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In South Florida, where the Everglades meet the bays, environmental challenges abound. Sea level rise threatens homes and real estate. Invasive species imperil native plants and animals. Pesticides reduce the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, but at what cost? WLRN's award-winning environment reporting strives to capture the color and complexity of human interaction with one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet.

Drone Watches Over Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary

Cammy Clark / MIAMI HERALD Staff

Lt. j.g. Kyle Salling stood on the bow of a 24-foot boat in Florida Bay, holding what looked like a large model airplane. With the propellers gently whirling, and the small red and green aviation lights on, Sims launched the 13-pound aircraft like he was throwing a javelin.

The remote-controlled Puma AE banked upward into the sky and began heading toward its target, a mangrove island called Pigeon Key about a quarter-mile away in the vast Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

RELATED: Planes, Drones and Dry Ice: How South Florida Wages War Against Mosquitoes

A flock of frigatebirds hovering around the island scattered well before the arrival of the Puma, which also looks like a big bird with its nine-foot wingspan. While there is no way of knowing if it was the Puma that startled the seabirds, many of them did return.

The Puma circled the island from about 200 feet above, capturing a bird’s-eye view of the seabirds’ activities on both video and in still pictures that were transmitted in real time back to a computer on the boat.

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