Dauphin Island Environment Marine

Energy from the Sands of Time

The platform that you can see east of Dauphin Island is operated by ExxonMobil, one of many oil companies operating in Alabama waters. These platforms are extracting natural gas (methane), a clean-burning petroleum product. The platform itself lies in 11 feet of water, with dripping operations to depths of over 20,000 feet. Once natural gas is found and brought to the surface, it is transferred via an underwater pipeline to processing plants on the mainland. 

These photographs demonstrate the porous quality of sandstone, which is millions of years old. Ten percent of the sandstone volume is natural gas, compressed within these. 

Pores to a pressure between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds per square inch. 

The natural gas field found within Mobile Bay and the Alabama Water is the largest field discovered in the continental United States. Concerned citizens, scientists, and state regulators worked with the oil companies to implement an environmentally safe, clean operation with a zero-discharge policy. This policy prohibits the discharge of drilling fluids, petroleum products, and treated sewage from the platform into state waters. Instead, these materials are offloaded and taken to the mainland for proper disposal. 

Mr. Sand and his friends Part II

The grains collect and grow into dunes. Even as they grow, they move as the wind blows them. 

Shifting and growing, the dunes stabilize once dune grasses, like sea oats, start sprouting on them. The plant's roots help anchor them, encouraging further dune growth. And the more due growth, the more plant growth —- a friendly relationship.

These stabilized dunes attract even more plants, like wax myrtle, yucca, and, eventually, the majestic live oak. 

These rooting plants add moisture and shelter and promote even more plant colonization. 

More and more animals are attracted to plant growth, from plant-eating insects to insect-eating beach mice to owls. Hawks and raccoons.

Thriving with plant life, a dune will continue to grow. 

But the bigger it gets, the more exposed it becomes to aeolian (wind) and marine (water) forces, like erosion. 

Mr. Sand and his friends, Park III

During the autumn and winter storms, the sand will be blown offshore. Someday, they’ll be carried back onshore to build new dunes. 

So, as the seasons change, do the dunes. In the spring, with gentle wind and waves, sand heaps onshore, forming new dunes. In the summer, sea oats and plants help them grow. In the stormy winter, the dunes erode (wear down).

Susceptible to strong onshore winds, Mr. Sand and his friends have a tendency to move inland, covering everything in their path. 

We need to help Mr. Sand and his friends by not walking or driving on the dunes. Many places have boardwalks built over the dunes and plants to protect them. 

Along with boardwalks, sand fences are another way of protecting dunes, serving as obstructions so the grains can collect and form new dunes. Planting grasses like sea oats can also help in exposed areas and along pathways. 

These conservation practices can only help if we cooperate. Mr. Sand and his friends, along with the forces of nature, form dunes and beaches for you to enjoy. 

Let’s take care of them in the future. 

Mr. Sand and his friends Part I

Come let Mr. Sand guide you through the life of a dune. Learn how to protect the sand dunes, Mr. Sand, and his friends who live with him. 

Once upon a time, about 250 million years ago, bedrock was formed. The hot molten rock formed granite and emerged as the Appalachian Mountains. As the granite and other rocks eroded from the mountains, they formed grains of sand. This sand washed down to the Gulf of Mexico and was deposited onto beaches and dunes, which are now underwater. 

Waves and currents washed Mr. Sand away from these old deposits. Mr. Sand and his friends moved up onto the beaches we see now. 

The more Mr. Sand and his friends wash along the beach, the more they wear down. They become rounder and more uniform in size and texture. 

Away from the mainland, underwater mountains of sand grow grain by grain, becoming “offshore bars.” Some can grow so much they emerge above sea level and become “barrier islands.” 

Dry grains of sand are susceptible to wind, drifting until the wind speed drops.

Once Mr. Sand and his friends land, they collect on the “lee,” or sheltered side of obstacles along their flight path.

Marine Debris: A Silent Killer

Marine debris Timeline

What is marine debris?

.Marine debris is the name given to trash that liters our coasts and oceans.

It includes all the objects found in the marine and coastal environments that do not naturally occur there. Marine debris is not only a hazard to ships, divers, and beach-goers, but it also creates a serious threat to our precious marine life. 

