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Things To Do in Jupiter: Mangroves! Mangroves! Mangroves!

a piece of cake

1/20/22

Things To Do in Jupiter

What is a mangrove?

Mangrove Forests | Things to do in Jupiter

(Photos/Bill DiPaolo)

Fingerlike, spooky, tough and loved by wildlife, mangroves are salt-tolerant plants that hug the shore along Jupiter Inlet waterways.

You’ve likely seen their seedlings, greenish sticklings bobbing in the waves.

They float horizontally for a month or so after dropping from the tree.

The tip then drops downward so it can grab sand when it comes ashore.

Roots first appear in about 10 days.

Mangroves make their homes in shady coastal areas in water-logged mud. You can recognize them by their thick tangle of roots. Stilt-like, the roots grip the ground to stabilize them during tidal changes.

Mangroves line more than 1,800 miles of Florida shoreline.

 

Kayak or Stand-Up Paddle Board? Take Your Pick with Your Jupiter Outdoor Center  Mangrove Tour Guide.

a group of people on a boat in the water

All skill levels and ages are welcome on this things to do in Jupiter adventure.

Your guide will provide, life vests, paddles, watercraft, basic paddle and safety instruction.

Jupiter Outdoor Center can meet you at Sawfish Bay, DuBois Park or other locations.

Sign up for a tour here for your things to do in Jupiter adventure.

 

Birds, Juvenile Fish, Crustaceans, Manatees and Sea Turtles Love Mangroves

 

a bird flying in the air on a cloudy day

Look up, down and around — your Jupiter Outdoor Center guide will show you wildlife is everywhere when your paddling tour stops at a mangrove area during your things to do in Jupiter adventure.

Click here to sign up for a tour.

As you pass near Cato’s bridge, look in the clear water and you’ll like see little redfish, snook, tarpon and other fish. They use the clear water under the mangrove’s thick roots to hide out from predatory big fish.

Near the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, look up in the mangrove branches. Birds like egrets, owls, herons, cormorants and roseate spoonbills use branches as rookeries and nesting areas.

Look around the mangroves. Manatees use mangroves as rest areas and raise their young.

 

Mangroves Are Good for the Environment… 

Connect with the mesmerizing view of mangroves.

Put your open hand under the water running out of a faucet.

Notice how the rushing water is dispersed through your fingers?

Mangroves’ above-ground roots act like your fingers to disperse water flows from out-going and in-coming tides.

That encourages soil accumulation. That reduces coastal erosion, especially in areas where there are heavy storm surges, currents and waves.

During hurricanes, mangroves are nature’s shock absorbers, keeping the shore in place.

Mangroves filter nitrates, phosphates and other pollutants from the water.

That prevents that bad stuff from flowing from rivers and streams into our rivers and oceans.

Boaters love mangroves for hurricane protection.

Your Jupiter Outdoor Center guide will fill you in with the details on your things to do in Jupiter tour.

 

And the Local Economy.

a sign on a beach

By keeping the water clean, allowing fish to reach adulthood and reducing erosion, mangroves boost tourism.

Visitors swim, dive, boat, bicycle, fish, watch sea turtles, hike and enjoy other outdoor activities on waterways and shorelines protected by mangroves.

Jupiter Outdoor Center  guides, as do charter boat captains, lifeguards and other environmental stewards, encourage visitors to protect mangroves.

 

Fullerton Island: Mangrove Heaven for Paddlers & Wildlife 

                              Fullerton Island

As you paddle through the 12-acre paradise — no motorized boats allowed — give thanks to the volunteers who planted hundreds of mangroves along the shore of the island a short paddle from Sawfish Bay.

Once considered property to host host mansions with a bridge to the mainland, Fullerton Island was bought by Jupiter in 2008 for $2.9 million.

The town and county spent $3 million dredging, removing exotic plants, building docks and planting mangroves and other native plants.

Admission to Fullerton Island, a great things to do in Jupiter adventure, is free.

Check out the Local Leader in Outdoor Activities: Contact Jupiter Outdoor Center at  jupiteroutdoorcenter.com
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