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Mobile Bay
Located centrally on the coast of Alabama, Mobile Bay is one of the largest estuarine systems in the United States. Portions of the bay cover parts of the states of Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. Mobile Bay is the largest open water body in the system, which also contains Bon Secour Bay, Weeks Bay and Pelican Bay. The bays are separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Dauphin Island and the Mobile Peninsula. The Mobile Bay basin encompasses seven river systems including the Mobile, Middle, Tensaw, Raft, Apalachee, Blakeley, Dog and Fish Rivers, which together drain a watershed of over 115,500 sq. km. The bay basin is characterized by barrier islands, tidal marshes, cypress swamps, bottomland hardwoods, and oyster reefs. Mobile Bay is home to 49 species of mammals, 126 species of reptiles and amphibians, 337 species of fresh and saltwater fish, and 355 species of birds. Endemic species within the basin include 40 fishes, 33 mussels and 110 aquatic snails, as well as a number of turtles, aquatic insects and crustaceans. 
Coordinates: 30.48° N 87.93° W Selected Characteristics: (USEPA, 1999) Surface Area: 1,059 km2 Drainage Area: 115,500 km2 Average Daily FW Inflow: 2,246 m3/s Average Depth: 3.0 m Average Salinity: 19 ppt Coastal Wetlands: 2,651 km2 Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: 20 km2 References: ANEP. Mobile Bay Estuary. Located on the web at: http://www.anep-usa.org/factcards/mobile.htm 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. USFW. 1982. Gulf Coast Ecological Inventory Map; Mobile- Ala., Miss., LA. area. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1982. Additional Information: Mobile Bay National Estuary Program National Estaurine Research Reserve System - Weeks Bay, Alabama U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Dauphin Island Sea Lab Association of National Estuary Programs - Mobile Bay Estuary Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium Keywords: Fish, Mussel, Aquatic, Snail, Turtle, Insect, Crustacean, Bay, Estuaries |
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