.Marine debris consists of articles that have been made by people and deliberately discarded or accidentally lost. In most cases, it is the result of careless handling or disposal of items of solid waste, including containers of liquid waste. However, it can also be materials lost at sea in bad weather, like fishing gear and cargo.

.Marine debris consists mostly of snowy degradable waste items made of persistent materials such as plastic, polystyrene, metals, and glass from a large number of different sources.

(thrown or lost into the sea): brought indirectly to the sea with rivers, sewage, stormwater, or winds: left by people on beaches and shores. 

Where is marine debris found:

. Marine debris is found everywhere around the world, in marine and coastal environments.

.Marine debris can be blown around and is found floating on the water's surface. Almost 90% of floating marine debris is plastic. 

. Marine debris is found mixed in the water column, from the surface to the bottom of the ocean.

.Marine debris is found on the seabed. It could be that as much as 70% of all marine debris sinks to the bottom of the seabed, both in shallow coastal areas and deeper parts of the ocean. 

.Marine debris is found lying on beaches and shores. 

How does marine debris harm wildlife?

. Entanglement 

Common items like fishing lines, strapping bands, and six-pack rings can hamper the movement of marine animals. Once entangled, animals have trouble eating, breathing, or swimming, all of which can have fatal results. Plastics take hundreds of years to break down and may continue to trap and kill animals year after year. Smaller marine creatures get stuck inside plastic and glass containers to die a slow death. 

Ingestion

Birds, fish, and mammals often mistake plastic for food. Some birds even feed it to their young. With plastic filling their stomachs, animals have a false feeling of being full and may die of starvation. Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, one of their favorite foods. Due to its durability, buoyancy, and ability to absorb and concentrate toxins present in the ocean, plastic is especially harmful to marine life. 

Other threats to wildlife 

The smothering of the seabed, accumulation, and dispersion of toxic substances, environmental changes due to invasive species, and habitat disturbances due to mechanical cleaning of marine debris. 

How does marine debris harm people?

.Contamination of the beaches and harbors creates health hazards to people

.Marine debris also endangers the safety and livelihood of fishermen and recreational boaters. Nets and monofilament fishing lines can obstruct propellers, and plastic sheeting and bags can block cooling intakes. 

Where am I?

Dauphin Island is at the junction of Mobile Bay, Mississippi Sound, and the Gulf of Mexico. Dauphin Island is the easternmost in a series of changing barrier islands, which form the southern boundary of Mississippi Sound. 

Mobile Bay is 53 kilometers (35 mi) long, 16 kilometers (10 mi) wide, and averages 3 meters  (10ft) deep. The bay is a drowned river valley, which at one time was deeper and extended farther north. About 6,000 years ago, the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta formed as Mobile Bay became wider and shallower. Mobile Bay has the seventh-largest river discharge in North America (219 to 13,977 cubic meters per second or 5 to 322 billion gallons per day) and is the third-largest in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Most of the ocean waters that enter the Gulf of Mexico come through the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba. 

These waters form circling currents that move across the continental shelf and mix with the freshwater from the land. The water exits the Gulf of Mexico through the Straits of Florida between Florida and Cuba. 

Life in a Salt Marsh

A real partnership 

The important grasslike plants of Coastal Alabama salt marshes are Black Needle rush and Smooth Cordgrass. They provide oxygen to organisms that live below the salt marsh surface and refuge for many animals. 

Decomposing plant matter in an environment without oxygen produces the “rotten egg” odor familiar to marshes. However, Cordgrass and Needlerush root systems are very spongy and porous, allowing oxygen into the waterlogged soil. This allows the survival of organisms below the surface of the marsh. 

Fiddler Crab (Uca  spp) 

Fiddler Crabs and other small mud crabs burrow into the marsh surface, feeding on the plant matter. Their aquatic larval stages contribute significantly to the food chain.

Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora)

Smooth Cordgrass forms a border along the edge of the open water, below the average high tide line. Cordgrass has flattened leaves and a light green color. 

