Woman Key is an

island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of ...

in Monroe County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It is within the boundaries of the

Key West National Wildlife Refuge The Key West National Wildlife Refuge is a 189,497 acre (766.867 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in Monroe County, Florida, between Key West, Florida and the Dry Tortugas . Only 2,019 acres (8.171 km2) of land are above sea level ...

. Located in the Outlying Islands of the Florida Keys, Woman Key is in the southern

Mule Keys The Mule Keys are a group of scattered islets in the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. They are between west of Key West, separated from it by the Northwest Channel. On the west, they are separated from the Marquesas Keys by ...

, which are west of

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

. To its east are

Ballast Key Ballast Key is an island in the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is the southernmost point of land in the contiguous United States. It was the last privately owned land within the boundaries of the Key West National Wild ...

(the island farthest south in the area (at 24°31′23.0″N) and

Man Key Man Key is an island in the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is within the boundaries of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge. Located in the Outlying Islands of the Florida Keys, it is in the southern Mule Keys that a ...

. Half of the island's south-facing beach, as well as the sand spit on the southeast side, are closed to protect wildlife. The beach and dunes are nesting sites for

loggerhead sea turtles The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

. Several species of wading birds also nest in the area and a large number of

shorebirds 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...

use the sand spits on the southeast side of the island."Woman Key"
NOAA. Retrieved 2023-1-3.

References

Islands of the Florida Keys Islands of Monroe County, Florida Beaches of Monroe County, Florida Beaches of Florida Islands of Florida {{monroeCountyFL-geo-stub