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47-458: The Lagoon contains five state parks, four federal wildlife refuges and a national seashore. The Lagoon varies in width from 0.5 to 5 miles (0.80 to 8.05 km) and averages 4 feet (1.2 m) in depth. During glacial periods , the ocean receded. The area that is now the lagoon was grassland, 30 miles (48 km) from the beach. When the glaciers melted, the sea rose. The lagoon remained as captured water. The indigenous people who lived along

94-413: A clutch of about three smooth, oval, white eggs and both parents incubate; chicks hatch one at a time rather than all together. The newly hatched young are blind and cannot care for themselves immediately; both parents feed them by partial regurgitation . Chicks' bills are short and straight, and only gain the characteristic spoonbill shape as they mature. Their feeding continues for a few weeks longer after

141-498: A genus, Platalea , of large, long-legged wading birds . The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name Platalea derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. Six species are recognised, which although usually placed in a single genus have sometimes been split into three genera. All spoonbills have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping

188-409: A lower portion of the moraine. Multiple outlets could form through low spots too until one would become dominant after erosion lowered both the outlet and lake surface. Ice melt and rainfall carried large quantities of clay , sand , and gravel from the ice mass. Clays could be moved long distances by moving water, while sand and gravel could not. Thus, sand and gravel landforms developed along

235-557: A spawning and nursery ground for different species of oceanic and lagoon fish and shellfish. The lagoon also has one of the most diverse bird populations anywhere in America. Nearly 1/3 of the nation's manatee population lives here or migrates through the Lagoon seasonally. There was a mass death of manatees in 2021 due to the loss of seagrass, caused by leaks from septic systems and overuse of fertilizers. Nine-banded armadillos comprise one of

282-468: A whole. The striations made by the ice field in moving over the bedrock show that it moved principally to the west through the passes of the coast range. Whenever the ice sheet melted from the north at a moraine , water would begin to pond in the divide between a moraine and the ice front. The ice would act as a dam as water could not drain through the ice sheet, which in the Wisconsin period covered most of

329-569: Is North America's most diverse estuary , with more than 2100 species of plants and 2200 animals. The diversity is the result of being located near a climate boundary, 5 miles (8.0 km) from the Gulf Stream . Migratory ocean fish swimming nearby, were swept into the lagoon. The lagoon contains 35 species listed as threatened or endangered — more than any other estuary in North America. The lagoon has about 2,500 types of animals in it. It serves as

376-481: Is proving difficult to address in the 21st century. From 1913 to 2013, activity by humans has increased the watershed for the lagoon from 572,000 acres (231,000 ha) to 1,400,000 acres (570,000 ha) increasing runoff of freshwater and nutrients from farms. Both have been detrimental to lagoon health. The wetlands are needed to cleanse the lagoon. About 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of land were lost to mosquito control and have been restored, but by 2013, recovery

423-560: The Bering Strait is believed to have allowed human occupation of this area which provided potential access for some of the first humans to move between North America and Siberia in Asia (see Settlement of the Americas ). Other human migration routes also opened during interglacial periods in both Europe and Asia. North American flora and fauna species were distributed quite differently during

470-569: The Waterman Hills researchers found that Juniperus osteosperma and Pinus monophylla were early to mid-Holocene dominant trees, while Monardella arizonica has been a continuously present understory plant. Celtis reticulata is an example of a plant present in the early Holocene following Wisconsin glacial retreat, a species no longer present at the Waterman Mountains site. Spoonbill See text. Spoonbills are

517-766: The Wisconsin glacial episode , was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet , which nucleated in the northern North American Cordillera ; the Innuitian ice sheet , which extended across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago ; the Greenland ice sheet ; and the massive Laurentide Ice Sheet , which covered

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564-671: The grooves left in rock by these glaciers can be easily observed. In southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta a suture zone between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets formed the Cypress Hills , North America's northernmost point that remained south of the continental ice sheets. During much of the glaciation, sea level was low enough to permit land animals, including humans , to occupy Beringia (the Bering Land Bridge ) and move between North America and Siberia . As

