Houston Wilderness - It's Our Nature!

TOP 10 FACTS ABOUT...
THE ESTUARIES & BAYS

1) As frozen water from the ice age began to melt, sea level in the Gulf of Mexico rose over two hundred feet and flooded river valleys that had cut into the shelf. Three of the flooded river valleys became great estuaries of the upper Texas coast: the Sabine Lake system, the Galveston Bay system and the Matagorda Bay system.
2) Sabine Lake receives its fresh water from the Sabine and Neches rivers while Galveston Bay is fed by the Trinity and San Jacinto rivers. Matagorda Bay receives inflow from both the Colorado and Lavaca rivers.
3) San Louis Pass has 20 percent of the tidal flow for all of Galveston Bay moving through it.
4) An estuary, such as Galveston Bay, converts as much carbon dioxide into plant material as does a tropical rainforest.
5) The bays of the Houston Wilderness area receive the highest inflows of any estuaries of the Texas Coast.
6) Galveston Bay is the national leader in the production of oysters while Port Arthur, Galveston and Palacios lead the Texas coast in shrimp landings.
7) Together, the Sabine Lake, Galveston and Matagorda bays provide over half of the blue crabs on the Texas coast.
8) Recreational fishing is a large industry in these estuaries; in Galveston Bay fishermen have the highest catch per unit of effort by sport fishermen.
9) Oysters are the best example of the adaptability of estuaries; their reefs are the center of biological diversity in our bays. Oyster reefs provide habitat for smaller fish, hunting grounds for predators and, where the reef extends above the water line, a fishing station for coastal birds.
10) Each season is a resource for new and exciting encounters with coastal birds. During the winter months, sea ducks like mergansers and buffleheads can be found around the bay systems along with wintering white pelicans and native brown pelicans. In the spring there is nothing like seeing the nesting sites of colorful costal birds like the roseate spoonbill.

ABOUT THE ESTUARIES & BAYS

Speckled trout cruise just beneath the water’s surface. The pink flash of a Roseate spoonbill can be seen overhead. Periwinkle snails climb the smooth cordgrass, just beyond the reach of a hungry redfish.

Where land becomes sea, and freshwater meets salt, is one of the most productive biological systems. On the southeast Texas coast, it includes one of the most important recreational destinations – the Gulf of Mexico.

As one moves toward the coast, marshes, bayous and rivers give way to flats and open water. The mixing of these waters, salt and fresh, is what sustains many varieties of finfish, oyster reefs, and other shellfish, including shrimp and blue crabs.

Known as the “nurseries of the sea,” estuaries are the ocean’s protected areas. Here, complex food chains include everything from microscopic organisms to sportfish to shore birds to fur-bearing mammals to humans.

To read more about Estuaries and Bays, download our atlas!

KEY LOCATIONS

Galveston Island State Park

Two thousand acres of surf, beach, dunes, coastal prairie, fresh-water ponds, wetlands and bay shoreline just "down the Island" from the city of Galveston invite both quiet contemplation and recreation. The park is a richly diverse preserve and hundreds of species of wildlife thrive here - spoonbills resting in an oak mott, tree frogs croaking out a mating call, skimmers nesting in the newly terraced wetlands, egrets fishing the ponds, coyotes prowling the nighttime grassland, sandpipers skittering in the surf, pelicans surveying from high above.

Matagorda Bay Nature Park

Matagorda Bay Nature Park is a special place where the lower Colorado River channel meets the Gulf of Mexico. This 1,600-acre park is a unique, environmentally significant property being carefully managed by LCRA, a conservation and reclamation district created by the Texas Legislature. Like all coastal regions, the relationship between water and land has tremendous biological and economic value. At Matagorda Bay, the ebb and flow of the Colorado River and the Gulf of Mexico tides provide nutrients and sediments to the wetland plants and animals that inhabit the area.

Outdoor Educational and Recreational Programs: Whether kayaking in East Matagorda Bay, investigating coastal erosion processes, examining beach dunes or birding on the river banks, all activities are designed to increase awareness of the area’s natural and cultural resources and promote land stewardship. These programs provide opportunities for interaction and interpretation of the natural and cultural surroundings of this sensitive and precious environment.

Age/grade appropriate activities for school students are interdisciplinary and designed to enhance and support Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills objectives. For other youth and adult groups and organizations, recreational and educational programs are tailored to the needs of the group.

Sea Center

State of the art marine fish hatchery and aquarium; largest red drum hatchery in the world; focused on marine life in Texas bays and gulf waters; many species represented from marsh environments to open seas; coastal marsh on site; fishing pond for young people.

This Texas Parks and Wildlife Department facility includes a marine aquarium, fish hatchery and wetland exhibit. Admission is free. A 50,000-gallon aquarium allows visitors to view large Gulf of Mexico marine animals. Other aquariums show a salt marsh, coastal bay, jetty, and an artificial reef. A 20-foot Touch Tank allows visitors to handle blue crabs, hermit crabs, anemones and more. A 5-acre wetland exhibit is accessible by an elevated boardwalk. Fish hatchery tours and educational programs are available by reservation.

Texas Marine Nature Center

Located on Matagorda Bay, TSMEC is currently used by Palacios ISD for hands-on, marine-oriented activities for students. Educators, science professionals, and community members have helped staff develop up-to-date curriculum materials that meet specific TAAS and TAKS objectives.