All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-22-16.
This week, we revisit a July 2012 episode that features some rap and some rhyme about a particular kind of aquatic ecosystem that’s vital to coastal areas worldwide. Have a listen for about 75 seconds.
You’ve been listening to excerpts from two estuary education videos from the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. As you heard, an estuary is formed when freshwater rivers mix with saltier coastal water. Many estuaries are formed from a coastal plain river meeting the sea. But estuaries can form in other ways, too, such as within barrier islands like Virginia and North Carolina’s Outer Banks; by earthquake activity, which created the San Francisco Bay estuary; and from glaciers, which form a type of estuary called a fjord. While estuaries are usually thought of as brackish—that is, having freshwater mixed with salt water—some estuaries are completely freshwater, such as those on the Great Lakes where river water and lake water are mixed by winds.
However and wherever they form, estuaries typically result in biologically productive ecosystems, including important reproduction areas for fish and shellfish. Virginia borders a famous example: the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. Other estuaries in Virginia include the lower, tidally influenced sections of the Potomac, York, and other large river tributaries to the Chesapeake, as well as Back Bay in Virginia Beach, the northernmost part of North Carolina’s Albemarle-Pamlico estuary. Beyond our Commonwealth, many of the world’s largest cities grew up around estuaries, including New York City and Tokyo. So for many millions of humans and countless other organisms, estuaries are among our most valuable and vital habitats.
This week’s music and voices were excerpted from online videos “Estuary Rap” (4 minutes/44 seconds; 2002) and “So What is an Estuary—So Now You Know,” (7 minutes/2 seconds; 2003), provided for educational uses by the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA). These videos were accessed on the System’s “Estuary Education” Web site, http://estuaries.noaa.gov/Default.aspx. The site includes which includes a gallery of dozens of videos and many other resources for learning and teaching about estuaries.
This episode is a revision of Episode 120 (7-23-12), which has been archived.
North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve near Georgetown, South Carolina. Photo taken October 28, 2010, made available for public use by the NOAA Photo Library (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/U.S. Department of Commerce; photo nerr0315), accessed online at http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/index.html, 7/22/16.
The locations of the 28 units of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System are shown on the following map, provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), online at http://nerrs.noaa.gov/Default.aspx.
ACE Basin (SC); Apalachicola (FL); Chesapeake Bay (MD); Chesapeake Bay (VA); Delaware (DE); Elkhorn Slough (CA); Grand Bay (MS); Great Bay (NH); Guana Tolomato Matanzas (FL); Hudson River (NY); Jacques Cousteau (NJ); Jobos Bay (PR); Kachemak Bay (AK); Lake Superior (WI); Mission-Aransas (TX); Narragansett Bay (RI); North Carolina (NC); North Inlet-Winyah (SC); Old Woman Creek (OH); Padilla Bay (WA); Rookery Bay (FL); San Francisco (CA); Sapelo Island (GA); South Slough (OR); Tijuana Estuary (CA); Waquoit Bay (MA); Weeks Bay (AL); Wells (ME).
(Source: National Estuarine Research Reserve Association, online at http://www.nerra.org/).
National Estuarine Research Reserve Association, online at http://www.nerra.org/.
National Geographic Society, “Estuary,” online at http://nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/estuary/.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Estuarine Research Reserve System, “What is an Estuary,” online at http://nerrs.noaa.gov/about/what-is-an-estuary.html.
NOAA/National Ocean Service, “Estuaries,” online at http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_estuaries/welcome.html.
University of Rhode Island Office of Marine Programs, “Estuarine Science,” online at http://omp.gso.uri.edu/ompweb/doee/science/descript/esttype1.htm.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge/Virginia,” online at https://www.fws.gov/refuge/back_bay/; and “Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan (September 2010),” available online at https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Back_Bay/what_we_do/conservation.html.
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, “Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve,” online at http://www.vims.edu/cbnerr/index.php; and “Virginia Estuarine and Coastal Observing System,” online at http://web2.vims.edu/vecos/Default.aspx.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “USGS Water Science School/Why are Wetlands and Aquatic Habitats Important,” online at https://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-around-wetlands.html. This site is part of the USGS’ “Water Science School,” online at https://water.usgs.gov/edu/.
USGS/“Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring Program,” online at http://va.water.usgs.gov/chesbay/RIMP/index.html. This site is part of the USGS’ Virginia Science Center, online at http://va.water.usgs.gov/.
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “River, Streams, and Other Surface Water” subject category.
Oysters, Nitrogen, and the Chesapeake Bay, Parts I and II - Episode 279, 8/24/15 and Episode 280, 9/7/15.
Checking on the Chesapeake with the Bay Barometer and Other Tools - Episode 305, 2/29/16.
A Student Shout-out for Chesapeake Bay Submerged Aquatic Vegetation - Episode 325, 7/18/16.
4.5 - ecosystem interactions and human influences on ecosystems.
LS.9 - adaptations for particular ecosystems’ biotic and abiotic factors, including characteristics of land, marine, and freshwater environments.
LS. 10 - changes over time in ecosystems, communities, and populations, and factors affecting those changes.