Black Needlerush (Juncus roemerianus)

The Black Needlerush comprises the largest vegetated zone of Alabama’s salt marshes and is found near and above the average high tide line. 

Needlerush leaves are round with pointed tips. 

Marsh Periwinkle (Littorina irrorata)

The Marsh Periwinkle is a small snail inhabiting shallow bays, ponds, and tidal marshes. It is often seen climbing and Spartina stalks to feed on algae and avoid predators. 

Ribbed Mussel (Geukensia demissa)

The Ribbed Mussel attaches to mature plants at the mud surface and hardens the marsh. This helps resist erosion. These mussels filter a gallon of seawater an hour for food, fertilize the marsh with their waste, and are food for crabs, birds, and mammals. 

Nature interpretive Trial at Dauphin Island

Water for Life

Life on Earth is dependent on clean water. Water quality is defined as the stability of water for a particular use. A definition of good water is different for drinking water than for a lake. Because water is so important for life, we monitor different chemicals and physical and biological characteristics and work to ensure good water quality. 

Water, Water Everywhere

Water in the ground, called groundwater, is an important source of water on Earth. The ground is different in different places, and some ground materials hold water better than others. An aquifer is an area of ground that holds water well/. Water moves into the ground from rain, snow melt, or other sources. Then it sins until it gets to a layer it can’t move through. This layer might be clay or certain kinds of rock.

Water can fill aquifers, where deep water might remain for hundreds of years, and shallow water can flow to places where it reaches the surface, like ponds, lakes, and springs. 

There is much more freshwater in the ground than on Earth’s surface, and groundwater is drawn out using wells. 

Water Quality=Quality of Life

To evaluate a pond’s ability to support life, we might measure characteristics like the following: dissolved oxygen(DO)-because fish and most other aquatic animals breathe DO: PH-if pHis too far from neutral, either acidic or basic, organisms may be unable to survive; water temperature-warmer water holds less oxygen, so animals might avoid areas of high temperature. In this pond, at certain times, we might also check salinity (the salt concentration).

Freshwater has a salinity of  0 ppt (parts salt per thousand parts water). When Dauphin Island is hit by a hurricane, saltwater may wash over parts of the island and enter the pond or the groundwater. This can affect the island’s human population, who use groundwater in their homes, and also the animals that live in the pond.

These are just a few examples of water qualities that might affect those using the water. 

At Gaillard Lake, you can see where the water table becomes a like surface. When you look at the lake, can you tell oxygen, pH, temperature, or salinity levels? Does the water look dirty?

You may not be able to determine levels by looking, but if you pay attention, you might notice hints bout a lake's water quality. Can you find a diversity of fish, turtles, alligators, frogs, or insects in the water? Are birds feeding from the lake? These signs suggest good water quality, but they are not definitive-sometimes animals are forced to use poor-quality lakes. Water cooler is not a definite marker either - this lake is often a brown color, like tea. This is natural. It is from tannins that leach out of soaking leaves or pine needles.

Aquatic invertebrates are used to assess water quality. Some, like those seen above  (larvae of left to right: caddisfly, stonefly, and mayfly), have a low tolerance for pollution. If they are found in a sample, the water quality is likely good. Others, like the pouch snail and mosquito larva at left, have a high tolerance for pollution. If a sample has mostly animals like these and very few of those from the first group, water quality is likely poor. 

In the U. S., for water intended for human use, there are established standards for acceptable levels of dissolved or suspended matter, like bacteria, heavy metals, and others that are potentially harmful. Our municipal water usually follows a path such as this one: water is withdrawn from a natural source, filtered and sterilized, piped into our homes; flushed down our drains; filtered, treated, and the solid waster is taken to one disposal site, while the water is released back to a natural location. Water used in homes on Dauphin Island is groundwater from the island (it is not piped in). Processed water is stored in the water tower seen at right. 

Nature Interpretive Trial at Dauphin Island

Nature Interpretive Trail 

Audubon Bird Sanctuary Trail

These yellow sections of the trail to the Gulf and around the lake include several signs to help the visitors better understand and appreciate the unique environment of the Audubon Bird Sanctuary.

