Restore America's Estuaries National Summit

This past December, CBA staff attended the Restore America's Estuaries National Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana. With more than 1,200 attendees exploring issues, solutions and lessons learned in their work with estuaries, CBA staff felt right at home.         Our Monitoring Coordinator, Brandy Foley, presented her research, co-authored by Sam Lake of Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Dissolved Oxygen and Water Density Modeling of Choctawhatchee Bay. Brittany Tate, our Education Coordinator, presented her work with Okaloosa and Walton county schools, Student-Led Habitat Restoration in Northwest Florida. Lastly, with her extensive work on habitat restoration, Rachel Gwin, our Restoration Coordinator, gave her presentation, Lessons Learned: Evolving Living Shoreline Techniques in a Florida Panhandle Estuary. We would like to thank Restore America's Estuaries and The Coastal Society for hosting the 8th Nation Summit.

From Left to Right: Brandy Foley, Rachel Gwin, Alison McDowell and Brittany Tate

Click the photo above to sign up and find out more about Destin Bayou, Bay & Beach!

Run For CBA! Destin Bayou, Bay & Beach 5K-10K-15K will take place at Clement Taylor Park in Destin, FL from 7:00 to 11:30am on January 28, 2017. A portion of race proceeds will be donated to Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance. We urge you and your families, as CBA members, to put on those running shoes and help make a difference!  If running isn't your style, we are looking for 25 volunteers to help man the water tables along the running routes. Contact CBA if you are interested in more information! After your run, join us at Wholefoods in Destin for our Oyster Roast from 11:30 - 2:30pm.

Join the Alliance! Donate to CBA, Today!  Become a steward of local waterways by supporting CBA's mission in the Choctawhatchee watershed. All monetary donations to CBA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Donate to CBA

Check out CBA's 2015 Stewardship Report!

How Does CBA Monitor the Bay?

We don't just monitor water quality at CBA. We also monitor seagrass that grows in the flats of the Bay. Halodule wrightii is the species of seagrass that calls Choctawhatchee Bay its home. Looking out onto the water, the dark colored splotches in the shallow flats are carpets of seagrass that provide habitat and shelter for many species of marine wildlife including redfish, shrimp and speckled trout.      Stingrays (we learned in our October E-newsletter) burrow their nose in the sand to hunt for food. The quick action of their fluttering fins creates a pit in the sand. In the photo to the right, CBA monitoring team members search for stingray pits along a fifty meter transect towards shore and tally how many pits are found. CBA is conducting research on the effects stingray pits have on the Halodule wrightii population. Halodule wrightii has rhyzomatic growth patterns, meaning new plants shoot out laterally from nodes at the base of the mother plant.  Posing the question: Do stingrays uproot Halodule wrightii when they forage for food?

Learn About Seagrass Monitoring

CBA needs Citizen Scientists!   Do you have an inner scientist waiting to shine through? Join CBA in monitoring our watershed and help our scientists by gathering data in the Choctawhatchee Bay and coastal dune lakes. With over 130 sampling stations, there is plenty of "sciencing" to go around. Click on the link to the left to find out more about our program!

Upcoming Events January 1, 2017 Happy New Year! Worldwide January 16, 2017 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Nationwide 3rd Friday in January Arbor Day (Florida) Statewide January 28, 2017 Destin Bayou, Bay & Beach Run Clement Taylor Park Oyster Roast Wholefoods Destin

Dunes In Schools

This past month, middle school students learned about the Coastal Dune Lakes of Walton County. Students conducted an experiment on tannin leaching by observing how tannins from tea leaves leach into a cup of water. Surprisingly, this process is similar to the process occurring in natural habitats around Choctawhatchee Bay.  Our Coastal Dune Lakes are unique ecosystems comprised of water that empties into the Gulf of Mexico when flood levels are reached. While the opposite happens during large storms; Gulf water is washed into these lakes along with marine wildlife creating a very unique menagerie of salt and freshwater creatures. By retaining the dunes located between the Coastal Dune Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, sea oats,  Uniola paniculata, play an important part in protecting these rare environments.    Students are starting their new year off by growing sea oats,  Uniola paniculata, in their classroom to later plant in our delicate dune systems come Spring.

Learn About Dunes In Schools!

Critter of the Month

The Okaloosa Darter lives in only six  stream systems that flow to the Choctawhatchee Bay. Over 97 percent of their habitat is located on Eglin Air Force Base. These little fish only grow to be two inches long! Okaloosa Darters were added to the endangered species list in 1973. In recent years, the Okaloosa Darter's conservation status has been reclassified to Threatened due to the ongoing erosion control efforts by Eglin Air Force Base. Their diet mainly consists of mayfly nymphs, caddisfly larvae and midge larvae. Etheostoma okaloosae is the scientific name for the Okaloosa Darter. Find More Info on Okaloosa Darters Here!

Above Photo Credit: Bill Tate/USFWS Below Photo Credit: Noel Burkhead, USGS

We Want to Hear From You!

As a fellow environmental steward, CBA wants to see Choctawhatchee Bay through your eyes! Do you have photos of Choctawhatchee River, Choctawhatchee Bay or the Coastal Dune Lakes? Upload them to Instagram or Facebook and be sure to tag: #BasinAlliance or #CBAfortheBay