THE MAGICAL MUD!
> by Kurt Zuelsdorf
>
> Standing on the Eastern shore of Boca Ciega Bay at the entrance to the
> Clam Bayou Estuary I can only imagine what this bay (off the beach of
> Gulfport) would look like if it hadn’t been dredged in the middle of
> the last century.
> Once mangrove islands were sprouted & spread on air-filtering legs
> and oysters bars flourished, filtering toxins from our waters to
> ensure clean, clear water. Now there is an open bay that generates
> only a fraction of life that it could-had not been dredged. Experts
> predict that Boca Ciega Bay may take 200 years to recover – if ever!
> Looking inward toward the Clam Bayou, however, one can see what
> could have been. Mangroves, mudflats, oyster bars, birds, fish,
> otters, gators and more -.the life that an estuary breeds! Most people
> aren’t award that one cubic metre of Clam Bayou Estuary mud contains
> enough worms and shellfish to equal the number of calories in 16 candy
> bars…the magic of life here! Also, a healthy, untended estuary
> produces from four to 10 times the weight of organic matter produced
> by a cultivated corn field of the same size!
> Water draining off the uplands carries a load of sediment and
> nutrients. As the water flows through salt marsh peat and the dense
> mesh of marsh grass blades, much of the sediment and nutrient load is
> filtered out. This filtration process creates cleaner and clearer
> water. Clam Bayou’s magical mud flats are critical, crucial and
> magical – not to be “man”ipulated.

1. brown eyed dad Says:
   January 1st, 2009 at 10:19 am

   heres mud in your eye