Paradise Lost: The Historical Demise of Florida Reef

By Drew Maglio

"No sea-lover could look unmoved on the blue rollers of the Gulf Stream and the crystal-clear waters of the reef, of every delicate shade of blue and green and tinged with every color of the spectrum . . . a sort of liquid light, rather than water, so limpid and brilliant is it."1 —Commodore Ralph Munroe in 1877.

This natural history research essay was originally written in 2017, edited and uploaded in 2020, and may be downloaded in PDF format at our home website—free of charge and with many visual references and resources—here: https://www.greatconversationpublication.org/post/paradise-lost-the-historical-demise-of-florida-reef