Charlotte Harbor (Bay)

Charlotte Harbor
Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island in the middle, Gasparilla, La Costa and Sanibel Island on the left
Waters	Gulf of Mexico
Land mass	North America
Geographical location	26 ° 50 ′  N , 82 ° 7 ′  W Coordinates: 26 ° 50 ′  N , 82 ° 7 ′  W
width	12 km
length	48 km
surface	699 km²
Coastline	352 km
Islands	Gasparilla Island , La Costa Island , Sanibel Island , Pine Island
Tributaries	Myakka River , Peace River , Caloosahatchee River

Charlotte Harbor is an estuary on the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast of the US state of Florida . The 699 km² bay is a maximum of 48 km long, up to 12 km wide and includes 352 km of coastline. In addition to smaller streams, the Myakka River , the Peace River and the Caloosahatchee River flow into the bay . The Intracoastal Waterway runs through the bay. To the Gulf of Mexico, a number of islands and sandbars, which include Gasparilla Island , La Costa Island, and Sanibel Island , border the bay. Within the shallow bay, which is only two meters deep, lies the island of Pine Island , while the cities of North Port , Port Charlotte , Punta Gorda , Cape Coral and Fort Myers are on the coast .

Charlotte Harbor is known for its biodiversity . In the estuary of the tributaries there are extensive seagrass meadows , mangrove swamps and wet meadows, so that the area is of high ecological and economic importance for fishing. In addition to numerous other protected areas, the Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park protects 170 km² of the adjacent coastal areas with a total of 112 km of coastline.

However, the expansion of residential development due to the strong population growth on the Gulf Coast and the increasing intensification of agriculture, especially the inundation of phosphate due to overfertilization, endanger the ecosystem. The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program , just one of three such projects in Florida, aims to protect the bay's water quality and ecological diversity.

Web links

• Charlotte Harbor (bay) on the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
• Charlotte Harbor Watershed
• The Peace River - Charlotte Harbor

Individual evidence

1. ↑ United States Geological Survey Water-supply Paper. United States Government Printing Office , 1990, p. A1
2. ↑ Florida State Parks: Charlotte Harbor. Retrieved January 2, 2013 . 
3. ^ The Myakka Watershed Initiative. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 2, 2013 ; Retrieved January 2, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.