2nd Annual Trash Derby!!!
I.CARE’s Trash Derby Sponsored by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in support of Goal: Clean Seas will include two days of debris collection, sunrise to sunset, Friday, May 3rd and Saturday May 4th from Key Largo to Key West with a team leader meeting prior to debris collection on Thursday, May 2nd. All activities are permitted by Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) and Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC).
On Sunday May 5th, there will be a FREE family-friendly festival at Founders Park, in Islamorada Florida, from 12pm -6pm. The festival is open to the public and will include an award ceremony, raffles, silent auction, games, activities, food, music, vendors, and local organizations working to improve our reefs.
You do not need to commit to the entire weekend! Come just for the festival, participate on one or both days, and divers can book one dive, or multiple dives!
Ways to participate/compete:
With a local dive shop
If you are a certified diver, you can join a local participating dive shop
Land & Shore
Walk the shoreline, use your own paddle board/ kayak, or join one of several organizations hosting land based clean ups.
Private Boat
Use your own boat or rent a boat to take out divers and/or snorkelers to collect submerged debris.
No limit on team size. Teams/Individuals will be judged by average weight per person (lbs/person). See Participant Info page for rules, debris drop off locations, team leader meeting details, and more.
About I.CARE
To help reduce the amount of debris impacting our islands, I.CARE is hosting their second annual Trash Derby. I.CARE is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to incorporating recreational divers in activities to restore the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. In their first 2 years, I.CARE has transplanted over 15,000 corals of varying species and educated over 2,500 participants about the importance of coral reef communities. This event not only serves as a way to help clean our seas, it is also a fundraiser to help I.CARE continue its work on our reefs.
I.Care About Coral is looking for a full-time Coordinator!
Have you wanted to make a difference? How about working full-time with I.Care About Coral!
With this update we celebrate I.Care About Coral, and their 3 year anniversary!
Approaching 15,000 corals outplanted! With the help of 2,805 individuals!
Dive into I.Care About Coral
With every purchase a donation is made to support coral outplanting
I.Care About Coral is a non-profit in Islamorada, Florida. This group has recently celebrated their 3rd anniversary!
We are proud to be associated with I.Care and are excited to share this milestone with our supporters. If you have purchased apparel from Wanderlust Hats & Apparel or one of our retailers, then you have also contributed to I.Care! Thanks for joining the movement for change!
Are you interested in outplanting corals with I.Care?
If so, have a look at their website below to see how you can contribute first hand!
I Care celebrated 1 year of outplanting recently!
Intern Mackenzie takes a selfie with the dive trip that celebrated 1 year of outplanting trips!
All smiles on our outplanting trip yesterday while celebrating I.CARE turning ONE!
Our mission to restore the reefs of Islamorada by involving recreational divers became a successful reality with 691 divers joining us in the past year, planting almost 3,000 corals.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our efforts! We’re looking forward to year two.
Welcome Riley the newest I Care intern
Say hello to our newest intern, Riley Garvey!
Riley is from Myrtle Beach, SC and graduated from Clemson University with a BS in Biosystems Engineering.
Growing up near the ocean, Riley always new that he loved marine life. While at Clemson, he joined a research lab that provided him the opportunity to work a summer down here in the Florida Keys!
Riley’s favorite Caribbean coral is pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindricus), but his absolute favorite coral is the leaf plate coral (Montipora capricornis). Another fun factor about Riley is that he studied abroad for a semester on a sailboat and spent 35 days at sea sailing from the Galápagos Islands to Fiji!
We are super excited to have Riley as part of the I.CARE team and make sure you say hello if you see him around town!
I.Care About Coral - Restoration
We support our Ocean’s
I.CARE is dedicated to restoring the reefs of Islamorada, including the world famous Alligator Reef. Our mission is to incorporate local businesses, residents and visitors in the restoration and maintenance of our coral reef communities in Islamorada. We have partnered with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and Mote Marine Laboratory to create the first community based approach to reef restoration in the middle Florida Keys. Our activities include coral transplanting, marine debris clean-ups and reef monitoring. With participation from Islamorada’s businesses and residents and divers across the country, we will restore our reefs for current and future generations.
I.CARE was founded in 2019 around the idea that the Islamorada community can act now to save their own coral reefs for the future! Our staff is proud to be a part of this community effort.
Kylie Smith, PhD – C0-Founder & Project Manager: Dr. Smith has been studying the factors influencing coral transplant survival and reef fish behavior in the Florida Keys since 2012. Specifically, she studied the impacts of consecutive bleaching events, Hurricane Irma and disease on coral transplants during her graduate work at Clemson University. Dr. Smith maintains partnerships with Mote Marine Lab, Keys Marine Lab, FWC, the Coral Restoration Foundation, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Clemson University, Jacksonville University, Florida International University and other organizations to maximize the survival of both coral and herbivore transplants to restore ecological health to these reefs.