Estuaries- Houston-Galveston's Bay and the Gulf of Mexico

1. Running head: THE TEXAS COASTLINE ESTUARY 1
The Texas Coastline Estuary
Tracey Percifield
American Intercontinental University

2. Running head: THE TEXAS COASTLINE ESTUARY 2
Abstract
The Estuary is an important part of our survival and well-being and allows us to import and
export goods through the world. It is also important because it supports life species such as
plants, animals and sea life that provides us with food and continuing growth for reproduction of
wildlife. Texas Coastline is the largest in the United States and serves for both importing and
exporting of goods and also provides nursery of animal reproduction and for harvesting seafood
for our consumption. This ecosystem is guarded and is maintains to ensure life flourishing and a
balance is important to maintaining our world and environment.

3. Running head: THE TEXAS COASTLINE ESTUARY 3
The Texas Coastline Estuary
There are many Estuaries in the world and they are important not just as a way of transportation
but that of our ecosystem. Since rivers of fresh water leads to the bay and mouth of the ocean and
mixes and combines together creating perfect conditions for sustaining sea life and rebirth of the
cycle of life it is important to understand how this works and educate everyone how to protect it.
The Houston-Galveston Texas Coastline is the second largest and busiest in the United States
and is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropic marshes, prairies on the
mainland. It is the biggest estuary for harvesting sea life with the exception of Chesapeake Bay
and in the 20th Century boomed because of the oil industry creating one of the largest and busiest
ports in the United States. This is also important because of pollution and chemicals in our
ecosystem and the Houston-Galveston Estuary is made up by four bays; East Bay, West Bay,
Galveston Bay and the Trinity Bayand fed by the Trinity River and San Jacinto River. The bay
covers 600 square miles and is 30 miles long and 17 miles wide (Gulfbase, 2012).
When thinking of Texas Coastline Estuary and the Bay of Galveston and Port of Houston we
need to look at some of the Abiotic or things of non-living things that affect our Biotic living
ecosystem and how these effects our well-being of life.Our wetlands have issues which hold run-
off of pollution which circulates through the marshlands and freshwater wetlands and act as a
filter of this pollution before it reaches the bay and then carried out into the Gulf of Mexico
(GBEP, 2004).
This is a great concern since we drill and produce oil and petroleum products and chemical
plants and with both of these production plants there are chemicals that escape regardless of the
strict Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and our wetlands are the filter for those
contaminants which otherwise would go directly into Galveston Bay and into the Gulf of

4. Running head: THE TEXAS COASTLINE ESTUARY 4
Mexico. Even though our marshes and prairies and land absorbs these chemicals they cause
problems for our nesting wildlife and affect their migration and breeding of the birds, turtles and
sea life that we consume and harvest for food. The chemicals that we let into this system and
cause pollution by the release of chemicals and that of pollution of man further polluting trash
into our marshes, forest and prairies affect our bay and gulf by causing hypoxia in our water or
lack of oxygen and causing growth of bacteria in the water affecting mutation and death of the
sea life and causing freshwater to be unsafe for drinking by chemicals seeping in the ground. We
need to understand our affects that we cause on our environment and always be aware of them to
enableus to understand the great lengths we must go through to protect the Estuaries (Roehrborn,
2006).
On the other hand we can look at all the wildlife, sea life and plant-grass lands and look how
valuable they are for the survival of our ecosystem and why they should be protected and
safeguarded. We rely on the wetlands to grow and flourish during the summertime and during
the winter months they start withering and bacteria, algae and fungi breaking them down and
turning them into food for worms, crabs, shrimp, crawfish and fish providing their nourishment
and growth. The cycle continues by the multiplying of them enables the birds, turtles and bigger
fish to feed off of them continuing the cycle of life and life of reproduction and thus we feed on
this chain and cycle to sustain our needs. If there is a break in this cycle then all areas in our
environment and Estuary are affected and alterations causing malnutrition, mutation, lack of
oxygen which affects life and growth to all and trapping more carbon dioxide in the water and
changing the nitrogen causing even death for species or change in nesting and nursery
(Marinebio, n.d.).

5. Running head: THE TEXAS COASTLINE ESTUARY 5
When this the Estuaries are affected then it takes all agencies, organizations and people
working together to clean up the trash, the chemicals, water recovery and replenishing the
wetlands, marshes and prairies to return them back to the original condition or as close to their
original condition as possible before the damage of it. Use this is done then it is constantly watch
and tested and tracked for many years to ensure the survival of it and the ecosystem that survives
on the Estuaries (GBEP, 2004).

6. Running head: THE TEXAS COASTLINE ESTUARY 6
REFERENCES
Linda Rae Boerhborn. (2006, December)., seasonal analysis of abiotic factors impacting
phytoplankton assemblages in offatts bayou, Galveston, texas, [Web log message]. Retrieved
from http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1177/ROEHRBORN-
THESIS.pdf?sequence=
GBEP. (2004)., Galveston bay, [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://www.gbep.state.tx.us/estuary-program-overview/what is.asp
Gulfbase. (2012, January 7)., Gulfbase – Galveston bay, [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://www.gulfbase.org/bay/view.php?bid=galveston
Marinebio. (n.d.)., estuaries, marshes and mangroves, [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://marinebio.org/oceans/estuaries-salt-marshes-mangroves.asp

7. Running head: THE TEXAS COASTLINE ESTUARY 7