Estuary
by Hayden Airheart
What is an Estuary?
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the ocean.
What's up with the Pamlico Sound?
The Pamlico Sound
Pamlico Sound is located along the East Coast, in NC. Thousands of species of birds,
mammals, fish, and other wildlife depend on estuarine habitats as places to live, feed, and
reproduce. And many marine organisms, including most commercially-important species of fish, depend on estuaries at some point during their development.
The Pamlico Sound is an ideal habitat for fish, reptiles, mammals, and hundreds of
different migratory and full-time shorebirds. Those birds include great blue herons, white ibises and snowy egrets, the rare white pelicans, and even American Bald Eagles.
The Neuse river, Trent river, and Tar River all feed into the Pamlico Sound. Threats to
estuaries in North Carolina such as Pamlico Sound include infilling, shoreline development and marinas, pollution and discharge of sewage.
http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/nep/about.cfm
http://www.outerbanks.com/pamlico-sound.html