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Florida Bay
Florida Bay is a shallow lagoon system located at the southern extreme of the state of Florida. The bay is bordered by mainland Florida to the north, the Florida Keys to the east and south, and is open to the Gulf of Mexico to the west. The bay serves as the estuary for the Florida Everglades and, as a result, a large portion is included in the Everglades National Park. The remaining portion of the bay is considered to be part of the Florida Keys. The bay is regarded as the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist. Gray snapper, great barracuda and other species of recreational and commercially important fish can also be found in this area in high numbers. Mangrove islands are interspersed throughout Florida Bay and serve as important nursery grounds for many aquatic species. 
Coordinates: 24.83° N 80.78° W Selected Characteristics: (USEPA, 1999) Surface Area: 1,393 km2 Drainage Area: 2,800 km2 Average Depth: 2.0 m Average Salinity: 31 ppt Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: 1,052 km2 References: Porter, J.W., K.G. Porter (eds). 2002. The Everglades, Florida Bay, and Coral Reefs of the Florida Keys, An Ecosystem Sourcebook. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 1000 pp. USEPA. 1999. Ecological condition of estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico. EPA 620-R-98-004. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, Gulf Breeze, Florida. 80 pp. USGS. 2002. Located on the web at: http://sofia.usgs.gov/virtual_tour/flbay/index.html Additional Information: Everglades National Park Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Everglades - National Wildlife Federation Keywords: Bay, Estuary, Seagrass, Everglades, Florida Keys, Mangrove, Water bird, Manatee, Turtle, Alligator, Crocodile |
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Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
To give proper credit to the original authors, please cite information taken from GulfBase by the original source as displayed. 
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M. Nipper, J.A. Sánchez Chávez,
and J.W. Tunnell, Jr., Editors. 2010.
GulfBase: Resource Database for Gulf of Mexico Research.
World Wide
Web electronic publication. http://www.gulfbase.org, 09 February 2010. |
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