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150-year-old Florida Keys Lighthouse Illuminated for 1st Time in a Decade

In this Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, boaters watch a sunset behind Alligator Reef Lighthouse off Islamorada, Fla., in the Florida Keys. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
In this Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, boaters watch a sunset behind Alligator Reef Lighthouse off Islamorada, Fla., in the Florida Keys. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
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150-year-old Florida Keys Lighthouse Illuminated for 1st Time in a Decade

In this Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, boaters watch a sunset behind Alligator Reef Lighthouse off Islamorada, Fla., in the Florida Keys. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
In this Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, boaters watch a sunset behind Alligator Reef Lighthouse off Islamorada, Fla., in the Florida Keys. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

A 150-year-old beacon that helped guide ships through the treacherous Florida Keys coral reefs before GPS, sonar and other technology made it obsolete is shining again as part of a national effort to save historic lighthouses that have dotted the US coast for more than a century.
An Islamorada community group that is spending $6 million to restore and preserve the Alligator Reef Lighthouse turned on its new solar-powered lights on Saturday to remind the public about the effort.
“Alligator Lighthouse was lit in 1873 and it stayed lit until about 2013, and then it went dark for 10 years,” said Rob Dixon, the executive director of Save Alligator Lighthouse, which took over the lighthouse's title in late 2021. “And now our Statue of Liberty is lit once again.”
The lighthouse is named after the USS Alligator, a Navy schooner that ran aground on the reef in 1822 and sank.
Alligator and five other aging lighthouses off the Keys were important maritime navigational aids that once warned ships away from the area's barrier coral reef. But modern-day satellite navigation made open-water lighthouses obsolete and such structures are being disposed of by the General Services Association.
A detailed engineering study of Alligator Lighthouse was completed to determine stabilization needs after many years in highly corrosive conditions, The Associated Press reported.
Dixon said an engineering study determined that it will take six years and $5 million to $6 million dollars to save the Alligator Lighthouse.
“There’s nobody in this community that doesn’t want to help our project,” he said.
Dixon said fundraising is well underway with about $500,000 already raised, including $215,000 from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

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Zoo in Spain Helps Elderly Elephants Age Gracefully

Two old African elephants Bully, left, and Susi, stand inside the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Muñoz)
Two old African elephants Bully, left, and Susi, stand inside the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Muñoz)
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Zoo in Spain Helps Elderly Elephants Age Gracefully

Two old African elephants Bully, left, and Susi, stand inside the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Muñoz)
Two old African elephants Bully, left, and Susi, stand inside the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Muñoz)

At the Barcelona Zoo, a 40-year-old African elephant places her foot through the metal barrier where a zookeeper gently scrubs its sole — the beloved pachyderm gets her “pedicure,” along with apple slices every day.
The treatment is part of the zoo’s specialized geriatric care for aging animals that cannot be reintroduced into the wild as zoos world over increasingly emphasize lifelong care, The Associated Press reported.
“Sending them back into nature would be an error," said Pilar Padilla, head of the zoo's mammal care. "It is very likely they wouldn’t survive.”
Zoos have undergone a rethink in recent decades with the emphasis on the conservation of species and education, moving away from the past paradigm that often displayed exotic animals as a spectacle.
The new approach includes knowing how to adapt to the needs of aging animals, which has led zoos to create bigger, more nature-like enclosures, such as the Sahel-Savannah area at the zoo in the Spanish city of Barcelona.
Along with breeding programs to reintroduce fit animals into nature, zoos today want to ensure that animals living longer due to advancements in veterinary care can age gracefully, said Martín Zordan, the CEO of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or WAZA.
“Specialized geriatric care is becoming increasingly essential," Zordan told AP at the organization’s Barcelona offices.
Zordan said that just like older people, elderly animals require more care: regular health checks, arthritis treatment, softer foods or nutritional supplements, adapted living spaces and monitoring of mental and behavioral health.
Along with caring for a pair of aging elephants, the Barcelona Zoo is also the home for a 15-year-old wolf, a leopard and a tiger who are both 17, as well as some older birds — including a flock of senior flamencos.
It's not alone — several zoos in the United States, for example, highlight their treatment of older animals, such as the zoos in Baltimore and Baton Rouge.
A study of grief Zookeepers at the Barcelona Zoo, not far from the city’s Mediterranean coastline, are closely monitoring its two aging female pachyderms, Susi and Bully (pronounced BUH'-yi), as they cope with the recent death of Yoyo, their former pen-mate and long-time companion.
Yoyo died in December at age 54.
Susi, at 52, is now among the oldest known African elephants in captivity, even though WAZA said the age of animals born in the wild is approximate. Bully, who is 40, is also considered old for an African elephant. All three were captured in the wild and spent time in circuses an other zoos before coming to Barcelona.
The zoo is now working with the University of Barcelona to study the impact of Yoyo's death on Susi and Bully. It’s the first study of its kind, focused on elephants not from the same family after the death of a long-time companion, Padilla told The Associated Press during a recent visit to the zoo’s elephant enclosure.
At first, Susi and Bully showed their shock by not eating, but are now adapting well and turning to one another, including even sharing food, Padilla said, adding that Susi has taken on the dominant role that Yoyo had.
The proof is in the teeth For elephants, their teeth are the real age test.
“What marks the decline of the animal is the wear on their teeth,” Barcelona zookeeper José María Santamaría said after finishing the Bully’s pedicure. “They go through six sets of molars during their life, and when they reach around 40 years old they lose the last set.”
Susi and Bully require daily checkups, food suited for their now molar-less mouths and extra attention to their legs — hence the daily pedicures and the enclosure's soft sandy floor to cushion aching feet.
“Those are the sort of considerations taken because we care about these animals living comfortably and leading lives with dignity,” Zordan said.