611-857: The last glacial maximum , also known as the Late Wisconsin in North America. This glaciation radically altered the geography north of the Ohio River , creating the Great Lakes . At the height of the Wisconsin Episode glaciation, the ice sheet covered most of Canada , the Upper Midwest , and New England , as well as parts of Idaho , Montana , and Washington . On Kelleys Island in Lake Erie , northern New Jersey and in New York City 's Central Park ,

658-521: The tenth edition of his Systema Naturae . The genus name is Latin for "spoonbill" and is derived from the Ancient Greek platea meaning "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. The type species was designated as the Eurasian spoonbill ( Platalea leucorodia ) by George Robert Gray in 1840. They have traditionally been thought to form one of two subfamilies, Plataleinae , in

705-640: The 34 mammals in the area. It is a 1920s immigrant from the Southwestern United States. In 2016 a Right whale with her calf entered the lagoon by mistake and safely exited to the ocean. Between 200 and 800 Bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) also live in the Indian River Lagoon. Red Drum , Spotted seatrout , Common snook , and the Tarpon are the main gamefish in the Titusville area of

752-718: The Canadian Territory of Keewatin . The ice moved south some 1,500 miles (2,400 km) into Kansas and Missouri. To the west, it reached 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains . The Cordilleran Ice Sheet has left remnants throughout the Northern Rocky Mountains . Unlike the other two ice sheets, this one is mountain based covering British Columbia and reaching into northern Washington State and Montana . The Cordilleran Ice Sheet has more of an Alpine style of many glaciers merged into

799-533: The Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, St. Johns River Water Management District . The report described the estimated 2007 recreational uses and economic value of the Indian River Lagoon to residents and visitors of the five counties that comprise the Lagoon system. The sum of recreational expenditures and recreational use value was estimated at $ 2.1 billion. Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin glaciation , also called

846-421: The Indian River Lagoon region. The Lagoon accounts for $ 300 million in fisheries revenues, includes a $ 2.1 billion citrus industry, and generates more than $ 300 million in boat and marine sales annually. In 2007, visitors spent an estimated 3.2 million person-days in recreation on the lagoon. In 2008, Hazen and Sawyer, P.C. submitted a report titled "Indian River Lagoon Economic Assessment and Analysis Update" to

893-476: The Wisconsin era, due to altered temperatures, surface water distribution, and in some cases coverage of earth surface by glaciers. A number of scientific studies have been conducted to determine species distribution, particularly during the Late Wisconsin and early to mid-Holocene. An example of findings is from the investigation of flora species using pollen core samples in present-day northern Arizona. Here in

940-699: The algae species Aureoumbra lagunensis , was blamed for the low oxygen levels. The algae growth originated in the no-motor zone of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge . In 2018, lagoon health is better near ocean inlets. Pollution is worse in areas near no inlets, such as the Mosquito Lagoon, North IRL, and the Banana River. According to the Florida Oceanographic Society , nearly 1 million people live and work in

987-414: The arrival of the railroad, the river was an essential transportation link. In 1896 and 1902, there were fish kills in the lagoon from gas from the muck below. The advent of the automobile, starting in the 1930s, resulted in causeways which diverted the sluggish flow of the waterway. Huge population influx resulted in sewage, and stormwater runoff from roadways, polluting the lagoon. From 1989 to 2013,

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1034-437: The bill and eyes. Spoonbills are monogamous , but, so far as is known, only for one season at a time. Most species nest in trees or reed beds , often with ibises or herons . The male gathers nesting material—mostly sticks and reeds, sometimes taken from an old nest—the female weaves it into a large, shallow bowl or platform which varies in its shape and structural integrity according to species. The female lays

1081-511: The county. 3) Muck from construction, farming, erosion and dead plants find their way to the bottom of the lagoon, preventing growth and consuming vital oxygen essential to marine flora and fauna; 4) Invasive species, including the Asian green mussel , South American charru mussel, and the Australian spotted jellyfish , eat clams and fish larvae . In 2016, there were an estimated 300,000 septic tanks in

1128-455: The family Threskiornithidae , which also includes the ibises (Threskiornithinae). Molecular studies, including a 2013 study, have suggested instead that they form a clade within the family with several cosmopolitan ibis genera, separate from another clade of New World ibises. A 2010 study of mitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that the roseate and yellow-billed spoonbills were each other's closest relative, and

