What is the average depth of the indian river lagoon

The word "lagoon" derives from the Italian word laguna, which means "pond" or "lake. What is an estuary? Estuaries are bodies of water usually found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water. The Banana River, Indian River and Mosquito lagoons are bar-built estuaries , formed by ocean waves pushing sand up to form a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the mainland.

The shallow coastal lagoons receive water from ocean inlets and freshwater rivers. The estuary's " brackish water " lagoons are a mixture of saltwater from five Atlantic Ocean inlets and freshwater from numerous wetlands, creeks, rivers and canals. The salinity of the brackish water varies with the amount of freshwater rainfall and strength of ocean tides. How big is the Indian River Lagoon estuary?

The mile long Indian River Lagoon National Estuary has square miles of surface water area within it's 2, square mile watershed. The brackish water lagoons within the national estuary average 4ft in depth with large seagrass flats running 2ft and less in depth. Lucie Basin are being discharged to tide, leading to toxic algae blooms in the Lagoon's waters.

This water had very low levels of phosphorus and nitrogen. How deep is the Indian River Lagoon? Category: pets fish and aquariums. The width of the lagoon varies from one-half mile to five miles, with an average depth of four feet. Are there sharks in the Indian River? A lotta bull shark.

Are there alligators in the Indian River? Why does the Indian River stink? What zone is Indian River County?

Does the Banana River have tides? Why is it called Banana River? How do you fish in the Indian River Lagoon? Is Mosquito Lagoon salt water? Are there alligators in the Banana River? Is it safe to eat fish from the Indian River? If not already set, click on "Satellite" view and it changes from map mode to Landsat satellite imagery.

You can back out using the slidebar at the left. Depending on the water clarity at the time the image was made you will be able to see bottom structure and areas covered by aquatic vegetation, as well as deeper holes sandbars, cuts and channels, etc, as demonstrated by this image of Dummits Cove on Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

You can also get there by just opening the website and double clicking on the part of the country you want to see, then using the mouse to drag the image around to explore the area. In this way you can actually explore an area you have never fished before and have a little more knowlege about the area when you do go.

Indian River Lagoon Overview and Habitats. Jump to; Fish Species Fishing Strategies. Gamefish Species The Indian River Lagoon within the Space Coast area offers a diverse selection of gamefish to try for with a variety of baits and lures being effective. Jump to Fishing Strategies Back to Top.

Pelagic Feeders feed throughout the water column but place a greater emphasis on the middle and upper levels and will take both live shrimp and baitfish such as finger mullet, glass minnows and other schooling species.

They can be caught on a variety of lures including topwater and subsurface plugs, spoons, jighead lures, both feather or bucktail and soft plastic types. Bottom Feeders typically specialize on feeding on shrimps, crabs and other invertebrate life forms along the bottom of the lagoon and will not normally feed on baitfish such as mullet.

Fishing Strategies. Back to Top Fish Species. Back to Top. Local Services Directory. Port D' Hiver. Coconuts on the Beach. Florida's Fresh Grill. Old Fish House Bar and Grill. Captain Alex Gorichky. Sunrise Marina. Sandy Beach Surfing. While often referred to as the "Indian River", in reality it is not a river at all.

Instead it is an estuarine lagoon formed by the formation of the barrier island complex to the east about 7, years ago.

The entire system actually encompasses three major water bodies, the Indian River Lagoon, the Banana River again not actually a river. Lucie County, and St. Lucie Inlet in Martin County. There are also many freshwater tributaries to the lagoon and due to the variances in salinity as well as the fact the the northern portion of the lagoon is located in a temperate climatic zone while the southern portion is subtropical, the lagoon has the highest biodiversity of any estuarine ecosystem in North America, including over fish species.

For this reason the Indian River Lagoon system is one of the top fisheries in the country. Below we will discuss the primary habitats of the lagoon and their importance to fishing success. Seagrass Flats; The average depth of the Indian River Lagoon is about four feet and historically, seagrass flats covered almost the entire bottom. While stormwater pollutants from development have significantly reduced the abundance of seagrasses they still remain one the most important vegetation communities in the lagoon.

Seagrasses, unlike algae, are vascular plants related to terrestrial grasses that evolved into their present state as water levels rose after the last ice age and today form the basis of the food chain of the lagoon.

Shrimp, crabs and many other invertebrates use the seagrass beds as a nursery area as well as cover from predators as do juvenile fishes of many species. In addition, mullet, a primary food source for many gamefish species, feed on the algae that form on the blades of the seagrasses and in turn help to fuel the entire ecosystem.

As such the seagrass beds offer some of the most productive and exciting fishing opportunities in the lagoon system, particularly during the summer baitfish season when reds, seatrout, snook, tarpon, and other species are chasing the schools of juvenile finger mullet that crowd the flats each summer through fall. Salt Marshes are an extremely important component of the lagoon habitat, serving as both a nursery for juvenile gamefish and a major producer of forage for larger gamefish.

While the extreme shallow depths of the water typically excludes larger fish from hunting directly among the salt marsh grasses they will prowl the shallow flats along the outer edges.

Also in areas near inlets where there is a greater tidal influence high tides can be a good time to explore these areas as well as adjacent grass flats when the tides are going out, washing baitfish and shrimps into waters deep enough for gamefish to hunt. Oyster Flats can be found in some parts of the lagoon system, particularly in the Northern Reaches of Mosquito Lagoon around Oak Hill and can be great fishing habitats.

While Black Drum may feed on the oysters themselves, many other species of gamefish such as redfish seatrout snook tarpon and sheepshead seek out the many species of crabs, shrimp, barnacles, flatworms on other small creatures that make their homes within the crevasses of an oyster reef.

Seatrout are one of the four most popular gamefish along the Space Coast, reaching a maximum size of about 20 pounds although the average will be much smaller, about 2 lbs. They will hit live shrimp, finger mullet, pigfish, and many other baitfish species. Early morning topwater plugs cast over shallow grassflats can bring explosive strikes from larger trout. On deeper flats of about feet in depth, other lures such as spoons, plastic and bucktail jigs, and subsurface plugs like the suspending mirrolure series can also produce.

During the summer, school size trout from 10 to about 15 inches can be caught near schools of glass minnows and found congregating on foot flats and often around docks and other structures. Trout can also be caught around mangrove lined shorelines in canals and other deeper areas. Indian River Lagoon Project. Namespaces Page Discussion. More More Languages. Page actions Read View source History. The mile long Indian River Lagoon National Estuary watershed covers an area of 2, square miles with square miles of water surface area.

Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach County.