SamFamAustin
12-01-2006, 08:39 PM
Pellucid made an interesting comment on the AMB forum about the Abacos not being able to support a lot of bird populations like gulls and pelicans because the ocean was basically a "desert" devoid of nutrients.
I'm not disputing that in the least although I do have some comments, like how vast stretches of the Gulf are a real desert except for the occassional reef, canyon, or oil & gas rig. Now to me that's really a desert, with absolutely nothing growing!
Perhaps Pellucid might be saying that there is absolutely no nutrient flow from the wetlands, which are quite extensive in the Gulf of Mexico. There in the wetlands, crabs, worms, birds, and small bait thrive, allowing breeding and juvenile areas for fish such as snook, flounder, redfish (drum), sea trout (weakfish), and so forth. Call it a sandy mud thang, maybe.
Not being an aquatic biologist, I can say that the reef ecology of places such as the Abacos is quite a miracle because it lacks nutrients inflows from wetlands such as decomposed nitrogen, phosphorous, and trace metals such as zinc.
However, there is something called "ocean upwelling" that is able to stir up vast amounts of nutrients from the depths of the ocean. These can be caused by current eddies spinning off the Gulf Stream and interestingly, there are some currents and eddies which form east of the Abacos and join up with the Gulf Stream as well, to the north.
It is a fascinating subject but my limited understanding is that such current eddies can sweep up large quantities of plankton and nutrients, which attracts the bait fish and then the pelagics. That is perhaps why the Abacos has much better offshore fishing than other places along the Atlantic Coast, even Florida.
What is not clear in my mind is how the reef ecology does so well, since the eddy currents are several miles out to sea. Something keeps them going. Believe me, with the over-fishing experiences all along the Atlantic and Gulf coastlines, you're loaded with fish. It's just that there's not many birds.
Any ideas?
I'm not disputing that in the least although I do have some comments, like how vast stretches of the Gulf are a real desert except for the occassional reef, canyon, or oil & gas rig. Now to me that's really a desert, with absolutely nothing growing!
Perhaps Pellucid might be saying that there is absolutely no nutrient flow from the wetlands, which are quite extensive in the Gulf of Mexico. There in the wetlands, crabs, worms, birds, and small bait thrive, allowing breeding and juvenile areas for fish such as snook, flounder, redfish (drum), sea trout (weakfish), and so forth. Call it a sandy mud thang, maybe.
Not being an aquatic biologist, I can say that the reef ecology of places such as the Abacos is quite a miracle because it lacks nutrients inflows from wetlands such as decomposed nitrogen, phosphorous, and trace metals such as zinc.
However, there is something called "ocean upwelling" that is able to stir up vast amounts of nutrients from the depths of the ocean. These can be caused by current eddies spinning off the Gulf Stream and interestingly, there are some currents and eddies which form east of the Abacos and join up with the Gulf Stream as well, to the north.
It is a fascinating subject but my limited understanding is that such current eddies can sweep up large quantities of plankton and nutrients, which attracts the bait fish and then the pelagics. That is perhaps why the Abacos has much better offshore fishing than other places along the Atlantic Coast, even Florida.
What is not clear in my mind is how the reef ecology does so well, since the eddy currents are several miles out to sea. Something keeps them going. Believe me, with the over-fishing experiences all along the Atlantic and Gulf coastlines, you're loaded with fish. It's just that there's not many birds.
Any ideas?