Biscayne Bay

Biscayne Bay is a special kind of water area called a lagoon that also has features of an estuary. It is found along the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern part of this lagoon is close to many busy cities in the Miami metropolitan area, while the southern part is mostly wild and natural. A big part of the southern end is protected inside Biscayne National Park.

The main part of Biscayne Bay is about 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide. It covers an area of about 221 square miles. Some people include extra nearby water areas like Dumfoundling Bay, Card Sound, and Barnes Sound. When these are added, the whole Biscayne Bay becomes about 60 miles long and covers around 271 square miles.

Etymology

In the 1500s, a Spanish writer named Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda told stories about a sailor from the Bay of Biscay in Spain. This sailor had lived on Florida’s east coast after his ship wrecked. Later maps from the 1600s showed a place called Cayo de Biscainhos, which likely gave the name to Key Biscayne. Over time, the lagoon’s name changed from “Key Biscayne Bay” to simply “Biscayne Bay” by the late 1800s.

The lagoon had many other names too. In 1513, Juan Ponce de León called it Chequescha, and in 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés called it Tequesta, after the people who lived there. When the British ruled Florida from 1763 to 1783, they used names like Cape River, Dartmouth Sound, and Sandwich gulph.

Geography

Biscayne Bay is a special kind of water area along the Atlantic coast of South Florida. It stretches most of the way along Miami-Dade County, from North Miami Beach down to the upper Florida Keys. The bay is about 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide, covering around 221 square miles.

The bay is bordered by land on the west and by islands and shallow waters on the east. It has characteristics of both a lagoon and an estuary. The northern part of the bay is close to many developed areas of Miami, while the southern part is more natural and includes parts of Biscayne National Park. The bay is usually divided into three sections: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay, each with its own features and water sources.

History

Thousands of years ago, what is now Biscayne Bay was a place filled with fresh water. As the ocean levels rose, salt water entered, changing it into the bay we see today. Long before cities were built, people lived near the area that is now Biscayne Bay. Ancient bones and tools have been found, showing that people were there almost 11,000 years ago.

Explorers from Spain visited the bay in the 1500s. Over time, storms created new paths for the ocean to meet the bay. In the early 1900s, people made changes like cutting new channels for ships, which changed the shape and water flow of the bay. These changes, along with city growth, have affected the bay, but efforts to monitor and improve water quality have been helping since 1979.

Causeways

The first bridge across Biscayne Bay was a wooden bridge built in 1912. It was made by John S. Collins and his son-in-law Thomas Pancoast. The bridge helped people travel to the area and turned it into a popular winter spot. Later, it was replaced with a bigger bridge called the Venetian Causeway.

More bridges, or causeways, were built over time to connect different parts of the area. These include the MacArthur Causeway, Julia Tuttle Causeway, John F. Kennedy Causeway, Broad Causeway, Rickenbacker Causeway, and the Card Sound Bridge. These bridges made it easier for people to travel between the mainland and the islands.

Parks and marinas

Much of Biscayne Bay is protected within Biscayne National Park. Many state and local parks are found along the edges of the bay, especially around the northern part.

Some notable parks include Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne and Oleta River State Park near the Oleta River. Miami-Dade County runs several parks along the bay such as Haulover Park, Crandon Park, and the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The county also has marinas at several of these parks and at Pelican Harbor Marina.

The City of Miami has many parks along the bay, including Bayfront Park and Peacock Park. The city also operates marinas such as Dinner Key Marina and Miami Marine Stadium Marina.

Protected areas

The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve covers most of Biscayne Bay that is not part of Biscayne National Park. It was created in 1974 and includes areas from the Oleta River to the southern end of Card Sound. The preserve is split into two parts: one north of the park and one to the south, including Card Sound. It protects about 69,000 acres of underwater land owned by the state.

Another preserve, created in 1975, runs from Cape Florida to the Miami-Dade County-Monroe County line. After Biscayne National Monument became a National Park, this preserve was reduced to about 4,163 acres near Key Biscayne. Together, these are called the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves. Card Sound and Barnes Sound are part of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

The Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge on Key Largo protects 650 acres of open water in Card Sound and Barnes Sound. Lobsters are protected all year in the Biscayne Bay-Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary, which covers the lagoon from Cape Florida to the Card Sound Bridge.

Threats

The water level at Virginia Key near Biscayne Bay has been going up by about 3 millimeters each year since 1931. This means the nearby islands, which are very low, could face big floods soon. Some places near the bay have had wells drilled for gas and oil, but none found enough to use.

Miami-Dade County has a large area for trash at Black Point next to the bay. The county also runs three places to clean wastewater close to the bay. The oldest one is on Virginia Key, with others in North Miami and at Black Point.