Water and Estuaries Essay

Submitted By AmberWolfe
Words: 457
Pages: 2

What is an Estuary?
Estuaries are located around the globe on the coastal lines. Estuaries are one of the most productive habitats in the world. They are very important habitats for lots of species, and they provide us with a lot of resources. Estuaries can be important to our lifestyles and the creatures that reside in/around it.
An estuary is an enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers/streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.They are mixtures of freshwater washed down from the hills and sea water coming in from the oceans. It comes from the Latin word “aestuarium” meaning tidal inlet of the sea and which in itself is from the term “aestus”, meaning tide. Estuaries are important to us for reasons like providing us with benefits, services and resources. Also it provides us a place for recreational activities, an area for scientific study, pure enjoyment plus oyster and blue crab hunting.
Species of wildlife that live in/around estuaries are grey seal. A few birds the reside there are the common sandpiper, green sandpiper, wigeon, and teal. Also fish that reside in the estuary are the allis shad, twaite shad, Atlantic salmon, Couch's goby, and bass. Estuaries are very important to the environment but there are factors that endanger their health and stability. Unfortunately, human activities have led to a decline in the health of these precious resources, making them one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. Estuaries would run perfectly fine if humans interfere with nature. Ways we endanger the estuaries is by littering with our garbage and pollution by our building, cars, ect. If we let