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Nature’s Wonder -
Indian River Lagoon
The
Indian River Lagoon is one of Florida’s natural wonders and
its northern end begins at Volusia County’s Ponce de Leon Inlet.
The Lagoon stretches 156 miles to the south where it ends at Jupiter
Inlet. This place where fresh water mixes with sea water is known
as “the ocean’s cradle,” an “underwater rainforest”
and “North America’s most diverse estuary.”
It is home to more than 4,000 species of plants and animals including
sea turtles, seahorses, manatees and a bottle nosed dolphin that lives
only in the Indian River Lagoon.
The Lagoon’s many seagrass beds and mangrove mud flats are home
also to numerous sea creatures — oysters, clams, shrimp, crabs
and fish — who depend on the
nurture of this rich and fragile habitat. The lagoon holds one-third
of the United States’ manatee population and more than 50 other
endangered or threatened species. That and other reasons caused the
federal government to name it an Estuary of National Significance.
The IRL is not really a river; rather it is an estuary; a body of
water between a strip of ocean-facing outer islands and the mainland
where rivers, creeks and stormwater run to meet the flushing tidal
waters from the ocean inlet. Here in Volusia County the temperate
climate meets the tropical climate combining that mix of wildlife
and plant species in the rich waters of an estuarine environment creats
a tremendous diversity of life. The Lagoon is a place where the roseate
spoonbill meets the oyster catcher, where the brown pelican roosts
near the snowy egret.
Volusia
County’s portion of the IRL is a spectacular part of the Lagoon.
From its natural inlet shouldered by the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse
and park on the north and Dunes Park on the south, to the end of the
Mosquito Lagoon where the Canaveral National Seashore meets the Kennedy
Space Center, this portion of the IRL is the least impacted by urban
sprawl. The Mosquito Lagoon is also home to a large portion of the
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, the state’s Mosquito
Lagoon Aquatic Preserve and New Smyrna Beach’s newest park,
the Indian River Lagoon Preserve. It’s an amazing unbroken stretch
of aquatic preserve from the heart of the City of New Smyrna Beach
to the Haulover Canal near Titusville —some of the most pristine
marine estuarine environment in Florida.
The estuary is vital to us, because it's the place where so much of
our fishery is generated. Without an estuary you can't spawn and raise
as much fish of all kinds - shellfish, sport fish, and so on. Some
of the inhabitants just stay right here in the lagoon. Others come
here to spawn and end up repopulating the ocean. An estuary is critically
important to the overall health of the environment.
Having
a healthy fishery from a commercial stand point also adds to the economy.
Tourism, fisheries and other commercial activities thrive. Within
Volusia County’s portion of the IRL you will find the Intracoastal
Waterway, harbors, industry, and a home to commercial and recreational
fisheries. Boating, tourism and other
recreational facilities also support economic activity that would
be greatly diminished if we fail to maintain a
beautiful and healthy Indian River Lagoon.
Several local organizations, the Marine Discovery Center, the Marine
Science Center, Volusia County Environmental Management, Audubon Society,
Ponce Inlet Port Authority and ECHO among them, all work to keep our
portion of the IRL healthy and attractive. The Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission plans a new $20 million Ecocenter and fish
hatchery at the former site of the New Smyrna Beach high school. Several
local organizations including the Marine Discovery Center will locate
programs at the Ecocenter.
At the Marine Discovery Center a big part of our mission to preserve
and protect the IRL involves
educating the public about the wonders of our estuary and why it is
in our self interest to keep it healthy. Taking an MDC kayak Ecotour,
for example, brings not only an up close and personal knowledge of
this vital environment but a renewal to the soul as well. Toward the
end of 2008 MDC will be offering kayak tours from New Smyrna Beach’s
192 acre Indian River Lagoon Preserve located beachside off Saxon
Drive at the end of Sandpiper Street. Or, you can take the Water Taxi
to New Smyrna Beach from Ponce Inlet and see a beautiful stretch of
the estuary along the way.
If you haven’t investigated the creatures of the lagoon in Volusia
County I recommend you do so — it’s a very
special place right here in our part of the world. Contact the Marine
Discovery Center at 386 428-4828 for more information on activities
in and around the lagoon.
MORE READING
State of the Indian River Lagoon |GOTO|
Aquatic Sports and Adventures |GOTO|
Welcome EcoTourists to Our Nature |GOTO|
A Word With Surf Guru - Jimmy Lane |GOTO|
Directory of Activities |GOTO|
SPONSOR RESOURCES
ADVENTURE TRAVEL: Adventure In Travel Expo |GOTO|
BICYCLING: Bicycle & Kayak Adventures |GOTO|
BOATING: Everglades Boats |GOTO|
ECOTOURS: Marine Discovery Center |GOTO|,
Segway Tours |GOTO|.
KAYAKING: Bicycle & Kayak Adventures |GOTO|,
Marine Discovery Center |GOTO|,
JB's Kayaking |GOTO|
SURFING: Jimmy Lane Surf Camp |GOTO|
SCUBA: Sea Dog Dive Center |GOTO|
WATER TAXI: NSB Water Taxi |GOTO|
ART & PHOTOGRAPHY: Kem McNair |GOTO|
Rockwell Gallery |GOTO|
DINING: Chase's On The Beach |GOTO|
Dolphin View |GOTO|
The
Platter Restaurant |GOTO| Upper Deck
|GOTO| FITNESS: Nautilus By The Sea |GOTO|
HORSEBACK RIDING: Marcody Ranch |GOTO|
JELEWRY: Rockwell Gallery |GOTO|LIVEATIONS:
JB's Fish Camp |GOTO|
Norwood's |GOTO|
Schnaps'n Stuff |GOTO| Upper Deck |GOTO|
Wine Warehouse |GOTO|
ECO LIVING: Prestige Properties - Susan McClain NAR
Green Certified |GOTO|
Schweizer Waldroff Architects - Kevin Schweizer - Scott Waldroff |GOTO|
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