This page is designed to serve as a gateway to all of our content related to the Apalachicola River and Bay Basin. The fresh water of the Apalachicola River supports an incredible diversity of life through the creeks and sloughs it feeds as well as through seasonal flood events. The river flow pushes that water and vital nutrients into the bay and feeds what have typically been vital estuarine ecosystems and commercial fisheries. The river’s “green plume” carries nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico; within that plume spawn commercially important grouper species. At the southwestern edge of the watershed, that water reaches the Saint Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve, where it feeds dozens of rare plants growing under longleaf pine. The Buffer is also where the river had once emptied into the Gulf. Along Florida’s coast, the watershed reaches from Indian Pass to Alligator Harbor. Bay Mouth Bar at the mouth of Alligator Harbor contains the greatest diversity of predatory snails in the world. Torreya trees. Tupelo honey. Endangered mussels and salamanders. And, of course, the oysters. All of it is threatened by the lowest river flow in the recorded history of the river.
Browse previous posts about the river, bay, and basin here.
You can watch the video playlist below straight through or skip through (click on the link at the bottom of the player that says Playlist). You may find it interesting to see the oyster harvest as shown in RiverTrek 2012 Part 2 before clicking on the Our Town: Apalachicola segment on oystermen to see how the catch has diminished in ten year’s time. After hearing Helen Light talk about the trees dependent on the river in RiverTrek 2012 Part 1, you may want to see the many smaller plants it feeds in the Buffer Preserve EcoAdventure segment.
Related Links
Apalachicola River Wildlife & Environmental Area
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve
Apalachicola River WEA Paddling Trail System
Garden of Eden Trail
Great Florida Birding Trail
Apalachicola National Forest
The Florida Trail
Torreya State Park
Apalachicola Bluffs & Ravines Preserve
Tate’s Hell State Forest
