Marine Environment

I will be honest with you, before fieldtrip I was a little skeptic. Where can they possible take us for the marine environment? I thought we probably are just going to go the beach; it will be hot, humid and nothing new. But our professor surprised us all as usual. We went to this interesting place I never knew even existed on the Fort Myers beach. It is called Matanzas Pass Preserve. First I got to learn a lot from this lovely lady who told us about rich history of the Fort Myers. She is extremely nice. She gave us to try her own jam!!! It was delicious.

Then we went on the short board walk though the marine environment. The Matanzas Pass Preserve has the last maritime oak hammock community on Estero Island. A hammock is an elevated area surrounded by wetlands or different vegetation. This change in habitat provides for a diversity of birds and animals.

There were a lot of Mangrove trees: red, white and black. We also saw the resurrection fern.  

What I liked the most is the time when we got to just sit and enjoy the view of the lake. It is being preserved so there is not fishing allowed. We could see how fish was jumping out of the water every few minutes.  That lady said that unfortunately a lot has changed since the time she was young. The water is not as clear as it used to be. Human development since 1940 has resulted in alteration of the natural landscape. We are building so many bars and other building that people do not come to simply enjoy the sunset as they used to be. Despite that beach is amazing. If I had a chance I would come there every day for a walk. It is so calming a peaceful there.