Tarpon Bay

Tarpon Bay is a 930 acre estuarine water body connected to southern Pine Island Sound, located 8.5 km from Shell Point and the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River. Tarpon Bay is located within the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on Sanibel Island, Florida and contains one of a few marine 'wilderness' areas in the U.S. Today, a large portion of Tarpon Bay is dominated by sandflats, oyster reefs, and seagrasses. Once known for its incredible fishing (e.g., the first tarpon caught on rod and reel, c. 1885) and very healthy habitats, the quality of fishing and associated habitats are perceived to be degraded. Its bay scallop (Argopecten irradians) population has virtually disappeared. The Lab has been involved in scallop monitoring and restoration efforts in Tarpon Bay and adjacent Pine Island Sound (PIS) since 2003. The addition of this RECON station, in conjunction with water quality and seagrass research that the Lab is conducting within the Refuge, will greatly enhance our understanding of the unique aspects of the subtropical, barrier island coast.

Support for this RECON is provided by SCCF and its membership to assist with ongoing and future collaborative research efforts with J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) scientific staff and visiting researchers working with the SCCF Marine Lab.

Redfish Pass

Redfish Pass to the north of Blind Pass is a deep water inlet that connects the Gulf of Mexico with Pine Island Sound, a shallow water body and Aquatic Preserve, protected by the barrier island chain. Frequent water exchanges between the Gulf of Mexico and Pine Island sound maintain clear, emerald green water that supports large visual predators such as tarpon and sharks.

John and Donna Schubert generously supported RECON at Redfish Pass.

Blind Pass

Transition of Blind Pass

Until August 2009, Blind Pass was a low or no volume inlet separating Sanibel and Captiva Islands that periodically opened naturally through storms or through dredging to connect Pine Island Sound to the Gulf of Mexico. Blind Pass is now open with dredging to continue on the Gulf of Mexico side in late 2009. The SCCF Laboratory has been funded by Florida Sea Grant and internal funding to sample prior to and after its opening (in both the rainy and dry seasons) to assess changes in water quality and seagrasses both in the Gulf and on the Pine Island Sound and Bayous side. We are also sampling the adjacent Red Fish Pass for comparison as it has been freely connecting the Gulf and Sound since a hurricane opened it in 1921.

Blind Pass historically has produced great fishing and nursery habitats in the protected waters of the lower estuary, and in the shadow of the nearby Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW). Seagrass losses and coast-wide red tides have diminished productivity of these waters for larger fish, such as the spotted seatrout. With the opening of Blind Pass it is predicted to improve seagrasses and water quality in the area of the pass.

More information about Blind Pass reopening can be found here.

Shell Point

Shell Point, which constricts the lower tidal Caloosahatchee near the Sanibel Causeway, was once home to oyster reefs, a critical habitat for fish and crustaceans. Oysters are tolerant of large swings in salinity but cannot survive under extended periods that are either too fresh or too salty.

Salinity in the estuary has always fluctuated by season, precipitation and tides. However, unnatural, extended releases of freshwater from Lake Okeechobee or too little freshwater during the dry season severely degraded most of the oyster reefs. Restoration efforts have also been hampered by artificially excessive variability in salinity.

Deborah and John La Gorce generously supported RECON at Shell Point.

Fort Myers

Fort Myers and Cape Coral has experienced rapid growth and urbanization in the past decade, which has dramatically affected the river and estuary. Shorelines vegetated with mangroves and marshes are populated by plants at the water's edge which can act as filters for rainwater runoff and also provide wildlife habitat. In contrast, seawalled, concrete-lined canals remove these plants along with the natural filter. This allows fertilizers and other chemicals from stormwater to run off directly into the canals, the river and the estuary. As a result water quality in the four hundred-plus miles of canals in residential neighborhoods has declined during the past decade. Another source of nutrient enrichment is septic systems built in porous sand that allow nutrients to flow into the groundwater and seep into adjacent waterbodies through the soil.

Chip and Nancy Roach generously supported RECON at Fort Myers.

RiverBend (the non-tidal Caloosahatchee)

RiverBend is located 10 miles east of Franklin Lock and 36 miles east of Shell Point (about one-third of the way upriver). Franklin Lock is the artificial obstruction to salt water mixing and serves as the eastern boundary for the estuary. RiverBend is a private dock and is part of the freshwater ecosystem that makes up the Caloosahatchee watershed. Nutrients come into the Caloosahatchee from Lake Okeechobee, but the Caloosahatchee watershed is also a significant source of nutrients. Comparing the water quality data at the Moore Haven Lock (at Lake Okeechobee) and the Franklin Lock shows the amount of nutrients coming from the lake relative to nutrients from the Caloosahatchee watershed.

Agricultural land uses along the eastern Caloosahatchee watershed—including citrus, sugarcane, livestock, and ornamental nurseries—depend on the river's water for irrigation. During periods of heavy rainfall, water held for agriculture is discharged into the river, where the nutrients used to increase agricultural productivity can also cause algal blooms.

Mary Lee Dayton generously supported RECON at RiverBend.

Moore Haven

The once-natural water systems of central and south Florida have been extensively engineered to provide flood control, drinking water, water for irrigation and dry land for agriculture and development. Lake Okeechobee provides water storage for all of South Florida, but when the lake is too high, excess water is released to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers. Freshwater discharges to the Caloosahatchee are made, here, at the Moore Haven dam, through vertical lift gates.

Nutrient loading from the lake's watershed that extends northward to Orlando, as well as back-pumping from the Everglades Agricultural Area to the south and backflowing of several canals have severely degraded the quality of the lake water. Pollution accumulated over several decades settled to the bottom of the lake. The hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 resuspended these nutrient laden sediments. When high lake levels threatened the structural integrity of the Herbert Hoover Dike surrounding the lake, this nutrient-rich water was released into the Caloosahatchee to lower lake levels.

David Lucas generously supported RECON at Moore Haven.

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico receives water from the Caloosahatchee basin, which includes water from Lake Okeechobee. Offshore reefs in the Gulf host a productive food web but these areas are particularly sensitive to excess nitrogen and phosphorus loading. The high nutrient levels carried offshore in the diluted estuarine waters have fueled the recent blooms of nuisance red drift algae.

The City of Sanibel generously supported RECON in the Gulf of Mexico.