Poor water quality in Biscayne Bay and its effects on underwater sea animals have been hot topics since the 2020 fish kill, which made headlines statewide and has occurred again every year since. Lesser known, however, are the impacts such conditions have on those found higher up, both in the food chain and in the ecosystem itself. Resting on tree canopies rather than tidal waves, our winged friends, too, rely heavily on the bay for their survival.
Located in Biscayne Bay off the coast of Belle Meade, Bird Key Island had served as a sanctuary for birds to nest and roost away from the dangers of predators â also known as a rookery â for at least 250 years. But between 2019 and 2020, almost as if to foreshadow the pending disaster, that centuries-old rookery collapsed.
Now, just three years later, Morningside residents have discovered a new rookery off their own coast, located on Morningside Picnic Islands just two miles south of Bird Key. Many believe the birds who abandoned the latter island have now adopted the Morningside rookery as their new safe haven, giving local conservationists another chance to protect them.
Although the exact cause of Bird Keyâs collapse is unknown, what is known is that jet skis, boats and algae blooms pose a clear and present danger to the birdsâ peace and resources. Add in a newly proposed floating social club to the mix, and things get especially tricky.
In its latest business venture, luxury hospitality collective Arkhaus is planning to place four multistory house yachts just 400 yards off the coast at Bird Key. The floating vessels will then be used as work, relaxation or social space by private members for an annual fee of $5,000 to $10,000.
Residents fear that the cost to the environment will be much greater.
Securing Protections
Residents of Morningside first heard of Arkhausâ plan in June, right after a presentation on the rookery that they had only recently become aware of. Maji Ramos, a member of the Morningside 2023 Historic Homes Tour committee, helped organize the June 16, 2023, event, where members of the nonprofit organization Pelican Harbor Seabird Station were present to educate attendees on the importance of rookeries in South Florida.
All conversations pointed to Covo, whose district encompasses the city-owned Morningside island. At the next meeting, held July 13, the commissioner introduced a pocket item that would allow signs to be posted on the rookery, warning of its fragility and importance. The item passed unanimously.
âThis is a starting point to protect our environment and to work with the state to make sure that we can give as much protection as we can as a city,â Covo later told the Biscayne Times.
Meanwhile that same day, south regional biologist Ricardo Zambrano visited Biscayne Bay on behalf of the FWC to survey the island and register it as an official rookery â per Moiseâs request. He spotted five nesting species, one roosting species and one additional species whose activities couldnât be distinguished one way or the other, and thatâs just in the offseason.
âWe were not aware that they were nesting there,â Zambrano said. âI guess itâs a relatively new colony ⌠Now itâs confirmed that we have migratory bird species nesting there, which are protectedâ under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The FWC has few options available to protect the rookery besides supporting educational initiatives like the one the city is already spearheading. The commission will, however, continue to monitor the island at least four times a year, expecting to find more species once the nesting season peaks in the spring.
Threats Ahead
Moise and the others involved relish the success theyâve found in securing protections for the Morningside rookery in collaboration with local and state agencies thus far, but thereâs more at stake. Arkhaus plans to soft launch its Miami location in the first quarter of next year.
âWe have a gem with Biscayne Bay,â said Moise. âBiscayne Bay is in a critical state. The water quality is really poor, so I donât think itâs a good idea to add this element to the bay in any location.â
Arkhaus co-founders Sam Payrovi and Nathalie Paiva insist that the project is not at all what residents expect it to be.
âI know itâs being called a development or a party barge, but itâs neither one of those things,â said Payrovi. âThereâs no development happening. We are not building anything. We are not affixing anything to the ground or building on the island. All it is, is four boats or four yachts that are next to each other, and that forms a social club.â
Paiva describes the approach as âeco-hospitality,â utilizing solar-powered vessels and electric propulsion systems as part of a larger environmental focus.
As for Bird Key, Payrovi said, âthe birds have not been there for a very, very, very long time.â
But Boykin has the opposite idea. His wound is still fresh.
âThe main concern is that, although the Bird Key rookery has collapsed, itâs only been a few years, and for something that has been there for three and a half centuries with such biodiversity to be replaced by a private social club â it just kind of hurts the heart,â he said.