Mike Henderson Project Supervisor. Additional identification by Ralph Havard, McCune Dudley, and John Porter 

Signs construction/installation-Greg Vesely, Candy Ladnier, Anthony Young

Please Help Protect your park

The Dauphin Island Park & Beach and Alabama State Lands 

Department of Conversation and Natural Resources

Funding for this project in part by the Coastal Zone Management Act 1972

As amended, administered by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

Foreign Invasion 

Organisms that arrive in an ecosystem where they did not evolve are called exotic, non-native, or alien. Of those, the ones that harm their new ecosystem are invasive. There are several species on Dauphin Island. A few of them are highlighted below. 

Infiltration 

Plants, animals, and other organisms are moved from their native lands in different ways. These pathways of introduction often involve humans who accidentally or intentionally move them.

A few examples include the release of exotic pets, escape from aquaculture operations, spread from garden plantings, transport in ships ballast water, and transport of fruits and vegetables. As humans move more people and goods around the world, there is more potential for moving organisms into places where they cause harm. 

Setting in: Once they are in a new place, some organisms settle in more successfully than others. Certain factors allow an introduced species to become invasive:

They are adaptable-they can survive in a range of climates, habitats, and soil types; they eat a wide variety.

They reproduce quickly and have lots of offspring. 

They spread out to new areas

Few animals will eat them in the new habitat. 

They competed aggressively for resources. 

How does this affect us?

Biodiversity is the variety of life. It can be defined at different levels, from diversity within a species to that in a particular forest to that of the entire Earth. The higher the biodiversity for a given area, the healthier the species or ecosystem because it is more resilient to disease or disturbance, such as fire or flood. 

Humans need healthy ecosystems for many reasons. We are healthier with a diversity of organisms for food and medicine. Functioning ecosystems provide important services such as water filtration, oxygen production, and nursery habitat. 

Invasive species threaten biodiversity either by directly killing native species or by taking resources from them so they die or stop breeding. 

Reptiles and Amphibians of the Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary

Reptiles and Amphibians of Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary

Galliard Lake and Tupelo Swamp

Cottonmouth 

2-4 feet

AKA water moccasin. This poisonous aquatic snake is thick-bodied and will gape to show its white mouth lining when threatened.

Common Snapping Turtle

6-15 inches. 

Often confused with the less-common alligator snapping turtle, these turtles are not aggressive unless removed from the water.

American alligator

4-8 feet 

Individuals of this large shy aquatic species periodically “raft” to the island from the rivers north of Mobile.

Florida Smooth Softshell 

6-15 inches

With its flat, leathery shell, this turtle is easy to dust from others. Its death includes crawfish, insects, fish, and frogs. 

Central Newt

2-4 inches

This reclusive salamander prefers quiet pools without fish. The left, a terrestrial intermediate stage, can be found under rotting wood. 

Pig Frog

2-6 inches

This large frog inhabits permanent bodies of water surrounded by vegetation. 

Their mating call is a distinct, loud, and resonant grunt.

Lists sixes are typical of Dauphin Island representatives

The project was led by Brian Jones, funded by Mobile Bay NEP, and made possible by Dauphin Island Park and Beach Board.

All photographs by Brian Young (“except the alligator photo by Boon Harada) 

Nature Interpretive Trial at Dauphin Island 

Nature Interpretive Trial at Dauphin Island 

Nature Interpretive Trial at Dauphin Island 

World Coral Exhibit at Cozumel Mexico 2018

World Coral Exhibit 

Coral and Sponges of Cozumel

Brain Coral 

Brain Coral is a common name given to several genera of coral, which are characterized by the spheroid shape of their colonies and by the grooves and channels on their surface, which resemble the folds on the surface of the human brain. Brain coral is in the taxonomic family Faviidae, but not every genus in the family is brain-shaped. 

Brain corals are found in warm-water coral reefs in all the world's oceans. They are in a class called "sea flowers," also known as Anthozoa or, scientifically, Phylum Cnidaria. 

The lifespan of the largest brain corals is 200 years. 

