Estuaries in the context of Hamerkop

The Gulf of Drin or Bay of Drin (Albanian: Gjiri i Drinit or Pellgu i Drinit) is an ocean basin of the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean Sea along the northern coast of Albania. Roughly scythe-shaped, it extends immediately from the Delta of the Buna in the north, across the port city of Shëngjin, to the Cape of Rodon in the south. The shoreline of the gulf is a shallow combination of sandy beaches, sand dunes, capes, salty and fresh water wetlands, estuaries, pine and coastal forests, reed beds and coastal meadows.

The shoreline of the gulf has a length of approximately 60 kilometres and is dotted with cliffs and beaches fed by fluvial imputes. The region is drained by numerous rivers and has formed a characteristic ecosystem and biodiversity. It is named after the Drin River that runs through a mountainous area towards the coast, however, the Ishëm and Mat also drain into the gulf. In consideration to the flat landscape, the gulf's shoreline are dotted with extensive wetlands and lagoons that continuously change in size and shape.

The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands.

"International waters" is not a defined term in international law. It is an informal term, which sometimes refers to waters beyond the "territorial sea" of any country. In other words, "international waters" is sometimes used as an informal synonym for the more formal term "high seas", which under the doctrine of mare liberum (Latin for "freedom of the seas"), do not belong to any state's jurisdiction. As such, states have the right to fishing, navigation, overflight, laying cables and pipelines, as well as scientific research.

A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and long green, grass-like leaves. They produce seeds and pollen and have roots and rhizomes which anchor them in seafloor sand.

Seagrasses form dense underwater meadows which are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. They provide habitats and food for a diversity of marine life comparable to that of coral reefs. This includes invertebrates like shrimp and crabs, cod and flatfish, marine mammals and birds. They provide refuges for endangered species such as seahorses, turtles, and dugongs. They function as nursery habitats for shrimps, scallops and many commercial fish species. Seagrass meadows provide coastal storm protection by the way their leaves absorb energy from waves as they hit the coast. They keep coastal waters healthy by absorbing bacteria and nutrients, and slow the speed of climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide into the sediment of the ocean floor.

Plankton are organisms that drift in water (or air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against currents (or wind). Marine plankton include drifting organisms that inhabit the saltwater of oceans and the brackish waters of estuaries. Freshwater plankton are similar to marine plankton, but are found in lakes and rivers. An individual plankton organism in the plankton is called a plankter. In the ocean plankton provide a crucial source of food, particularly for larger filter-feeding animals, such as bivalves, sponges, forage fish and baleen whales.

Plankton includes organisms from species across all the major biological kingdoms, ranging in size from the microscopic (such as bacteria, archaea, protozoa and microscopic algae and fungi) to larger organisms (such as jellyfish and ctenophores). This is because plankton are defined by their ecological niche and level of motility rather than by any phylogenetic or taxonomic classification. The plankton category differentiates organisms from those that can swim against a current, called nekton, and those that live on the deep sea floor, called benthos. Organisms that float on or near the water's surface are called neuston. Neuston that drift as water currents or wind take them, and lack the swimming ability to counter this, form a special subgroup of plankton. Mostly plankton just drift where currents take them, though some, like jellyfish, swim slowly but not fast enough to generally overcome the influence of currents.

The Miskito Cays (Spanish: Cayos Miskitos) are an archipelago of small cays and reefs with an area of 27 km located off Mosquito Coast in the Caribbean exclusive economic zones of Honduras and Nicaragua. They are part of the Gracias a Dios Department in Honduras and the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. The Miskito Cays are composed of 76 formations that include estuaries, coral reefs, cays, seagrass beds, and islets, of which 12 of the formations are covered with vegetation and consequently form islands which are lined with white sand beaches.

In Nicaragua, the Miskito Cay (Cayo Miskito), also known as Cayo Mayor, is the largest and most important cay located in the center of the archipelago measuring 37 km. Other main islands are Maras Cay, Nasa Cay, and Morrison Denis Cay. The Miskito Cays Biological Reserve is one of 78 protected areas of Nicaragua, it was declared a protected area in 1991. The cays, along with a stretch of the adjacent mainland coast, have been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.

The supralittoral zone, also known as the splash zone, spray zone or the supratidal zone, sometimes also referred to as the white zone, is the area above the spring high tide line, on coastlines and estuaries, that is regularly splashed, but not submerged by ocean water. Seawater penetrates these elevated areas only during storms with high tides.

Organisms here must cope also with exposure to air, fresh water from rain, cold, heat and predation by land animals and seabirds. At the top of this area, patches of dark lichens can appear as crusts on rocks. Some types of periwinkles, Neritidae and detritus feeding Isopoda commonly inhabit the lower supralittoral.

Divjakë-Karavasta National Park (Albanian: Parku Kombëtar Divjakë-Karavasta) is a national park in western Albania, sprawling across the Myzeqe Plain in the direct proximity to the Adriatic Sea. The park spans a territory of 222.3 square kilometres (22,230 ha) containing remarkable features such as wetlands, salt marshes, coastal meadows, floodplains, woodlands, reed beds, forests and estuaries. Because of the park's important and great availability of bird and plant species, it has been identified as an important Bird and Plant Area of international importance.

