Natural Resources

• Fishes :: Monofilament Recycling :: Manatees :: Sea Grass Beds/Oyster Bars
  
  Geology of the Lower Loxahatchee River :: Waters of the Loxahatchee River

Sea Grass Beds and Oyster Bars

Sea grass beds are among the most productive communities on earth. They provide habitat for small invertebrates and fishes; serve as nurseries and feeding grounds for species such as drums, sea bass, and snappers; and efficiently convert nutrients in their environments to organic matter vital to the base of the food chain. Among the sea grass species present in the Loxahatchee River estuary, Jupiter Inlet, and nearby Intracoastal Waterway are manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme) and turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum), named for its gustatory appeal to green sea turtles. A variety of wading and diving birds also use sea grass beds as feeding grounds. Healthy sea grasses in estuaries are essential to commercial and recreational fisheries, including that of the pink shrimp, economically one of the most important in Florida.

Grass bed extent varies seasonally, as well as over longer time spans, responding to changes in water salinity, temperature, turbidity, and quality. Denuded seabed scars caused by boat anchors and propellers take many years to heal. Boaters can help to maintain healthy sea grass beds by just not anchoring in grass-which generally offers relatively poor holding anyway-and by using a pole or oars to move vessels over grass when the water is too shallow to avoid prop scarring under power. This map shows distribution of sea grass beds in the lower Loxahatchee, Jupiter Inlet, and the Intracoastal Waterway, but remember to look out for grass wherever you anchor and when venturing into shallow water.

Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) are filter feeding, sedentary invertebrates found mostly in estuary areas with firm substrates, such as mud/shell bottom. Oysters provide food and habitat for a variety of estuarine species, including sponges, mollusks, worms, and crustaceans. Freshwater runoff provides food for oysters, limits predation, and reduces disease, so oyster beds are associated with areas of lower salinity.

Found in the northwest and southwest forks of the Loxahatchee, oyster bars (red on the map) are productive fishing spots that attract adult snook. Exercise caution in these areas; oyster bars severely damage boat hulls and props, and the sharp shells are treacherous for people wading or swimming.

Credit: Adapted from Myers, Ronald L. and Ewel, John J., Ecosystems of Florida, University of Central Florida Press, Orlando, 1990