Woman Key is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago 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 Miami a ...

in Monroe County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is within the boundaries of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge.

Location

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 is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of 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 (the island farthest south in the area (at 24°31′23.0″N) and Man Key. Half of the island's south-facing beach, as well as the sand spit on the southeast side, are closed to protect wildlife.

Nesting site

The beach and dunes are nesting sites for

loggerhead sea turtles Loggerhead or Loggerheads may refer to: Places * Loggerheads, Denbighshire, a village in Denbighshire, Wales * Loggerheads, Staffordshire, a small village in north Staffordshire, England * Loggerhead Key, the largest islet in the Dry Tortugas, ...

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

shorebirds FIle:Vadare - Ystad-2021.jpg, 245px, A flock of 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, forage for food c ...

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