Introduction
It’s morning on the Peace River. This is when the river earns its name. Wrapped in a blanket of mist, it’s a study in serenity and stillness. In many places its flow is barely perceptible, averaging a mile per hour or less. Few ripples mar its glassy surface. Only the leisurely drifting of a leaf points the way downstream.
Light gathers. Filtered by the forest canopy, the rising sun sweeps the river with diagonal golden beams. The cry of a limpkin echoes down the smooth, black water — an eerie, wailing alarm clock, rousing some, signaling others it’s time to sleep.
Life comes to the river, and the river comes to life...
Whirligig beetles scatter and regroup, swirling and swarming in flat floating heaps.
Water snakes shelter in the spatterdock.
Hidden in the overhanging branches, elegant, twiglike long-jawed orbweavers pluck at their webs, shedding the dew as quickly as it forms.
Little blue herons wade with outstretched wings, scanning their shadows for a flash of silver scales.
Three sliders balance on a sun-warmed snag, stubby legs extended, feet splayed. Coated with algae, their dark shells steam.
A flock of ibises lands nearby and quietly begins to feed, while an alligator watches, waiting.
It’s a scene repeated daily, little changed for thousands of years.
What is a watershed? A watershed is an area of land that water flows across as it moves toward a common body of water, such as a stream, river, lake or coast.
Next section: Where the river begins