The Bay/Estuary

Did you know this beautiful bay is part of an estuary? Estuaries provide many different types of habitats, including shallow waters, open waters, marshes and wetlands, sandy beaches, mudflats, and oyster reefs, which are important to all sorts of animals. We want to keep our estuaries healthy. And for that to happen, we have to limit pollution. Pollution is one of the most important threats to water quality in estuaries. Poor water quality affects many of the creatures that call estuaries home. But there’s good news! You can help keep estuaries healthy when you visit them and when you’re at home. Click this link to see 10 ways you can help protect estuaries: http://estuaries.noaa.gov/Doc/PDF/TenWaysFlyer.pdf and visit https://estuaries.noaa.gov/ to learn more.

When we visit estuaries, we also need to check the forecast! It’s important before you do any activity outside like camping, kayaking, fishing, or going to the beach. We just go to www.weather.gov. It looks like we have a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon, so we better be prepared! We will bring a charged cellphone and our NOAA Weather Radio. We can use those to get instant alerts about the latest forecast and new warnings and watches posted, along with the new Wireless Emergency Alerts. Learn more about Wireless Emergency Alerts at http://www.ready.gov/alerts. Because we’re prepared, we can have even more fun when we go canoeing today!