Weekend reading: the Florida edition

The fearsome lionfish / Photo by Ray Harrington on Unsplash

This week offers a double dose of Florida nature longform.

First, journey down to Key West with Ryan Krogh, who in a dispatch for Outside explores the emerging fight against big cruise ships.

The pandemic provided a kind of real-world experiment: What happens to the environment when you take the big ships out? What happens to the economy? Most people would have thought, Sure, the environment would get better, but the economy would get worse. And, in fact, they both got better.

Next, head to north to Destin, where New Yorker staffer D.T. Max covers a tournament where competitors compete to spear the most invasive lionfish.

Being stung, one competitor tells him, “feels like your bones and joints are pushing out—it's a fucking misery.” That’s why the diver keeps four Vicodin in her dive bag.