Kayak tours from St. Augustine to Flagler Beach with Tropical Kayaks!
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Sunset
Tropical Kayaks with the dolphins at Long Creek!
Splash!
Photos by Lydia Dawn ......from Bings Landing in her kayak!
For more Flagler County art by Lydia...www.artbylydiadawn.com
Sweetness!
Photo by Lydia Dawn from her kayak at Bings Landing.
Juggleboy! Our famous kayaking comedian, fireman, and professional juggler !
Juggleboy!
Below our visiting Australian Spotted Jellyfish -June 18
It is thriving in our cove, as large as a Basketball, we have been watching
him for over 10 days now. He is an invasive species and being observed for
research. Please call us if you spot any more of these beautiful creatures.
They do have a sting, avoid contact. The white hooks floating alongside are
the tips of their tentacles....a very impressive creature.
This is not native, and apparently far away from home.
Austrailian Spotted Jellyfish/June 18th
All photos on this website are prperty
of Tropical Kayaks and cannot be duplicated
or copied without written permission
from Tropical Kayaks.
SALT MARSH HABITATS:
Salt marsh organisms must be able to access fresh water. Salinity levels in the
salt marsh vary as river inflow and tidal inflow compete. Soils in the salt marsh
tend to be either water-soaked or flooded, and anaerobic. Tangled marsh plant
roots help to stabilize the muddy bottom of the marsh and trap debris and
nutrient with the tides. Thus, the soil is organic rich. Bacteria thrive in this
detrital material, and are food for algae, invertebrate larvae, and other animals.
This make the salt marsh about twice a photosynthetically productive as a
corn field.
Salt marshes act like giant sponges, and absorb large volumes of water--this
can minimize flooding impact, reduce erosion, and recharge groundwater.
In addition, salt marsh plants help purify water by absorbing toxins.
Fauna and their Adaptations: Faunal adaptations must include mechanisms
for coping with detrital food sources and fluctuating water and oxygen levels.
Littorine snails seal their shells with tiny trap doors and enter a kind of
suspended animation during dry periods. The fiddler crab feeds by sifting
through sand and water with specialized mouth parts. The amphipod uses
the debris trapped in the marsh for both food and shelter. The great land
crab has inflated epibranchial chambers which aid in respiratory exchange
by increasing the volume of air to which the gills are exposed. They can l
live up to three days without water.
Flora and their Adaptations:
Succulence occurs in most salt marsh plants, with plants having fleshy
stems and leaves. Some plants also have water storing tissues. During dry
seasons, salt marsh plants may close their stomata to reduce water loss.
However, this also stops carbon dioxide intake and reduces photosynthesis.
Salt glands can be found in many salt marsh plants, where salt may be
excreted through specialized glands on the plant's leaves. Because water
moves toward a more concentrated solution, the water of plant cells is drawn
into the salty soil. However, salt-tolerant plant, or halophytes, can reverse
this osmotic effect. They concentrate slat ions in the their roots, and thus
water flows into the roots. To cope with anaerobic conditions, many salt
marsh plants have hollow passage through which air passes, connecting to
stomata on the leaf surfaces with roots and providing oxygen to roots cells.
The red mangrove is common in estuaries. It lives in soil almost always
covered by water. Small breathing pores cover its proper roots to help the
red mangrove cope with this very wet environment. Red mangroves deal with
estuarine salinity by screening the water and not allowing the salt to enter
the roots at all. Seeds of the red mangrove grow small downward spikes
which dig into the ground when they fall so they are not washed or carried
away by fluctuating estuarine waters. The black mangrove also favors
estuarine habitats. Its roots send up small, foot-long extensions called
pneumatophores that help the plant exchange gases. It brings salt in
through its roots, but excretes it through its leaves. Eelgrass lives in
the lowest, most marine zone. It doesn't tolerate fresh water or conditions
that would leaves it roots exposed to the air. Cordgrass can cope with
salinity and with periodic exposure to the air. Cordgrass filters most of
the salt out at the root. Any salt that does seep through is excreted by
glands on the leaves. The same pore that ooze salt and served a
respiratory function, breathing in supplemental oxygen and passing it
back to the roots. When the tide submerges the leaves, the breathing
holes close to keep the plant from "drowning. "Pickleweed" has an
unusual way of getting rid of excess salt. Pickleweed has joints which
allow a part of the plant to be broken off. The plant sends salt to its tips,
and these portions break dry up and break off during the fall season.
MUD FLATS:
Conditions:
Characteristics of the mudflat are defined by the specific combination of
sand, silt, clay and organic matter content. Extreme seasonal variations
in fresh water input may occur in tropical mudflats, resulting in seasonal
variations in the organisms that inhabit the flats. Mudflats are highly
susceptible to erosion, and as the flats are "attacked" by channels
and gullying, this sediment can affect the volume of an estuary by
as much as five percent, affecting population densities. Mudflats are
exposed during low tides, leaving nonburrowing species open to predation.
Fauna and their Adaptations:
Organisms best suited for the mud flat are burrowers. Moving on or
through the mudflat sediment requires special adaptations.
Polychaete worms, burrowing crabs, crawling snails are some
of the life forms that are expected in the mudflat habitat. Some feed
on the surface, some below the surface, some rework the sediment,
and some stabilize the sediment. Productivity of benthic organisms
in the mudflat varies seasonally to strong changes of light intensity
and temperature. Benthic diatoms grow well here, and can move
into the water column when the mudflat is flooded by entrainment.
Flora and their Adaptations:
The primary prerequisite for living on the mudflat is the ability
to survive salinity and water level changes.
Seagrasses can dominate the mudflat and in some cases,
can virtually exclude marine algae. Cord grass sends roots deep
into the mud to tap rich nutrients. The grass sends out underground
stems from which new plants sprout. Excess salt is accumulated and
discharge through its leaves. Cord grass breaks up and is carried into the tidal channel where plant material is broken down into nutrient-rich detritus. By S.Sobehrad
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