Hello! I wish I could have snow here—I haven’t seen snow in a very long time! The farthest south it has ever snowed in the continental United States is on Miami Beach in 1977. It sometimes snows a little bit in Northern Florida, but rarely in Tampa and almost never in Miami. I have never seen it snow in Florida, but if it did I would be really excited since I love making snowmen and having snowball fights with my brother! =) I looked online and found a picture of the 1977 snowstorm—if you look in the background you can see palm trees!
Right now I would say it’s too cold for most Floridians to enjoy swimming in the ocean. The Gulf of Mexico, on Florida’s west coast, is usually slightly warmer than the Atlantic, so if I were to go swimming I’d try to swim there! While in some very cold places, like Canada, some people will swim in 65-75 degree water, most Floridians like the water to be between 80 and 90 degrees. In summer, once the sun sets, the ocean is actually warmer than the air, so it’s like taking a nice warm bath!
Around late March and early April it starts becoming hot enough again for us to swim in our pools. The farther south you get the warmer the weather. When I’m in Miami I always wear shorts, flip flops, and t-shirts, and can lay out by the ocean any time of year, but when I’m in Tampa (which is about a five hour drive north of Miami) I wear jeans and sometimes even a sweatshirt during winter. Right now it’s very warm though, so I haven’t had to wear a sweatshirt yet! The weather here has been sunny and gorgeous—Adventure Dog doesn’t want to come inside!
You’re right that most of Florida is in the same time zone as Connecticut—where I live in Florida is also in Eastern Standard Time, which is five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). GMT is the time at the earth’s longitude 0, which is also called the Prime Meridian. (The earth’s latitude 0 is the equator.) Most of Western Europe is on GMT. Only the far end of the upper west panhandle of FL is in the central time zone-- you can see which part by looking at the time zone map.
Adventure Dog saw a real live alligator today! We went hiking in a Florida wilderness park and we even got a few pictures of the trip! Paul’s question (how fast can alligators run) was a good thing to ask because you wouldn’t want to get in a race with an alligator! Alligators have been clocked at 27 mph, which is higher than the speed limit (25 mph) in my neighborhood! The average alligator can easily run 10 mph, and weighs 800 pounds and is 13 feet long. In comparison, Olympic runners can sprint for short distances at around 25 mph, which is extraordinarily fast, but still not fast enough to outrun a particularly determined alligator at close range. Some survival guides suggest that, if an alligator ever chases you from closer than fifteen feet away, you should run in a zig-zag pattern, swerving left and right, in order to discourage it from following you. Because of their size and body shape, it is harder for an alligator to make sharp turns. In other words, humans are more agile, but not faster, so we have to use that to our advantage. However, if the alligator is farther than fifteen feet away from you, you would be better off running in a straight line as fast as you can—humans can only out run an alligator over long distances, not sprints. The moral of the story is to never get too close to any alligator or lakes, rivers, and canals in Florida that you don’t know for sure are alligator-free. Adventure Dog decided to climb a tree so he could get a better look of the alligator's swamp!
Adventure Dog and I also saw a turtle on our hike, as well as an American White Ibis. 
Here’s a picture of the ibis we saw. These birds are small and white with a long curved beak, and are special in Florida because they are the first birds to return after a hurricane or a storm.The mascot of my school is a white ibis named Sebastian! Here’s a picture of him:
There are indeed many pelicans in Florida! Thankfully they are not endangered like so many other Florida animals. Pelicans are actually found on every continent in the world except Antartica. The American White Pelican, the most common species found in North America, is protected by several migratory bird laws, but the population is numerous enough not to merit an endangered status. An interesting trivia fact I recently learned is that the famous Alkatraz Island is named for the word for “pelican” in Spanish!
I have been lucky enough to see a manatee in the ocean—I was on the Key Biscayne beach near Miami and I could see some in the shallow water by the shore. They are really peaceful, beautiful animals, and are really fun to watch!
If you are interested in learning more about endangered animals in America and in the rest of the world, I highly recommend visiting the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) website: www.worldwildlife.org. They have beautiful pictures and great information on all kinds of species, including Florida animals like marine turtles, dolphins, and the monarch butterfly, which migrates to Florida during the fall and winter.
The WWF also has information on how climate change will impact endangered species in Florida. As greenhouse gas emissions cause global temperatures to increase, the ice caps begin to melt. All that ice melting makes the oceans rise, which in turn means flooding on land. In fact, the Pacific Island Tuvalu is already being flooded and people have had to leave their homes. Because almost all of Florida is at sea level (meaning the land here is very flat and close to the ocean), if the oceans rise even a meter, most of Florida will be underwater, including my school and my home. All of the animals that depend on Florida’s wetlands will also lose their habitats. For more information on climate change, including the evidence for climate change and its impact, you can check out the helpful BBC climate change website: www.bbc.co.uk/climate/.
To answer your question about Santo Domingo, I have to say I've never met anyone from there, but since Miami is such an international city I'm sure there are people from Santo Domingo living there! That's one of the things I love most about Miami-- I have friends from all over the world, including Britain, India, Australia, Brazil, Cuba, and Russia. I love Florida's diversity!
I hope you're enjoying learning about Florida! Keep the questions coming-- Adventure Dog and I have so much to share with you! =)
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