WHIP CORAL (Eptogorgia Virgulata)

Whip coral has slender, whip-like branches that vary in color from deep purple to yellowish-tan. The long branches are covered in coral polyps, which look like tiny white dots against the coral's skeleton. 

Whip Coral can grow to about three feet tall and grows on rocks, reefs, pilings, and other hard surfaces. 

Whip corals are suspension feeders. Each of the polyps covering the coral's skeleton has eight feathery, saw-toothed tentacles that periodically/emerge to sweep plankton and tiny particles into the coral's body.

STAR CORAL(Galaxea fascicularis)

The star coral is one of the hard coral species that contains a stone-like calcium skeleton. Small, oval stubs rise from the yellowish-tan central core, each containing a delicate star-shaped polyp. The Star Coral is commonly found throughout the Caribbean and the West Indies and usually grows to about 12 inches in height.

ELKHORN CORAL

Elkhorn Coral is a large, branching shallow water coral with thick and sturdy antler-like branches. Colonies are fast-growing: branches increased by 2-4 inches (5-10cm) per year, with colonies reaching their maximum size in approximately 10 to 12 years.  

YELLOW TUBE SPONGES (Aplysina Fistularia)

The yellow tube sponge displays one of the many different body forms typical of sponges. Sponges, considered to be the most primitive of the multi-cellular animals, are represented in the fossil record going back to the Cambrian Period, at least 600 million years ago. The interior body cavities 

Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs are the most biologically diverse marine ecosystem on earth, rivaled only by the tropical rainforests on land. Corals grow over geologic time and have been in existence for nearly 200 million years. Corals reached their current level of diversity 50 million years ago. 

The delicately balanced marine environment of the coral reefs relies on the interaction of hard and soft corals, sponges, anemones, snails, rays, crabs, lobsters, turtles, dolphins, and other sea life.

A coral reef is composed of thin plates or layers of calcium carbonate secreted over thousands of years by billions of tiny soft-bodied animals called coral polyps. It takes years for some corals to grow an inch, and they range in size from a pinhead to a foot in length. Each polyp secretes a calcareous exoskeleton and lives in a symbiotic relationship with a host alga, zooxanthellae, which gives the coral its color.

Zooxanthellae take in carbon dioxide, process it through photosynthesis, and then give off oxygen as a by-product that is used by the host polyp. A million polyps are grown on top of the limestone remains of former colonies to create the massive reefs, yet these tiny animals form the only natural formation.

Corals are divided into two types, and both are stationary on the ocean floor. Hard corals such as the brain, star, staghorn, elkhorn, and pillar corals have rigid exoskeletons, or Corallites, that protect their soft, delicate bodies. 

Gorgonians, or soft corals,  such as sea fans, sea whips, and sea rods, sway with the currents and lack an exoskeleton. 

World Coral Exhibit 

World Coral Exhibit 

World Coral Exhibit 

World Coral Exhibit 

The Cozumel Reef System 

The Great Maya Barrier Reef, also known as The Mesoamerican Reef, extends from the Northern Yucatan to Honduras and is actually the second-largest barrier reef system in the entire world. The 32-km (20 miles) long reef system in Cozumel is located just off the southern Leeward coast. Over the years, the Yucatan Current has carved an extensive labyrinth that is unparalleled by any other reef in the Caribbean. 

In 1961, the famous oceanographer Jacques Yves Cousteau came to Cozumel with his crew on the Calypso to film a documentary. Since the first airing of that film, Cozumel has consistently been on top of many diving lists as a diver's destination.

Through a guided tour of Cozumel's rich underwater topography, it is quite normal to see vast coral heads, brilliant sponges, hundreds of tropical fish, rich ecosystems, and steep walls that sink into the abyss. Tunnels and caves twist through the reef, providing a rich environment for many species.

Most of the diving sites in Cozumel are located within the Cozumel Reefs National Marine Park, a protected underwater environment covering 29,000 + acres. A voluntary $2.00 US donation/fee from divers was implemented to fund the conservation.

Threats to Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are one of our threatened marine ecosystems

Scientists estimate that unless we take immediate action, we could lose up to 70 percent of the world's coral reefs by 2050.

