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The Kirkwood Cohansey Aquifer in the NJ Pine Barrens holds trillions of gallons of water—some of the purest water in the United States.

New Jersey. Within the NJ Pine Barrens is the Kirkwood Cohansey aquifer, with trillions of gallons of some of the purest water in the United States. This underground water dates back millions of years to the Tertiary and Quaternary ages. It is the source of our fresh water today.

Scientists looking at the Atlantic Coastal Plain have a theory about the age of our barrier island and its back bay estuary. They believe that when the last glaciers melted, about 15,000 years ago, sea level rose and flooded the shoreline. The rising waters carried sediment, minerals, and organic matter. This sediment was dropped into the shallow water off the coast. As it continued to build up, it became our barrier island.

Sail today into Barnegat Bay, through either inlet, and you encounter one of the most significant salt marsh ecosystems along the mid-Atlantic Coast. Here you can discover the wetlands, salt marshes, and tidal waters that have drawn people for centuries.

Barnegat Bay is an estuary—a coastal body of water, with one or more rivers or Barnegat Bay Watershed streams flowing into it that connects to the open sea. The fresh water comes from rain- In addition to the residents and visitors on Long Beach Island, the following areas also contribute to the health or deteriora- water, rivers and streams, and the aquifers tion of the Barnegat Bay Watershed: of the Pinelands and mixes with the salt water of the oceans. Our estuary, like others, is Barnegat a special home to many species of plants, Bay Head Beachwood birds, and marine life.

Berkeley

Brick

Be careful as you navigate our Bay—it is Dover very shallow, with an average depth of 6 Eagleswood feet. It’s a good size, about 72 square miles Freehold in its entirety. It is long (30 miles) and narrow

Howell Island Heights (1 to 4 miles wide). Today Barnegat Bay is

Jackson part of the InterCoastal Waterway, but a

Lacey great deal of the Bay area is tricky, as long- Lakehurst ago sea captains and pirates discovered.

Lakewood

Lavallette

Our Bay is part of the Barnegat Bay Water- Little Egg Harbor shed, which encompasses all the land area

Manchester

Mantoloking in which rain and various rivers and streams

Millstone drain into it. More than 500,000 people live Ocean Gate within the Barnegat Bay Watershed, which Pine Beach includes nearly all of Ocean County. That

Plumsted

Point Pleasant population doubles in the summer.

Point Pleasant Beach

Seaside Heights

Fresh water flows into our Bay, mixes with Seaside Park the tidal salt water from the ocean, and South Toms River creates a back bay environment of salt Stafford marshes and tidal wetlands. This is an ideal Tuckerton environment for more than 150 species Wall of birds and fish. We have resident and migratory bird and fish species, especially estuarine fish, shellfish, and resident terrapins.

Salt marshes are a natural filtration system that removes pollutants brought in by the tide. They are also nursing and feeding areas for fish and wildlife. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated Barnegat Bay an Estuary of National Significance on July 10, 1995.

Salt marshes and adjacent submerged vegetation areas provide habitat to numerous plant and animal species. These areas of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds are a critical part of a salt marsh ecosystem. They serve as the essen-

Peregrine Falcon

Roseate Tern

Piping Plover

Great Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron

Barred Owl

Least Tern

Osprey tial habitat for a host of organisms including mollusks, crabs, worms, fish, and waterfowl. SAV includes grasses such as eel and widgeon in beds, which are important for both energy flow and the nutrition of the estuary.

Living among the salt marsh grasses are many kinds of animals. Some of the animals that dig down into the tidal marshes include razor clams, quahogs, clam worms, and soft-shell clams. Other creatures associated with marsh life are various shorebirds, such as railbirds and ospreys; ducks, including wood-ducks and teals; reptiles, such as snapping turtles and diamondback terrapins; mammals, including raccoons and muskrats; and insects, such as mosquitoes and greenhead flies. Like the plant life, these animals have adapted to the conditions of the salt marsh including changes in temperature and tidal waters.

Despite their natural ability to adapt to tidal salinity changes and water conditions, marsh environments are fragile and adversely affected by human intervention and natural conditions. The birds of Barnegat Bay are good indicators of the quality of living resources in the Bay because they have high sensitivities to chemical contaminants, human disturbance, and the overall condition of the Bay. Some threatened

The northern diamondback terrapin (Malaclemyst.terrapin) is one of the most colorful turtles in the world. The northern diamondback terrapin lives and feeds in the Bay, especially among the salt-marsh islands. It nests above the high tide line on the west side of LBI .

The diamondback terrapin is endangered. The terrapin population has been severely depleted by land development along the Atlantic coast. Most dangerous to the terrapin are crab traps and off-road vehicles in their nesting areas.

and endangered species here are the peregrine falcon, roseate tern, piping plover, great blue heron, little blue heron, barred owl, least tern, and the osprey.