Roanoke Sound
Estuary
LOCATION
Roanoke Sound is an estuary found separating Roanoke Island an Bodie Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
IMPORTANCE OF ESTUARIES
Estuaries are semi enclosed bodies of water formed when fresh water from rivers and coastal streams flows into and mixes with salt water of the ocean. The fresh water is slowed from streaming into the open ocean by either surrounding mainland, peninsulas, barrier islands, or salt marshes. This mixing of fresh and salt water creates a transition zone between land and sea known as an estuary. These are places where fish, birds and animals of all sorts congregate to feed, find refuge, grow to adulthood, and stage migrations.
PLANTS AND ANIMALS
-Blue Crab
-Great Blue Heron
-Bald Cypress
-Hickory Shad
-Wild Turkeys
WHAT FEEDS INTO IT
-Alligator River
-Roanoke River
-Atlantic Ocean
THREATS TO ESTUARIES
There are many threats to estuaries like infilling, shoreline development and marinas, pollution and discharge of sewage.