What is the Tampa Bay estuary Program Tbep and what are some of the things that they do?
Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s mission is to build partnerships to restore and protect Tampa Bay through implementation of a scientifically sound, community-based management plan.
What type of estuary is Tampa Bay?
Estuary Classification Approximately 6,000 years ago, Tampa Bay formed as a brackish drowned river valley type estuary with a wide mouth connecting it to the Gulf of Mexico.
Why is the Tampa Bay estuary important?
As Florida’s largest open-water estuary, Tampa Bay harbors a rich and diverse assemblage of plants and animals, along with a rapidly growing human population that has made the region the second largest metropolitan area in the state. Tampa Bay is also a focal point of the region’s premier industry – tourism.
What makes Tampa Bay estuary unique?
Tampa Bay is Florida’s largest open-water estuary. It is 400 square miles, with a watershed more than five times that large, covering 2,200 square miles. On average, Tampa Bay measures only about 11 feet deep. However, many man-made shipping channels have been dredged to allow large ships a safe passageway.
How important is the Tampa Bay estuary for Florida bird species?
Target Species More than two dozen species of nesting herons, egrets, ibis, gulls, terns and shorebirds have been documented. The Tampa Bay estuary has the largest royal and sandwich tern nesting colonies, the most nesting American oystercatchers, and the largest brown pelican rookeries in Florida.
Is Tampa Bay brackish water?
The bay’s sprawling watershed covers a land area nearly five times as large, at 2,200 square miles. More than 100 tributaries flow into Tampa Bay, including dozens of meandering, brackish-water creeks and four major rivers _ the Hillsborough, Alafia, Manatee and Little Manatee.
Is Tampa Bay an estuary?
The Hillsborough River empties into Tampa Bay, which is the largest open-water estuary in Florida. An estuary is a partially enclosed body of water where fresh water from rivers and streams flows into the ocean, mixing with the salty seawater.
Why is Tampa Bay so shallow?
The most numerous creature in the bay sediment is a primitive, fishlike invertebrate about 2 inches long, branchiostoma. On average, Tampa Bay is only 12 feet deep. Because it is so shallow, manmade shipping channels have been dredged to allow large ships safe passage to the Port of Tampa and other bay harbors.
How deep is the Tampa Bay?
25 m
Tampa Bay/Max depth
Are sharks in Tampa Bay?
About a dozen shark species frequent Tampa Bay. Tenants include hammerheads, bonnetheads, nurse sharks, blacktips, lemon sharks and bull sharks to name a few. Sharks migrate in and out of Florida’s waters each year.
Is Tampa Bay fresh or salt water?
Tampa Bay is Florida’s largest open-water estuary, extending over 400 square miles (1,000 km2) and forming coastlines of Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties. The freshwater sources of the bay are distributed among over a hundred small tributaries, rather than a single river.
Are there sharks in Tampa Bay?
Why is the Tampa Bay Estuary Program important?
Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s mission is to build partnerships to restore and protect Tampa Bay through implementation of a scientifically sound, community-based management plan. Tampa Bay is home to a rich mosaic of habitats that provide life-sustaining resources to wildlife and humans alike.
When does Tampa Bay habitat Master Plan Update?
Tampa Bay is home to a rich mosaic of habitats that provide life-sustaining resources to wildlife and humans alike. The 2020 Habitat Master Plan Update identifies habitat restoration targets that consider future stressors facing our region. BASIS7-ANEP has been postponed until Spring 2022 (tentatively, Feb. 27-Mar. 4).
When to stop water fertilizer in Tampa Bay?
In Florida, summer rains don’t water fertilizer in — they wash it off our lawns and into our lakes, bays and oceans. Be Floridian asks Tampa Bay residents to skip the fertilizer from June 1st – September 30th and save the bay for FUN.
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTBEP