Aside from collecting data in Florida Bay, we also made a few special trips to Lois Key off of Summerland Key. To visit the island we had to get special permission due to the primates which are raised on the key. This involved undergoing and submitting the results of a tuberculosis test, so as not to transmit the disease to the monkeys. One of the biggest differences between visiting Lois Key and Florida Bay was that our day started much earlier. We met at a service plaza at 4 AM and then embarked on a three hour drive to Summerland Key.

Once we had arrived at our destination, we went to the dock from which we would be departing. The caretakers of the island filled large tanks on the boat with fresh water for the monkeys. Then we boarded the boats and made our way to Lois Key.

The conditions on Lois Key were different from Florida Bay. There was more solid ground and water than mud, and the mosquitoes were not as abundant. Moreover, a wooden boardwalk ran through the watery mangrove areas of the island. We searched along the sides of the boardwalk, along the shore, and in the muddy interior of the island for terrapins. Once we had caught the terrapins, we measured and weighed them like we did in the Bay. By the end of our time on the island we had caught 40 terrapins, a record catch. We had also caught and chipped one mangrove water snake.

At about 2:30 in the afternoon, we boarded the boats once again and returned to the dock in Key West. After briefly cleaning up and reloading the equipment, we were ready to leave. After stopping for a rest at McDonald's, we were on our way back to Miami and returned to the service plaza (where had met earlier that day) at about 5:30 PM. It had been approximately a 14 hour day, but was truly a unique experience.