An Overview of Barnegat Bay New JerseyWhat Shapes the Bay

OCC ENVI 152Fall 2013

Barnegat Bay is one of 28 Estuaries in the United States to be funded through the National Estuary ProgramOver 550,000 people now reside in the Barnegat Bay Watershed (2010) Manasquan InletBarnegat InletLittle Egg Inlet

Barnegat InletNThe length of Barnegat Bay is approximately 64 km

Barnegat Bay and its Watershed encompasses over 660 square miles (BBEP Characterization 2001)The entire Barnegat Bay system has a mean 50 day flush rate (over 30 days in winter and 74 days in summer (Kennish).

Estuaries as HabitatsEstuaries provide multiple habitat types including marshes, marsh pools, tidal creeks, and shoreline deep water habitats

Finfish can inhabit specific habitats with fish being considered seasonal residents (19%), residents (21%), nursery (38%) or strays (22%) in a study on Great Bay and Little Egg Harbor (Able et al. 1996 in Estuarine Shores).

Submerged Aquatic VegetationIn some estuaries over 300 species of fish reside all in which SAV is important:Provide habitat for juvenilesKey source of oxygen productionImportant part of nutrient cycling Binds and stabilizes sediments

Marsh ZonationHigh Marsh Not flooded regularly with predominant Spartina patens and PhragmitesSeries of marsh pools at higher elevations

Low Marsh Floods regularly with Spartina alternifloraCreeks and ditches with sometimes tidal effects Support a higher density of finfish than SAV beds (Sogard and Able 1991).

Jones & Strange 2006

Jones & Strange 2006

Jones & Strange 2006

Barnegat Bay: Anthropogenic EffectsNutrient Runoff makes it a highly eutrophic system (US EPA)Thermal Pollution from surface water cooling system at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating FacilityReduction in shellfish stocks due to changes in water quality, specific shellfish diseases and consumption

NJDEP May 2011

NJDEP May 2011

Eutrophication

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Facility The First Nuclear Generating Facility Operated in the United States (1969). Slated to be closed in 2019

Aerial View of N. Long Beach Island Aerial View of Island Beach State ParkIsland

Courtesy of Dr. Jill Lipotti, NJDEP

Ambient Water Quality Monitoring14 Bay Sites12 Tributary Sites TDMLTotal Daily Maximum Load

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Program (12 Tributary Sites along Barnegat Bay)Source: NJDEP August 2012

Mill Creek (BT11)Poor macroinvertebrate scoreHigh AmmoniaStafford Business Park55 acre New Landfill25 acre Old LandfillWalter Homes, Inc.

Tuckerton, New Jersey

North Sedge Island, Barnegat Bay, NJIn a Marine Conservation ZoneOptimal nesting locationCaretakers: Jackie and Tony RanieroTerrapin research upwards of 10 yearsFemales terrapins have a 75-90% return rate

Location

*from Annalee Tweitmann, BBSGP Summer 2013

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