Florida Keys 6 (2010)

This trip took place shortly after the BP oil-spill of the Deepwater Horizon. We monitored the molluscan fauna of Torch Key, Big Pine Key, Ohia and Missouri-Key. We encountered an amazing amount of Cypraeidae and Conus. On the trip to the same places in 2015, the habitats were found denuded, 90% of the gastropods had disappeared, including the Cypraeidae. Very few Conus were encountered in a small area of Torch Key. These pictures of Deer-Cowries shown here may be the last ones of their kind taken in the lower Florida Keys.