Florida Bay

Florida Bay

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Localisation

Florida Bay
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Characteristics

Coast

Description

Florida Bay
Florida Bay
2010-04-03
Update
Joëlle
Ebook

Gulf of Mexico

  • 227 sites
  • 182 photos
  • publication date: 5 Aug 2024
  • .pdf file size: 82 Mb
Florida Bay is an estuary covering approximately 1,100 square miles (2,850 square km) between the southern tip of Florida and the Florida Keys,from Barnes Sound to cape Sable. It is located on a shallow shelf lagoon where freshwater from the Everglades mixes with the saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico. Inflow of fresh water into Florida Bay occurs through sheet flow across the southern Everglades. However, water management practices have drastically altered the flow through the construction of canals, resulting in a 50% reduction of freshwater input over the past century.
However, during the rainy season, freshwater enters Florida Bay from rainfall, surface runoff, and groundwater. This results in a salinity gradient across the bay, increasing in salinity from north to south. Portions of the bay often become hypersaline, with salinities reaching over 35 parts per thousand.

Dominant habitats in the Florida Bay include seagrass meadows, mangrove islands, and hard bottom areas.

Depths are shallow and irregular; the bottom is mostly mud. From April to October the waters of the bay are clear and the shoals plainly discernible, but during the winter the water frequently turns milky and renders the shoals indistinguishable.

Only small craft can navigate this part of the bay which is frequented by small motor yachts, crab and lobster fishermen, and other fishing craft.

A protected area of the Everglades National Park is in the northern part of Florida Bay. Landing on the beaches or keys of this area without the authorization of the Superintendent of the Everglades National Park is prohibited, except on those beaches or keys marked by a sign denoting the area as being open. Everglades National Park is a Marine Protected Area.

In the E part of the bay are small keys and numerous mudflats which bare, or nearly bare, at low water.
The W part of the bay has depths ranging from 7 to 13 feet, and the bottom is covered with loggerhead sponges and turtle grass.

For the protection of wildlife, all keys in the Florida Bay portion of Everglades National Park are closed to landing except those marked as designated camping areas.

The killing, collecting, or molesting of animals, the collecting of plants, and waterskiing are prohibited by Federal Regulation.

2012/04/16
Update
JB
La Baie de Floride est un estuaire couvrant environ 1.100 miles carrés (2.850 kilomètres carrés) entre la pointe sud de la Floride et les Keys de Floride, entre Barnes Sound et Cape Sable. Elle est située sur un lagon peu profond, plateau où l'eau douce des Everglades se mélange à l'eau salée du golfe du Mexique. L'afflux d'eau douce dans la
Baie de Floride se fait par un écoulement en nappe dans les Everglades sud. Toutefois, les pratiques de gestion de l'eau ont radicalement modifié le débit à travers la construction de canaux, ce qui entraîne une réduction de 50% de l'apport d'eau douce au cours du siècle passé. Toutefois, pendant la saison des pluies, l'eau douce entre dans la Baie de Floride (pluie, eaux de ruissellement, et eaux souterraines). Il en résulte un gradient de salinité à travers la baie, l'augmentation de la salinité du nord au sud. Des portions de la baie deviennent souvent hypersalines, (la salinité atteint plus de 35 par mille).
Les habitats dominants dans la baie de Floride sont les herbiers, les îles de mangrove et les zones difficiles bas.

Les profondeurs sont peu profondes et irrégulières; le fond est surtout boueux. D'avril à Octobre les eaux de la baie sont claires et les écueils sont clairement visibles, mais pendant l'hiver l'eau se transforme, elle est souvent laiteuse et rend les bancs indiscernables.

Seules les petites embarcations peuvent naviguer dans cette partie de la baie qui est fréquentée par des
petits yachts à moteur, les pêcheurs de homard, et les bateaux de pêche.
Beaucoup de hauts fonds avec des profondeurs moindres sont dispersés dans toute cette partie de la baie; Le fond est recouvert d'éponges panier et de petites têtes de corail.

La partie nord de la baie de Floride est une zone protégée du Parc national des Everglades. L'atterrissage sur les plages ou des clefs de ce domaine sans l'autorisation du surintendant du Parc national des Everglades est interdite, sauf sur celles des plages ou des touches marquées par un panneau indiquant la zone comme étant ouvertes. Everglades National
Park est une zone de protection marine.
La partie
Ouest de la baie a des profondeurs allant de 2,1 m à 4,8 m, et le fond est recouvert de caouanne, d'éponges et d'herbes à tortue.
Pour la protection de la faune, toutes les touches dans la partie de la baie de Floride du Parc national des Everglades sont fermées à l'atterrissage, sauf celles marquées comme des aires de camping désignés.
Le meurtre, la collecte, ou la maltraitance des animaux, la cueillette de plantes, et le ski nautique sont interdits par la réglementation fédérale.

2012/04/16
Update
JB
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Sites around Florida Bay

Flying distances - Direct line

Long Key (ou Rattlesnake key) (Florida Keys)

9.5nm
177°
Long Key was called Cayo Vivora (Rattlesnake Key) by early Spanish explorers, a reference to the shape of the island, which resembles a snake with its jaws open, rather than to its denizens.
In the early 20th century, Long
Key was the site of a luxurious fishing resort that ...
5 Apr 10
Joëlle

Lower Matecumbe Key (Florida Keys)

8.8nm
152°
The island lies to the southwest of Upper Matecumbe Key, and to the northeast of Craig
Key.
All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated.
This key is the site of a number of Indian mounds and middens, most of which were ...
22 Mar 10
Joëlle

Key Vaca (Florida Keys)

22nm
222°
Key Vaca is an island in the middle Florida
Keys, located entirely within the borders of the city of Marathon, Florida. It is often incorrectly identified as
"Marathon Key."Key Vaca is located between Fat
Deer Key and Knight's Key. Key Vaca is also connected via bridge to ...
22 Mar 10
Joëlle

Lignumvitae Key (Florida Keys)

7.5nm
137°
Lignumvitae Key is an island in the upper Florida
Keys. It is located due north of, and less than one mile from the easternmost tip of Lower Matecumbe Key.
The island has the Keys' highest point above sea level of 19 feet (5.8 m), which beats the island of Key West's
Solares ...
23 Mar 10
Joëlle

Long Key bight anchorage (Long Key)

10nm
181°
  We anchore on the central waters of Long Key Bight, which lies west of Channel Five's flashing daybeacon #2.
Don't think about approaching any of the bight's shore-lines. They are uniformly shoal.
Clearly, this is not an anchorage for deep-draft vessels, it's not for ...
16 Apr 12
JB

Lignumvitae anchorage (Florida Keys)

7.3nm
137°
Between the waterway and the northern entrance to the channel, the mooring field off the northwestern shores of lignumvitae Key will be passed to the East. As observed above, this is a great spot, with easterly winds in the offing, to spend a few hours or even an evening.Protected ...
16 Apr 12
JB