Esteros/Estuaries      

What environmental factors shape this community?

            Many factors shape this community. One big factor is that it’s a body of water that has water that is mostly isolated from the ocean. Another factor is that the water body is relatively shallow. There aren’t any waves, but esteros/estuaries are influenced by ocean tides. Since the water doesn’t move much and the water is shallow, the water can get pretty warm and sometimes hot. There are ideas that esteros were once fresh water coming into the ocean, but after a long time, the rivers got cut off and the salty sea was left behind, creating a very salty environment. They also have very, very small food chains; decomposing plants at the bottom to small birds of prey at the top.

        What is unique about this environment ?

      A lot of stuff makes the esteros and estuaries unique. One of the things that made the esteros and esuaries unique was they both have a small food cain. It goes from decomposing plants are at the bottom of the food chain. The plants grow really fast so they decompose really fast because no one eats them. Then the filter feeders are are the next step such as the fiddler crabs and the oysters because they filter feed off the decmposed plant and animal life. Then the next and last step are the birds. The birds eat the filter feeders, and then the cycle starts all over again.

What threatens the estuaries?

One of the threats to the estuaries is the over developing of shrimp farms. These shrimp farms kill the estuaries by taking over the land. Plus once they are done trashing the estuary they just leave with out picking anything up. Also the people in the area think of the estuaries as a dirty and grody place and it has no meaning, therefore they trash it. It may look like it has no use but the whole place is full of life and it is like trashing your own home. In real life right now we all know that the rate of construction has increased majorly. Well this is also a threat because they are seeing the estuaries as a free piece of land to build on. 

What would a leader for a shared planet do?

             A leader would try to protect estuaries that are yet untouched from trash and shrimp farms. Also, they would clean up all used areas that are horribly trashed and inform consumers of what is really happening to these beautiful estuaries. They could write letters to governments  and shrimp farmers to start a protection program. Also,  encourage the farmers to raise oysters instead of shrimp because the make little or no waste compared to the shrimp.

Here's a little intro for you about our group, the orange team AKA rababit. We're a pretty diverse group in just about every way. From left to right, we have Alejandra, who is good at taking pictures and calls herself a weirdo. We have Emily, who loves the ocean and cute puppies. We have Staci, who loves sunglasses and talks in her sleep. We have Max, who loves to skateboard and metal. And last but not least, we have Lafon, who is funny and has awesome hair (according to a few people at Earth Camp). We didn't get along 100% of the time, but we still had fun being around each other, especially when it came to naming pictures. We probably couldn't ask for a better group than with each other.