Nature's Threats: Storms and Predators

Reefs are frequently disturbed by natural events. Hurricanes and tropical storms can reduce reefs to rubble. Diseases such as black band disease, which spreads over colonies, progressively killing the polyps, often affect corals. The Crown-of-thorns Starfish, in the Indo-Pacific, feeds voraciously on coral and, if present in large numbers, can reduce a reef to amass of dead coral skeletons in just a few weeks. 

Greenhouse Threats

Global climate change, or the enhanced greenhouse effect, may cause increases in sea temperature and sea level, as well as changes in the oceans' current patterns, which could damage coral reefs. For example, corals are very sensitive to changes in temperature. Seawater that becomes too warm causes coral to turn white or bleach, a reaction that occurs if coral polyps are stressed. Often, they recover, but they are also known to die. 

If the oceans warm as a result of global climate change, corals may have increasing difficulty recovering from these bleaching episodes.

Cozumel Coral Reef

Although there are more than 30 chartered reefs and countless sites from which to choose each of those, Cozumel's coral reef can basically be divided into 3 types. 

On vertical walls like Palancar Reef and Santa Rosa, with depths from 40 to 130 feet, you’ll find gorgonian and plate coral, enormous colorful sponges, and a splendid assortment of reef and pelagic species. The Palancar Reef was made famous by Jacques Cousteau, which in turn made Cozumel one of the most known diving spots in the world. 

Pinnacles like Punta Sur and Palancar Horseshoe, with depths from 40-70 feet, are maze-like structures with tall, statuesque pinnacles and wide coral shelves. Here, you can swim through tunnels, in and out of caves, and between dramatic towering coral. 

For the less experienced divers or snorkelers, coral gardens make exciting first experiences. These 20-40 foot deep coral patches don’t have the lushness of sponge and coral life found further from shore. However, they are one of the best places to dive or snorkel and experience the rich abidance of fish life, which flourishes in these lush waters. The Tormentors Reef has been known to have explosives of colorful sponges and gorgonians. 

Ecosystem Importance

Vast numbers of species inhabit coral reefs, making them second only to rainforests in species riches. This huge diversity is a result of the careful sharing of the reef by all of its inhabitants. More species of fish are found on reefs than anywhere else in the sea, ranging from large sharks to tiny gobies. It is believed that about 90% of all species are small invertebrates yet to be discovered. These, like many of the tiny mollusks and crustaceans that are already known, will never be seen by divers and snorkelers as they are animals that live in crackers and crevices. They are equivalent to the insects of tropical rainforests. The greatest diversity of reef plants and animals is in Southeast Asia, ranging from the Philippines to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Here, a single reef may have over 3,000 different types of plants and animals. Diversity is lower in the Caribbean as a result of the geological history of this region, but up to a thousand species may still inhabit the rich reefs. 

Coral reefs are a vital part of an ecosystem. They represent the skeletons of algae and corals solidified into calcium carbonate. There are several different types of reefs, including an apron, fringing, table, and barrier, depending on their relationship to the shore. In terms of the ecosystem, coral reefs support a huge amount of sea life by recycling nutrients in nutrient-low parts of the ocean, therefore providing life and health for the surrounding sea life while also feeding off of it to produce new reef formations. These also represent home to various types of tropical fish and other sea organisms, such as lobsters and sea turtles. Pollution and the live food fish trade have developed into serious threats to the delicate ecosystem balance that the coral reef inhabits. For example, if a forest is destroyed during coastal construction, the run-off of nutrients can saturate the waters and suffocate organisms adapting to a low-nutrient environment. Similarly, excessive fishing, most notably using cyanide, destroys the structure of the reef and the organisms it depends on to sustain itself. 

Commerce's Threat to Coral Reefs

Shells on Shelves

Corals and shells are collected all over the world to sell as souvenirs or to make jewelry and other handicrafts. 

Several kinds of the mollusk are now rare on reefs because of over-collecting. In many countries, coral is also found on the reef and used to build houses and make roads or is burnt to make lime. Where this happens, reefs are often stripped bare. Sustainable management of reefs will mean regulation of these industries and better enforcement of existing legislation to ensure that both the resources and the people who depend on them have a long-term future.

