The brown pelican is one of Florida’s most conspicuous and popular birds.
An estuary is a semi-enclosed body of water where fresh water mixes with salt water.
A model home designed to teach visitors how to accomplish water conservation techniques.
As we enter Sarasota Bay, we see that it is a subtropical estuary. The region is home to a wide variety of marine life, including manatees, mullet, dolphins, spotted sea trout, snook, red drum (also called redfish), stone crab, blue crab and bait shrimp. Tourists come from all over the world to enjoy the aquamarine waters and white sandy beaches. The area features outstanding fishing, boating and wildlife viewing. A few of the bird species we can expect to see here are the great blue heron, snowy egret, brown pelican, 
osprey, wood stork, roseate spoonbill, white ibis, blue heron and seagull.
Development over the past 50 years in Sarasota has resulted in a decline in the number and quality of the area’s saltwater wetlands. Most of this occurred when waterfront communities with concrete seawalls were built to replace the natural shoreline that had been covered with mangroves and other coastal vegetation. This meant that much of the habitat for juvenile fish was also destroyed. However, we now know how important shoreline vegetation is to a saltwater wetland, and improvements are under way. Most of these improvements are spearheaded by the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, which began in 1988. The program identifies important estuaries that have been negatively impacted by human activities and then works toward restoring and preserving the area.
As Sarasota’s population continues to grow, the demand for clean, healthy water also increases. Sarasota County’s water demands are met by a variety of public and private potable water systems. Awareness of water conservation is an important theme for all residents and visitors. Recognizing this, the county and many other public and private partners work to educate residents and visitors about the importance of water conservation. One education tool is the Florida House Learning Center. This state-of-the-art model home demonstrates several ways for conserving water in and around homes, apartments, schools, hotels, resorts and businesses.
Next stop: Oscar Scherer State Park