Eastern Dry Rocks is a

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

located within the

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary in the Florida Keys. It includes the Florida Reef, the only barrier coral reef in North America and the third-largest coral barrier reef in the world. It also has ex ...

. It lies seven miles southeast of Key West and one mile east of Sand Key light within the

Key West National Wildlife Refuge The Key West National Wildlife Refuge is a 189,497 acre (766.867 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in Monroe County, Florida, between Key West, Florida and the Dry Tortugas . Only 2,019 acres (8.171 km2) of land are above sea lev ...

. This reef is within a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA).

Composition

The Eastern Dry Rocks Reef includes rubble zones and long fingers of coral separated by deeper sand and coral canyons. Rock Key Eastern Dry Rocks Is Popular For Wreck Diving
Florida-Keys-Vacation.com

Diving and snorkeling

The Eastern Dry Rocks reef is a popular spot for diving and/or snorkeling. It is also quite close to multiple other reefs including Sand Key and

Rock Key Rock Key is a coral reef located within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It lies to the southwest of Key West, within the Key West National Wildlife Refuge. This reef is within a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA). See also * Sand Key ...

, so it is common for divers and snorkelers to see multiple reefs on one outing.

Marine life

One can find many different kinds of fish and other marine creatures at the reef. Common species include

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

and

hammerhead Hammerhead may refer to: * The head of a hammer Fiction * Hammerhead (comics), a Marvel Comics foe of Spider-Man * ''Hammerhead'' (film), a 1968 film based on the novel by James Mayo * '' Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy'' a 2005 TV movie starring ...

sharks,

brain coral Brain coral is a common name given to various corals in the families Mussidae and Merulinidae, so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles a brain. Each head of coral is formed by a colony of genetically ...

snook Snook, Snooks, or Snoek may refer to: Fishes * Family Centropomidae (snooks) ** Common snook * Family Esocidae (pikes) ** '' Haplochromis insidiae'' ** Northern pike * Family Gempylidae (snake mackerels) ** Blacksail snake mackerel or black sn ...

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

, cleaner shrimp, reef crab,

octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

, moray eel,

parrotfish Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a Family (biology), family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found ...

angelfish Angelfish may refer to: *Several groups of fish: **Freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the genus ''Pterophyllum'' **Marine angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae **Atlantic pomfret (''Brama brama''), sold by fishmongers as "angelfish" in Sou ...

, sergeant major,

barracuda A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...

, Florida horse conch, and

queen conch ''Aliger gigas,'' originally known as ''Strombus gigas'' or more recently as ''Lobatus gigas'', commonly known as the queen conch, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family of true conches, the Strombidae. Th ...

. Many of the same species that can be found throughout the rest of the Keys are also found here, and even species from the greater Caribbean. Other species of marine life have also been spotted at the reef, ranging from infrequently to even only a few times. Rarer species include permit, tarpon,

spotted eagle ray The spotted eagle ray (''Aetobatus narinari'') is a cartilaginous fish of the eagle ray family, Myliobatidae. As traditionally recognized, it is found globally in tropical regions, including the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Recent auth ...

sea turtles Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

, and the Atlantic Goliath grouper.

External links

Benthic Habitat Map

References

NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Maps, Florida Keys West

NOAA Navigational Chart 11446
{{Corals Coral reefs of the Florida Keys