This is National Estuary Week, which is designed to raise awareness of the ecologically crucial zone where a river meets the sea.
“You can think of them as like kidneys,” Ashley Smyth, a University of Florida estuary researcher, said. “They act as this filter for everything that's coming from land to process it before it goes out into the ocean.”
NOAA calls estuaries “the nurseries of the sea” because so many marine animals depend on them as a food source or spend some part of their lives there. Many plants and animals, including many species of concern, are especially adapted to live in brackish environments.
Estuaries are also a major stopover point for migratory animals, and coastal communities rely on estuaries for tourism, shipping and transportation, and fishing.
Estuaries, such as the area where the Caloosahatchee River mixes into the Gulf, are essential for the health of our coastal ecosystems, where two bodies of water, usually saltwater and freshwater, meet and mix.
The tidal zones are crucial for many species that thrive in the brackish water created when salt and fresh water mix.
That mixing action, along with seagrass meadows underwater and mangroves along the shore, improves water quality just like a human cleaning out its system.
But just like kidneys in a human, overwork an estuary with a constant flow of pollution and it will malfunction.
Both the power of an estuary working properly and its fragility when abused are key messages of National Estuary Week.
However, the health of these estuaries is under threat. Factors like high turbidity and increased chlorophyll concentrations can reduce light penetration, hindering seagrass growth. Additionally, nutrient pollution, often from agricultural runoff and altered freshwater flows, has led to harmful algal blooms, which deplete oxygen levels and disrupt marine life.
Protecting and restoring the Caloosahatchee Estuary — suffering mightily from nutrient pollution — is essential for maintaining biodiversity, supporting local fisheries, and ensuring the overall health of the region's coastal ecosystems. Efforts to improve water quality and manage freshwater inflows are critical steps toward preserving this vital resource for future generations.
There is even a National Estuarine Research Reserve System, a network of 30 coastal sites designated to protect and study estuarine systems.
They also are nursery grounds for a lot of really important species, like a lot of commercial fisheries that those little fish spend a lot of time up in those estuaries before they go out all the way out to the ocean,” Smyth said. “And they also have oysters. And oysters are amazing. They help us clean our water, help us process our water, and are also tasty treats for us.
“Estuaries are both economically important, ecologically important, and just a key piece of our coastal ecosystems.”
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a non-profit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
Sign up for WGCU's monthly environmental newsletter, the Green Flash, today.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
