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This 'mollusk meteorologist' in the Keys predicts six more weeks of winter

Ben Daughtry, left, president of Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters, celebrates the “groundhog” conch living at the attraction on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Marathon, Fla. during a whimsical response to Punxsutawney Phil’s Groundhog Day ceremony in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania.
(Chad Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)
Ben Daughtry, left, president of Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters, celebrates the “groundhog” conch living at the attraction on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Marathon, Fla. during a whimsical response to Punxsutawney Phil’s Groundhog Day ceremony in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania.
Ben Daughtry, left, president of Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters, celebrates the “groundhog” conch living at the attraction on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Marathon, Fla. during a whimsical response to Punxsutawney Phil’s Groundhog Day ceremony in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania.
Chad Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO
Ben Daughtry, left, president of Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters, celebrates the “groundhog” conch living at the attraction on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Marathon, Fla. during a whimsical response to Punxsutawney Phil’s Groundhog Day ceremony in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania.

An unlikely tropical accomplice to Punxsutawney Phil is agreeing with the groundhog’s winter predictions for this year.

“Our mollusk meteorologist saw its shadow and is predicting six more weeks of winter. But that’s okay because here in the Florida Keys, all winter long it’s 76 degrees," said President of Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters Ben Daughtrey.

The “mollusk meteorologist” he’s talking about is a queen conch that resides in the Marathon-based aquarium’s touch tank.

Over the weekend, Florida Keys residents and local officials donning “groundhog day” top hats gathered to see the sea creature emerge from its shell and observe its own shadow – just like its woodland counterpart.

READ MORE: Helping queen conchs mate in the Florida Keys

This is a News In Brief report. Visit WLRN News for in-depth reporting from South Florida and Florida news.

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Julia Cooper