Draft:Hawk Channel



Hawk Channel is a shallow, elongated basin and navigable passage along the Atlantic coast of the Florida Keys. The channel makes up a smaller portion of the Florida Platform from Key West to the southernmost point of Key Biscayne and lies between the Keys and the Florida Reef Tract to the southeast. It connects the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean through tidal exchanges crossing from the Florida Bay to the Straits of Florida.

It extends roughly 230 km (200 nautical miles; 143 statute miles) from Fowey Rocks, off Key Biscayne, to Sand Key, off Key West. Its width ranges from approximately 10 km (5 nautical miles; 6 statute miles) to ¼ of a mile wide at its narrowest part. It varies in depth from 7 to 8 meters off the Upper Keys along the center of the channel to 12 to 15 meters off the Middle and Lower Keys. A course in Hawk Channel roughly 2 miles offshore is partially protected by the deepwater of the Straits of Florida and allows vessels drawing roughly 7 to 10 feet to avoid the adverse currents of the Gulf Stream while crossing through the Keys.