1. Estuaries
Standard S7L4e

2. Estuary ecosystem

3. Where freshwater meets and mixes with salty ocean waters
What is an Estuary?
Where freshwater meets and mixes with salty ocean waters
Examples include bays and lagoons

4. Location
Hayle Estuary
Chesapeake Bay

6. Types of Animals fungi, bacteria and protozoa mussels
ribbon worms and flatworms
copepods and amphipods

7. Types of Animals
Pacific Salmon, herring, Cutthroat Trout, stickleback and sculpins
bears, cougars, river and sea otters, harbour seals, sea lions, mink and raccoons

8. copepods
mussels
killdeer

9. Types of Plants microscopic algae called phytoplankton marsh grasses
mangroves
Aquatic plants such as eelgrass and sedges; terrestrial plants such as dunegrass and salt grass

10. Marsh grasses
mangroves

11. Why are estuaries so important?
They provide breeding and nesting areas, or rookeries, for many coastal birds, such as brown pelicans.
They function as natural water purification systems