This month, the Policy team joined Sanibel Sea School in the Everglades National Park for the annual ‘Slough Slog’.  Each year, Sanibel Sea School takes a group of teen campers to the Florida Keys for Coral Reef Week. On the way the bus stops in the Everglades to allow campers the opportunity to stretch their legs, learn about the interconnected nature of our water systems in South Florida, and see a side of the park that most visitors never experience. 

The Everglades is the heart of our water system in South Florida, and is one of the driving forces behind the health of our coastal marine systems. By learning about the Everglades, campers connect their experiences on Sanibel with the reefs they explore in the Florida Keys. 

In order to truly get a feel for the park, campers leave the road and wade through knee-deep water in the flooded forest. Braving mosquitos, campers learn from Everglades National park rangers about the how water travels from Orlando down to Florida Bay. SCCF Policy Director Matt DePaolis also joined the campers to explain the important role the Everglades’ plays in the fight for clean water around Sanibel, in the Caloosahatchee, and throughout south Florida. 

By going off the beaten path and surrounding themselves with nature, campers are able to experience the Everglades in a way that few do, feeling the cool clear water on their skin as they bask in the natural silence of the river of grass. While the park is fully open to explore, majority of visitors to the Everglades never set foot in the water. Campers climbed back on the bus with a deeper understanding the Everglades and why it is so important to protect and preserve this natural system.