Indian River Lagoon

The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. It was originally named Rio de Ais after the Ais Indian tribe, who lived along the east coast of Florida.

Course

Its full length is 156 miles (251 km), extending from Ponce de León Inlet in Volusia County, Florida, to Jupiter Inlet in Palm Beach County, Florida, and includes Cape Canaveral. Lake Okeechobee is connected to the lagoon by the Okeechobee Waterway and the St. Lucie River meeting in Sewall's Point.

Aerial view of Indian River Lagoon

Portions of the Lagoon, from north to south:

• Mosquito Lagoon, from Ponce de Leon Inlet to the north end of Merritt Island, connected to Indian River by Haulover Canal.
• Indian River, the main body of water, from the north border between Volusia and Brevard Counties along the western shore of Merritt Island, southward to St. Lucie Inlet.
• Banana River, an offshoot of the Indian River, northward making up the eastern shore of Merritt Island.
• Eau Gallie River
• St. Sebastian River
• Hobe Sound, the portion of the lagoon from St. Lucie Inlet to Jupiter Inlet.
• The lagoon has about 2,500 types of animals in it.

Natural history

The Indian River Lagoon is North America’s most diverse estuary with more than more than 4,300 species of plants (2,100) and animals (2,200), including 35 that are listed as threatened or endangered — more than any other estuary in North America. The Lagoon varies in width from .5 to 5 miles (0.80 to 8.0 km) and averages 4 feet (1.2 m) in depth. It serves as a spawning and nursery ground for many different species of oceanic and lagoon fish and shellfish. The lagoon also has one of the most diverse bird populations anywhere in America. Nearly 1/3 of the nation’s manatee population lives here or migrates through the Lagoon seasonally. In addition, its ocean beaches provide one of the densest sea turtle nesting areas found in the Western Hemisphere.

Red Drum, Spotted seatrout, Common snook, and the Tarpon are the main gamefish sought by anglers in the Titusville area of the lagoon system.

Dolphins

Between 200 and 800 Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) normally live in the Indian River Lagoon. The dolphins resident in the lagoon system may belong to three or more different communities. There is little exchange of individuals between the lagoon and coastal populations. However, individuals from coastal populations are occasionally seen in the lagoon. One individual from the lagoon communities, Dolphin 56, was tagged in the lagoon in 1979 and was sighted in the lagoon more than 40 times through 1996. In 1997 Dolphin 56 left the Indian River Lagoon and was spotted many times along the east coast of the United States from Florida to New York into 2011.

Female Bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon tend to live longer than males. The maximum age attained by both sexes is one to almost two decades less than that reached by dolphins resident in Sarasota Bay, the most thoroughly studied wild population of Bottlenose dolphins.

History

In 2011, a superbloom of phytoplankton resulted in the loss of 32,000 acres (13,000 ha) of lagoon seagrass. In 2012, a brown tide bloom fouled the northern lagoon. The county has approval for funds to investigate these unusual blooms to see if they can be prevented.

In 2007, concerns were raised about the future of the lagoon system, especially in the southern half where frequent freshwater discharges seriously threaten water quality (decreasing the salinity needed by many fish species) and contribute to large algae blooms (water heavily saturated with plant fertilizers promote the algae blooms). The lagoon has also been the subject of research on light penetration for photosynthesis in submerged aquatic vegetation. The seagrass covers over 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) and is a critical component to the overall health of the lagoon.

In 2010 3,300,000 pounds (1,500,000 kg) of nitrogen and 475,000 pounds (215,000 kg) of phosphorus entered the lagoon.

Economy

The diversity of the lagoon draws millions of boaters and fishermen annually, which brings tens of millions of dollars to Florida. In 2007, visitors spent an estimated 3.2 million person-days in recreation on the lagoon.

In 2008, Hazen and Sawyer,P.C. submitted a report titled “Indian River Lagoon Economic Assessment and Analysis Update” to Troy Rice, Director of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, St. Johns River Water Management District. The report described the estimated 2007 recreational uses and economic value of the Indian River Lagoon to residents and visitors of the five counties that comprise the Lagoon system. The sum of recreational expenditures and recreational use value was $2.1 billion (See Section 7).

See also

• Ballard Park

References

• Stolen, Megan K. and Jay Barlow. (October 2003) "A Model Life Table for Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Indian River Lagoon System, Florida, U.S.A." Marine Mammal Science.19(4)630-649. Found at [1]

External references

• Marine Resources Council
• Hernandez Trail History
• Indian River Lagoon Watershead - Florida DEP