Dry Tortugas National Park

Nonstop migrant landings in the Florida Keys has overwhelmed federal law enforcement agencies. But the county must deal with the boats left behind in an already fragile environment.

The Homeland Security Task Force - Southeast said they have stopped or removed more than 1,300 refugees at sea or from Dry Tortugas National Park and other areas of the Florida Keys since Dec. 30 and urged family members of Cubans and Haitians thinking of making their way to the U.S. to dissuade such efforts.

The closure, which is expected to last several days, is necessary for the safety of visitors and staff because of the resources and space needed to attend to the migrants. Concession-operated ferry and sea plane services are temporarily suspended.

The model created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that 70% of Florida's 350-mile long reef tract is eroding faster than it's growing.

Federal officials are now considering thousands of comments as they finalize the first update in a quarter century to rules that govern the marine 3,800-square mile marine sanctuary.

Dalton Hesley led a dive team to an offshore Miami Beach reef last month in pursuit of sea urchins. Something else drew his attention instead. A cluster of staghorn corals, their branches reaching toward the surface, appeared a ghastly white.

For more than five years, a disease has been wiping out corals that provide the foundation for Florida's reef tract. Now it's reached the most remote and healthy area of the reef.

The Department of the Interior is one of the parts of the federal government affected by the current shutdown. But you can still visit South Florida's...