Among the largest in the Mediterranean Sea, the lagoon of Karavasta has been recognised as a wetland of international importance by designation under the Ramsar Convention. It is separated from the Adriatic Sea by a large strip of sand and was formed by the sediments of which has been discharged by the rivers Shkumbin and Seman. Located near the sea, the park experiences mediterranean climate, with temperatures that ranges between 12 °C (54 °F) in February and 24 °C (75 °F) in August.

Caledonia (/ˌkælɪˈdoʊniə/; Latin: Calēdonia [kaleːˈdonia]) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as far south as Rannoch Moor, known as Coed Celedon (Coed Celyddon using the modern alphabet) to the native Brython (Britons). Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all of Scotland. During the Roman Empire's occupation of Britain, the area they called Caledonia was physically separated from the rest of the island by the Antonine Wall. It remained outside the administration of Roman Britain.

Latin historians, including Tacitus and Cassius Dio, referred to the territory north of the River Forth as "Caledonia", and described it as inhabited by the Maeatae and the Caledonians (Latin: Caledonii).

Alluvium (from Latin alluvius, from alluere 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is typically geologically young and is not consolidated into solid rock. Sediments deposited underwater, in seas, estuaries, lakes, or ponds, are not described as alluvium.Floodplain alluvium can be highly fertile, and supported some of the earliest human civilizations.

A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area. Marine coastal ecosystems include many very different types of marine habitats, each with their own characteristics and species composition. They are characterized by high levels of biodiversity and productivity.

For example, estuaries are areas where freshwater rivers meet the saltwater of the ocean, creating an environment that is home to a wide variety of species, including fish, shellfish, and birds. Salt marshes are coastal wetlands which thrive on low-energy shorelines in temperate and high-latitude areas, populated with salt-tolerant plants such as cordgrass and marsh elder that provide important nursery areas for many species of fish and shellfish. Mangrove forests survive in the intertidal zones of tropical or subtropical coasts, populated by salt-tolerant trees that protect habitat for many marine species, including crabs, shrimp, and fish.

Stratification in water is the formation in a body of water of relatively distinct and stable layers by density. It occurs in all water bodies where there is stable density variation with depth. Stratification is a barrier to the vertical mixing of water, which affects the exchange of heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients. Wind-driven upwelling and downwelling of open water can induce mixing of different layers through the stratification, and force the rise of denser cold, nutrient-rich, or saline water and the sinking of lighter warm or fresher water, respectively. Layers are based on water density: denser water remains below less dense water in stable stratification in the absence of forced mixing.

Stratification occurs in several kinds of water bodies, such as oceans, lakes, estuaries, flooded caves, aquifers and some rivers.

Mud (from Middle Low German mudde, mod(de) 'thick mud', or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally called lutites). When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries, the resultant layers are termed bay muds. Mud has also been used for centuries as a construction resource for mostly houses and also used as a binder. An Old English word for it was fen, now in most dialects referring to a type of wetland.

Euryhaline organisms are able to adapt to a wide range of salinities. An example of a euryhaline fish is the short-finned molly, Poecilia sphenops, which can live in fresh water, brackish water, or salt water.

The green crab (Carcinus maenas) is an example of a euryhaline invertebrate that can live in salt and brackish water. Euryhaline organisms are commonly found in habitats such as estuaries and tide pools where the salinity changes regularly. However, some organisms are euryhaline because their life cycle involves migration between freshwater and marine environments, as is the case with salmon and eels.

The Gulf of Khambhat (Gujarati: [kʰəmbʱat̪]), also known as the Gulf of Cambay, is a bay on the Arabian Sea coast of India, bordering the state of Gujarat, just north of Mumbai and the Diu Island. The Gulf of Khambhat is about 200 km (120 mi) long, about 20 km (12 mi) wide in the north and up to 70 km (43 mi) wide in the south. Major rivers draining Gujarat are the Narmada, Tapti, Mahi and the Sabarmati, that form estuaries in the gulf.

It divides the Kathiawar Peninsula from the south-eastern part of Gujarat.

Tecolutla is a town and municipality located on the Tecolutla River on the eastern coast of the state of Veracruz in Mexico. It has the closest beaches to Mexico City, and much of its economy is based on tourism, as it is only a four- or five-hour drive from the capital. It is the northern end of a tourist corridor along the Gulf of Mexico called the "Emerald Coast," which extends down to the city of Veracruz.

Tecolutla's biggest attraction is its natural settings of wetlands with estuaries, canals and mangroves associated with the river. The town is known for the "Tecolutla Monster,"—probably a dead whale—that was washed ashore in 1969. Its remains are kept at the Marine Museum. The name Tecolutla means "place of the tecolotes or owls."

National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCAs) is a Parks Canada programme responsible for marine areas managed for sustainability and containing smaller zones of high protection. They include the seabed, the water itself and any species which occur there. They may also include wetlands, estuaries, islands and other coastal lands. They are protected from dumping, undersea mining, as well as oil and gas exploration and development, which may damage the aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems in the conservation area. However, not all commercial activities are prohibited in these zones. Shipping, commercial and sport fishing, and recreational activities are allowed.