1175-498: The five-county area bordering the Lagoon. At one time, sewer plants were worse polluters. In 1986, there were 46 sewer plants along the 156 miles (251 km) lagoon. They discharged about 55,000,000 US gallons (210,000,000 L; 46,000,000 imp gal) daily into the estuary. The state ended most sewer plant pollution by 1995. The worst fish kill to date occurred in March 2016, with 30 species impacted. A brown tide bloom, caused by

1222-499: The glacial deposits were eroded and weathered. This first Wisconsin period erased all the Illinoian glacial topography that its glaciers extended over. The Late Wisconsin ice sheet extended more towards the west than the earlier movements. This may have been due to changes in the accumulation center of the ice sheet, topographic changes introduced by the Early phase or by pressure changes in

1269-427: The glacier when it melts back is called the ground moraine or till plain . Till is highly permeable and creates a large ground reserve for water. This formation is highly desirable for human economic development as a source of water. Prehistoric human migration was likely greatly influenced by this last glacial period, as during much of the Wisconsin era, the formation of a land bridge known as Beringia across

1316-577: The glaciers retreated, glacial lakes were breached in great glacial lake outburst floods such as the Kankakee Torrent , which reshaped the landscape south of modern Chicago as far as the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Two related movements have been termed Wisconsin: Early Wisconsin and Late Wisconsin. The Early Wisconsin was the bigger of the two and extended farther west and south. It retreated an unknown distance before halting. During this period of quiet,

1363-608: The high latitudes of central and eastern North America. This advance was synchronous with global glaciation during the last glacial period, including the North American alpine glacier advance, known as the Pinedale glaciation . The Wisconsin glaciation extended from about 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, between the Sangamonian Stage and the current interglacial, the Holocene . The maximum ice extent occurred about 25,000–21,000 years ago during

1410-475: The ice mass in the north. The Labrador Ice Sheet centered east of Hudson Bay. Expanding towards the southwest, it reached into the eastern edge of Manitoba and across the Great Lakes to the Ohio River , upwards of 1,600 miles (2,600 km) from its source. Its eastern lobes covered New England and reached south to Cape Cod and Long Island, New York . The Keewatin Ice Sheet began west of Hudson Bay in

1457-563: The lagoon system. Avians include the American kestrel , Reddish egret and spoonbills . Butterflies include the Polydamas swallowtail . Indian River Lagoon is abundant with bioluminescent dinoflagellates in the summer and ctenophore (comb jellies) in the winter. Seagrass is a critical component to the overall health of the lagoon. By 1990, it had surpassed levels reached in 1943. The lagoon also contains night-blooming cereus . 95% of

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1504-528: The lagoon thrived on its fish and shellfish. This was determined by analyzing the middens they left behind, piled with refuse from clams, oysters, and mussels. The Indian River Lagoon was originally known on early Spanish maps as the Rio de Ais, after the Ais Indian tribe, who lived along the east coast of Florida. An expedition in 1605 by Alvero Mexia resulted in the mapping of most of the lagoon. Original place names on

1551-564: The lagoon's surface. Lake Okeechobee is connected to the lagoon by the Okeechobee Waterway and the St. Lucie River meeting in Sewall's Point . From north to south, the Indian River Lagoon system includes the following: For water quality measurement, the non-profit Marine Resources Council has divided the lagoon into 4 major divisions, with a total of ten subdivisions: The Indian River Lagoon

1598-480: The map included Los Mosquitos (the Mosquito Lagoon and the Halifax River), Haulover (current Haulover Canal area), Ulumay Lagoon (Banana River) Rio d' Ais (North Indian River), and Pentoya Lagoon (Indian River Melbourne to Ft. Pierce) Early European settlers drained the swamps to raise pineapples and citrus. They dug canals discharging fresh water into the lagoon, five times the historical volume. Prior to

1645-420: The mid 1990s, the lagoon has been the subject of research on light penetration for photosynthesis in submerged aquatic vegetation . In 2010, 3,300,000 pounds (1,500,000 kg) of nitrogen and 475,000 pounds (215,000 kg) of phosphorus entered the lagoon. In 2011, a superbloom of phytoplankton resulted in the loss of 32,000 acres (13,000 ha) of lagoon seagrass. In 2012, a brown tide bloom fouled