A Paradise for Tourists

Millions of tourists visit coral reefs each year, and in many countries, reef-related tourism is now the main source of foreign exchange. But corals are easily broken by trampling when people walk out to the reef; snorkelers and divers may kill polyps simply by touching coral colonies, and anchors and ships grounding can destroy large areas of the reef.

Though tourism can damage reefs, if carefully managed, it can play a major role in saving them. The tourism industry can promote and assist in the development of marine parks, mooring buoy projects to prevent anchor damage, public awareness campaigns, and local initiatives to promote sustainable coastal management.

Life of Coral Reefs

Coral reefs depend upon mangroves and seagrass for survival. Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees with submerged roots that are a nursery and breeding ground for birds and most of the marine life that migrates to the reef. Mangroves trap and produce nutrients for food and habitat, stabilize the shoreline, and filter pollutants from the land base. Seagrasses are flowering marine plants that are an important part of the food web. They provide food and habitat for turtles, manatees, fish, filter-feeding organisms, and foraging sea life, such as sea urchins and sea cumbers. Seagrass is a nursery for pink shrimp, lobster, snapper, and other sea life. 

They filter the water of sediments, release oxygen, and stabilize the base.

As many as 250 different species of fish can be seen in Cozumel's waters; one of the most spectacular is the Queen Angelfish, possessing bright blue-and-yellow markings and the distinctive blue "crown" on the top of the head. The Splendid Toadfish is found only in Cozumel. Making its home in the holes along the reef, this fish grows from 12 to 16 inches in length.

Besides the Splendid Toadfish, some of the most beautiful and colorful tropical fish can be found in the warm water of Cozumel.

Divers are likely to see grouper, barracudas, turtles, butterflyfish, parrotfish, and stingrays. Angelfish, moray eels, nurse sharks, octopuses, snakes, crabs, and huge lobsters.

Coral reefs are located in tropical oceans, typically between the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn. However, there are exceptions, such as the Florida Keys. The largest coral reef is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. 

The second-largest barrier coral reef can be found off the coast of Belize in Central America. Other reefs are found in Hawaii, the Red Sea, and other areas in tropical oceans. Coral reefs, including Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Fiji's Barrier Reef, occupy less than one-quarter of one percent of the Earth's marine environment, yet are home to more than a quarter of all known fish species.

Carnival Corporation & Pic Commitment to Our Environment

Carnival understands that our future depends largely on the health of the world’s oceans. The line aggressively seeks both high and low-tech solutions to manage the environmental impact of its fleet and preserve natural resources. Listed below are but a few ways that Carnival manages and preserves this impact. 

An extensive waste-management plan for collecting, storing, processing, and disposing of all waste generated aboard Carnival vessels meets or exceeds international and domestic laws and regulations. Carnival ships are regulated by various international, national, state, and local laws, regulations, and treaties in force in the jurisdictions in which the ship operates. 

Carnival has received certification for its ISO14001 Environmental Management System. The Requirement for Standardization is an internationally recognized standards organization that promotes the development and implementation of international standards, including those for environmental management issues. 

Solid waste is processed and incinerated on board whenever possible. 

Carnival involves its guest in their recycling program by educating and encouraging them to assist in their efforts. Food, glass, aluminum, and plastics are collected in separate bins located in public areas, open decks, steward stations, galley and crew areas, room service pantries, and bar pantries. 

Cooking oil and graces are stored in special holding thanks after use and are used onboard as an alternate source of fuel on all Carnival ships. 

Additionally, a variety of items, such as mattresses, televisions, blankets, and computers that can no longer be used aboard the ships but which are still in usable condition, are donated by Carnival lines to local organizations in both home ports and ports of call.

Carnival has also formed an alliance with the International SeaKeepers Society and has installed a scientific data-gathering device on the Carnival Trump and Carnival Spirit to monitor ocean water quality. The device tracts a wide range of data, which is transmitted via satellite to various environmental groups, governmental agencies, and universities to aid in assessing ocean pollution and researching global climate changes and cyclic weather patterns.