KEY LARGO, Fla. – A pile of motors, rows of now-empty fuel drums, and lines of homemade migrant boats plucked from the water were stored at John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo.
A private contractor removed and transported the makeshift boats to be hauled away, and the site has become a curiosity for out-of-town tourists.
“We were told by the captain of the sailing vessel we were on what these boats are,” Robert MacDonald, of Berkeley, California, said.
“Wonderful craftsmanship - but then I think of what they must have been fleeing from,” Betsy Bury, of Minnesota, said.
Federal agents have been apprehending the Cuban migrants who have made it to land in the Florida keys, as well as those intercepted at sea.
The U.S. Coast Guard typically marks the boats with spray paint so law enforcement knows no more people need to be rescued, but often the vessels are left in the water.
Park workers said that 36 of the boats that have been in Pennekamp State waters have been identified. Some 24 have already been removed by ACT Environmental and Infrastructure, a company based out of Bartow Florida.
A spokesperson with the State Division of Emergency Management said the work is part of the state’s effort to remove the boats, and about $7.5 million has been allocated for the work.