Redfish Bay is a southwestern extension of

Aransas Bay Aransas Bay is a bay on the Texas Gulf Coast, approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, and south of San Antonio. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by San José Island (also referred to as St. Joseph Island). Aransas Pass is the most ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, north of

Corpus Christi Bay Corpus Christi Bay is a scenic semi-tropical bay on the Texas coast found in San Patricio and Nueces counties, next to the major city of Corpus Christi. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Mustang Island, and is fed by the Nueces River ...

. It separates the cities of

Aransas Pass Aransas Pass is a navigable salt water channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Aransas Bay on the Texas Gulf coast in the United States. The pass separates Mustang Island to the south from San José Island to the north, and is protected by je ...

and Ingleside from

Port Aransas Port Aransas ( ) is a city in Nueces County, Texas, United States. This city is 180 miles southeast of San Antonio. The population was 2,904 at the 2020 census. Port Aransas is the only established town on Mustang Island. It is located north of ...

Mustang Island Mustang Island is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States. The island is 18 miles (29 km) long, stretching from Corpus Christi to Port Aransas. The island is oriented generally northeast–southwest, with the Gulf ...

Features

Redfish Bay is found at N 27.9078 and W -97.11277. Overall, it is extremely shallow and contains several small

islands An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es, channels and shallow

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

s. The bridge from Aransas Pass to Port Aransas splits the bay into two sections.

Ecosystem

The northernmost extensive beds of

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

in Texas, including Turtle Grass ('' Thalassia testudinum'') and Shoal Grass (''

Halodule ''Halodule'' is a genus of plants in the family Cymodoceaceae described as a genus in 1841. It is widespread on tropical and semi-tropical ocean shores of all continents except Europe and Antarctica. Species Hybridization has been reported in ...

beaudettei''), are found in the bay. In June 2000, the

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage ...

designated the bay as a scientific area to study the seagrass, as a result, the Redfish Bay State Scientific Area was established. By May 2006, new boating regulations were put in place to prevent damage to the grass. Every February since 2007, the city of Aransas Pass holds the Redfish Bay Trash Parade and Coastal Cleanup, an event that encourages the removal of trash and waste from the bay, due to pollution. In 2009, 90 volunteers cleared three pickup loads of trash that included

syringe A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside ...

s, construction

hard hat A hard hat is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments such as industrial or construction sites to protect the head from injury due to falling objects, impact with other objects, debris, rain, and electric shock. Suspensio ...

s, ribbons and busted balloons. The bay contains of fish habitat, and is a popular fishing destination along the Texas coast. Between 1975 and 1987, millions of

Red drum The red drum (''Sciaenops ocellatus''), also known as redfish, channel bass, puppy drum, spottail bass, or simply red, is a game fish found in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to northern Mexi ...

(''Sciaenops ocellatus''), were stocked in the bay. Along with the drum,

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...

can be found, as well as seatrout ('' Cynoscion'' spp.), which dwell in the seagrass and muddy bottoms.

Red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural phycotoxin, algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are ...

s have been known to affect the bay including a 1986 tide that resulted in a major

fish kill The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off, refers to a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalized mortality of aquatic life.University of Florida. Gainesville, FL (2005) ''Plant Management in Fl ...

. Months later, another tide swept the bay and Corpus Christi Bay to the south. A fish-killing microorganism was found in Corpus Christi Bay that was believed to be responsible.

Industry

Petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

has been found at the bottom of the bay. In December 1983, three people were injured and between $2 and $3 million of damage was done to the Corpus Christi Oil Refining Corporation's Redfish Bay Terminal near the bay in Aransas Pass, following an explosion of five oil tanks.

References

Bays of Texas Bodies of water of Aransas County, Texas Bodies of water of Nueces County, Texas Bodies of water of San Patricio County, Texas

External links

* * * Redfish Bayin Geonames.org (cc-by)* {{GNIS, 1344975, Redfish Bay, type=bay