1692-413: The northern lagoon. The county has approval for funds to investigate these unusual blooms to see if they can be prevented. Catches of blue crabs dropped unevenly from 4,265,063 pounds (1,934,600 kg) in 1987 to 389,795 pounds (176,808 kg) in 2012, but with high catches in 1998, 1991, alternating with low catch years. These crabs require 2% salt content in the water to survive. A drought increases

1739-462: The one genus made more sense. Spoonbills are most easily distinguished from ibises in the shape of their bill, which is long and flat and wider at the end. The nostrils are located near the base of the bill so that the bird can breathe while the bill is submerged in water. The eyes are positioned to provide spoonbills with binocular vision, although, when foraging, tactile senses are important too. Like ibises, spoonbills have bare patches of skin around

1786-458: The partly opened bill from side to side. The moment any small aquatic creature touches the inside of the bill—an insect , crustacean , or tiny fish —it is snapped shut. Spoonbills generally prefer fresh water to salt but are found in both environments. They need to feed many hours each day. The genus Platalea was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in

1833-592: The population along the lagoon increased 50% to 1.6 million people. The full length of the Indian River Lagoon is 156 miles (251 km), extending from Ponce de León Inlet in Volusia County, Florida , to Jupiter Inlet in Palm Beach County, Florida , and includes Cape Canaveral . In 2016, the northern boundary was moved north-ward to Highbridge Road for management purposes. The Lagoon covers one-third of Florida's East Coast. Brevard County incorporates 71% of

1880-423: The proglacial river valleys. Numerous small, isolated water bodies formed between the moraine and the ice front. As the ice sheet would continue to melt and recede northward, these ponds combined into proglacial lakes . In areas without an available outlet, the water levels would either continue to rise until reaching one or more low spots along the rim of a moraine, or the ice sheet would retreat, opening access to

1927-494: The salt content and heavy rainfall decreases it. Both of these conditions have recurred over the past decades and are believed to have had an adverse effect on the crab population. In 2013, algae blooms and loss of sea grass destroyed all gains. In 2013, four major problems with lagoon water quality were identified. 1) Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from runoff from the application of fertilizer; 2) an estimated 8 to 11% septic tank failures of tens of thousands of septic tanks in

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1974-497: The seagrass covered over 100,000 acres (40,000 ha). The 1993–1996 data base used to track the movement of water through the St. Lucie Estuary and into Indian River Lagoon is described in Smith (2007). This includes daily mean discharge rates for the 16 gauged canals emptying into the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, predicted shelf tides, and wind speeds and directions recorded along

2021-510: The seagrass, the main diet of manatees, disappeared by 2017 after an algae bloom fuel by fertilizers. In 1916, the St. Lucie Canal (C-44) diverts excess nutrient-rich water from Lake Okeechobee into the South Lagoon. While this helps prevent life-threatening flooding in the Okeechobee area, it creates toxic blooms after entering the Lagoon, a threat to flora, fauna, and humans. This situation

2068-409: The sides and front of the ice sheet; elongated accumulations of this material are known as kames . Mounds along the frontal edge of the ice are called moraines . Wherever a subglacial tunnel began infilling, long winding formations known as eskers would form. The sweeping plain of sand and gravel beyond the ice margin and a terminal moraine is called an outwash plain . The materials left under

2115-411: The two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genus Platalea or alternatively for two of the species to be placed in monotypic genera named as Platibis and Ajaja . However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within

2162-418: The west side of the lagoon at about 27°32'N (corresponding to Segment 11 of the model). In 2007, concerns were raised about the future of the lagoon system, especially in the southern half where frequent freshwater discharges seriously threatened water quality, decreasing the salinity needed by many fish species, and have contributed to large algae blooms promoted by water saturated with plant fertilizers. In

2209-546: Was incomplete. Mangroves are important to marine life. Between the 1940s and 2013, 85% of them had been removed for housing development. In 1990, the Florida Legislature passed the Indian River Lagoon Act, requiring most sewer plants to stop discharging into the lagoon by 1996. Some sports fish rebounded in population in the 1990s when gill nets were banned and pollution in the lagoon was reduced. In 1995

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