Conversely, Paiva and Payrovi believe that their presence will actually benefit Bird Key. The duo, believing that trash buildup was the cause of the rookeryâs collapse, plans to organize a large-scale cleanup of the island.
âWe believe that if the birds are going to return to Bird Key, itâs going to be because of the environmental work that we do,â said Payrovi.
Although there are multiple suspects for the rookeryâs collapse, Zambrano disagrees that trash is one of them. Unidentified predators and human disturbances are much more likely culprits than any plastic lying on the ground, far away from the tree canopies that birds like to occupy.
Because Bird Key is no longer an active rookery, Zambrano doesnât submit to opposition against Arkhausâ plans, but he also doesnât believe that any efforts to restore the rookery are likely to persevere.
âThere is hope, but not through us,â he said. âIt would really be up to the birds to decide to come back. So far, no oneâs really been successful in trying to attract these types of birds to a spot. We donât know how they might choose one over another.â
âA lot of the ornithologists have said that itâs hard for the birds to come back once theyâre gone,â Boykin said, âbut they definitely wonât come back if thereâs a private social club there with noise and music right there adjacent to the island.â
Murky Plans
Before Arkhaus can prove whether its plans will be environmentally harmful, it first has to prove that theyâre even legal.
Laura Reynolds, vice president of Friends of Biscayne Bay, says Arkhaus isnât likely to acquire the necessary permits to set up camp on Biscayne Bay, not if she has anything to do with it.
âYou shouldnât come anywhere near these islands with a vessel like that, and Iâm fine to call it a vessel,â she said. âIf you put a motor on it and you want to call it a vessel, thatâs fine, but make no mistake. This is something thatâs new that may not be dealt with in the law, and we need to deal with it. It is not something thatâs sustainable because it will impact seagrasses and it will impact the birds.â
Lisa Spadafina, director of the countyâs Division of Environmental Resources Management (DERM), canât say one way or another whether the Arkhaus project will be allowed because she has yet to receive a permit application from the company. She did explain, however, that the countyâs master plan ensures that Biscayne Bay is only used for water-dependent structures, like docks, fishing or diving, while another section of the code prohibits floating structures altogether.
âTo protect the bay and its resources, the code is aimed at limiting things that donât need to be impactful to the bay,â Spadafina said. âAnything that doesnât need to be on the water shouldnât be on the water. If somebody wanted to build a tennis club or a social club or have a place for people to convene and have yoga classes, all of those things wouldnât really be water-dependent.â
Conceptually speaking, then, the plan isnât allowed, at least not according to county code. The company is also regulated by city permitting processes and the U.S. Coast Guard. Payrovi said the companyâs legal team is responsible for working through all of the necessary clearances, but that theyâre not trying to skirt any rules.
âItâs in their hands at this point,â said Payrovi. âWhat I can tell you is that everything that we need, we will get.â
Arkhaus can indeed apply for a variance to the county code. That would require the project being reviewed by city staff, for which environmental impact is a factor, and then considered at a public hearing and approved by the Board of County Commissioners.
Broader Issues
Watching birds fly in and out of the Morningside Picnic Islands during sunrise and sunset, Moise once had no idea that some of those birds relied on the sanctuary to nest and care for their offspring. She didnât know that for some of those birds, it would be the first home they ever knew.
She also didnât know when she saw manatees and dolphins return to Biscayne Bay during the peak of the COVID pandemic that those animals were returning to a state-protected landmark known as the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, now approaching its 50th year of existence.
âPeople donât realize the entire bay is protected,â said Reynolds, ânot just the national park.â
While Arkhaus touts ecological innovation, residents are calling for a complete restoration of the bay to its most natural state, and surely that doesnât include an 8,500 square-foot platform floating in the middle of it â even if it comes with environmental efforts like a fleet of underwater drones to test water toxicity and salinity.
âItâs a smokescreen in my opinion,â said Morningside resident Jeff King. âWe donât need drones to tell us the bayâs on fire.â
Perhaps, then, our winged friends can serve as the primary surveyors of the bayâs health. To test ecological stability, look to the birds. Look to the Morningside rookery.
âThese birds have adopted this island to roost there at night, to nest there and produce their offspring there, so itâs a marvel, and we need to protect it,â Moise said. âWe need to do more to protect it.â