-based power giant.

The U.S. Coast Guard today announced a new slow-speed zone to ensure the safety of boaters in and out of Convoy Point and Black Point Marina during the Columbus Day weekend celebrations.

“Historically, we have had a slow-speed zone in the area, but it’s been centered mostly in the northern part of the Biscayne Bay,” said Lt. Mike Cortese, Commanding Officer of U.S. Coast Guard Station Miami Beach. “We have extended it south all the way to Black Point [Marina] to help cover the high-traffic areas between the Elliot Key and the marinas where boaters often launch out of.”

Last week, the Miami Herald shuttered its building on the bay.

Located at One Herald Plaza, the beige box on the water is affectionately known as 1HP. Conference room meetings were interrupted by someone spotting dolphins. Water spouts could be seen forming from the cafeteria windows. Depending on the person, the building was either a testament to architecture done without aesthetics in mind, or an ideal place to do journalism.

As part of The Canoe Project’s mission to shed some light on Miami’s forgotten waterways, I spoke to Pamela Sweeney, a bona fide expert on Miami’s canal system and the Biscayne Bay. Sweeney is the Manager of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve.

Fifty years ago, developers dreamed of turning a collection of isolated islands in the middle of Biscayne Bay into a resort destination. This year, the dream of Islandia quietly died.  The Miami-Dade County Commission stripped Islandia’s status as a city. In essence, they voted Islandia out of existence.

The city of Islandia is on Elliot Key. It was never populated by more than a hundred people.  Now the only people who live in Islandia are park rangers.