Everglades!
The Florida Everglades is a long
river of sawgrass, only a meter deep but tens of kilometers wide, that
drains from Lake Okeechobee towards the southern tip of Florida. Despite
its long trip, the maximum elevation in the Everglades is less than 3
meters (about 8 feet). The Everglades can be described
in two different ways.
#1: It is a wetland of international significance, more than
600,000 hectares (2300 square miles) in area, rich in wildlife, housing
rare species such as the Florida Panther. It is an important stopover
point for migrating birds.
#2: The Everglades is dying. It is less than 1/5 its historical
size, its hydrology has been completely disrupted by canals and
other engineering projects in Florida. The keystone species such as the
panther (with only 30 animals left) are dying from mercury poisoning.
Populations of the birds have plummeted by as much as 93%. Non-native
plants are widespread, and a new invader (Lygodium) may be the
worst yet.
The truth, of course, is a fusion of both these descriptions. The
Everglades is a great place to see wildlife, but we can only imagine what
it was like 50 or 100 years ago. On the other hand, it is probably a lot
better right now than it will be in 50 or 100 years in the future!
Portrayed in this photo montage is an anhinga, one of the many birds I saw as I drove from Miami down to Flamingo, at the very southern
tip of mainland Florida.
