The hardheaded mangroves trap silt and their own leaves in layers of tough, fibrous peat, simultaneously manufacturing and bulkheading that rarest of commodities, waterfront real estate.
Should you care to step back in time to the beginning of life on earth, you would have no further to go than out your back door. Estuaries — and our Indian River Lagoon is a first-rate example — recreate the primordial soup from which all life emerged.
Partially enclosed coastal waters where river meets sea, estuaries account for one-half of all living matter in the world’s oceans. An acre of these “blue pastures” is umpteen times more productive than the same area of the most fertile farmland. So what a pity that so many visitors and even residents of the Indian River Lagoon think of it — not as the most bio-diverse estuary in North America — but as an extended ditch for boat traffic. Indeed, within its shores the Indian River Lagoon does contain the Intracoastal Waterway, but far more important, its 156 miles are host to close to 4,500 species of flora and fauna including many species that are endemic (found nowhere else on earth).
Read the entire article in the April 2003 issue
True Tails is a series written by Amy Robinson for Vero Beach’s dog lovers. Ask Amy about your dog’s behavior by clicking below.
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