Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. A great egret stalking its lunch amongst new cypress shoots. Courtesy NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve Collection

Estuaries are bodies of water and their surrounding coastal habitats typically found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries harbor unique plant and animal communities because their waters are brackish—a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater.

Estuaries are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world. Many animal species rely on estuaries for food and as places to nest and breed. Humans communities also rely on estuaries for food, recreation and jobs.

From NOS Education Discovery Kits http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/estuaries/

RELATED LINKS

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System
http://nerrs.noaa.gov/

USGS Gulf of Mexico Integrated Science Data Information Management System (DIMS)
http://gulfsci.usgs.gov/

USGS Gulf of Mexico Integrated Science Mobile Bay Digital Library
http://gulfsci.usgs.gov/mobile/

Evaluating Basin/Shelf Effects in the Delivery of Sediment-Hosted Contaminants in the Atchafalaya and Mississippi River Deltas
http://gulfsci.usgs.gov/missriv/reports/ofrshelf/

Galveston Bay Project: Wetlands and Subsidence
http://gulfsci.usgs.gov/galveston/report/

EPA: A Framework for an Integrated and Comprehensive Monitoring Plan for the Estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico
http://www.epa.gov/ged/framework.pdf

National Estuary Program, Programs in the Gulf of Mexico
http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/programs/gom.htm

Estimating the Condition of Gulf of Mexico Estuaries: National Coastal Assessment and National Estuary Program
http://www.epa.gov/emap/html/pubs/docs/groupdocs/symposia/symp2004/presentations/VirginiaEngle.pdf

NOAA's Estuarine Bathymetry Eastern Gulf of Mexico Estuaries
http://estuarinebathymetry.noaa.gov/eastgulf.html

NOAA's Estuarine Bathymetry Western Gulf of Mexico Estuaries
http://estuarinebathymetry.noaa.gov/westgulf.html

NCCOS Estuaries
http://ccmaserver.nos.noaa.gov/ecosystems/estuaries/

NBII Wetland and Seagrass Information System
http://mapserver.harc.edu/website/seagrass/viewer.htm

NOAA's Estuary Restoration Act (ERA) Web site
http://era.noaa.gov/

Estuaries.gov
http://www.estuaries.gov/

NOAA NOS Essay and Links on Coastal Monitoring and Observations
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/topics/coasts/monitoring/

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Oceanography Habitats Page
http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/habitats

National Estuaries Restoration Inventory
https://neri.noaa.gov/

GulfBase
http://www.gulfbase.org/