Nueces Bay
Encyclopedia
Nueces Bay is a northwestern extension of Corpus Christi Bay
in the San Patricio and Nueces counties of Texas. The bay is fed by the Nueces River
, forming a natural estuary
, which renders it ecologically and economically vital to the surrounding area. It serves as a habitat for the propagation of fish and shellfish, which sustain diverse species of birds and other wildlife. The bay is threatened by pollution from the heavy industry
on its southern shore, which prevents oyster farming. Petrochemical production and oil are important to the surrounding economies of the major settlements of Corpus Christi
and Portland
, found on the eastern shore and connected by the Nueces Bay Causeway at the bay's confluence
with Corpus Christi Bay.
Agriculture dominates the northern shore, where many plots of land are still owned by the descendants of early settlers. The largely abandoned historical communities of Rosita and West Portland are also located in this area. To the west, the Odem Bay extension is formed, and is fed by Rincon Bayou and a large complex of marsh formed by the Nueces River delta. Just south of the mouth, are the remains of the abandoned Nuecestown settlement, which is now included in the Corpus Christi city limits.
arrived, and were present when Europeans came ashore.
Nueces is Spanish
for "nuts", and refers to the pecan trees that grew along the banks of the Nueces River, noted by Spanish explorer Alonso De León
in 1689. It is unclear when the name was given to the bay; it was called San Miguel Arcángel by Spanish captain Joaquín de Orobio y Basterra in 1747, and an 1835 map of Texas identified it as Papelote or "wastepaper" Bay. It appears to have been first noted on a Spanish map in 1527 as the mouth of the Río Escondido or hidden river, which is believed to be the Nueces. French explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle sailed into the bay in 1685, mistakenly believing it was the Mississippi River
. Spanish colonial governor José de Escandón
planned a villa
on the mouth of the Nueces River named Villa de Vedoya. Fifty families were sent the site in 1749, but failed to establish a settlement, due to a lack of sufficient supplies. Later that century, missionaries discussed the possibility of moving Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission to the site, but decided against the idea due to conflict with the Lipan Apaches. Germans attempted to settle the same area, but were turned away by the French during the Pastry War
in the 1830s. The next decade, a colony for freed slaves was proposed by abolitionist Benjamin Lundy
, who had to cancel after the outbreak of the Texas Revolution
.
Corpus Christi
, which was founded as a trading post
on the southeastern shore in 1839, is believed to be the first permanent settlement on the bay. It soon grew into a major Texas port with a population of 277,454 at the time of the 2000 census. In 1852, a settlement was finally established at the confluence
of the Nueces River and Nueces Bay by Henry Kinney
, who also founded Corpus Christi. The community was referred to as The Motts by German and English settlers for nearby tree clusters, but was officially known as Nuecestown. It was raided by Mexican bandits in 1875, but recovered and grew to a population of 200 by 1896. After the railroad passed on the town in 1905, it declined, and is today included in the city limits of Corpus Christi. To the north of the bay, the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company controlled a large segment of San Patricio County for ranch
ing during the aftermath of the Texas Revolution. David Sinton
and later Charles Phelps Taft
, whose names are immortalized by the nearby towns of Sinton
and Taft
, were involved with the company. They sold a plot of land on the northeast of Nueces Bay to George H. Paul, who hired Mexican immigrants to clear the land of mesquite
trees and founded a ranching community later named West Portland. The plots of land in this community are still mostly held by the descendants of the original owners. The town of Portland
—on the extreme northeast of the bay—was also established from land purchased from the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company by future State Senator John G. Willacy with help from a New England
company. The town steadily grew and reached a population of 14,827 by 2000. To the northwest of the bay, on the Whites Point peninsula, a settlement was established around 1866 by cattledriver
Darius Rachal, who had purchased land on the point from the cattle-driving White family. Soon after his purchase, many of the Whites died of yellow fever
as an epidemic swept the area and killed 14 people. Rachal used his land to raise cattle, grow cotton and sell real estate to new settlers. A post office was established at the site in 1892, and was given the name Rosita or "little flower" after the names "White Point" and "Rachal" were rejected by United States Postal Service
. After a 1915 gas explosion and two massive hurricanes, including a 1919 storm
that killed 26 residents (approximately 50 were killed in Portland and 47 in Corpus Christi), the post office was abolished in 1919 and by the next year most residents had relocated to Odem
.
, and is part of the geographic transition from the grasslands of the coastal plain to the dry brush region of South Texas. It forms at the base of the Nueces River, which enters at the southwesternmost point of the bay. North of the Nueces entrance is the extension of Odem Bay, named for the nearby settlement of Odem. This extension includes shallow marsh fed by an extensive system of tidal streams including Rincon Bayou, and is headed by Whites Point to the east. Due south of Whites Point at the mouth of Odem Bay, is an oil field, situated against the backdrop of heavy industry on the shore to the southwest. The southern shore, which continues toward Rincon Point, is slender due to the industrial canal dredged to the south to the Port of Corpus Christi
. The mouth of Nueces Bay on Corpus Christi Bay from Rincon Point to Indian Point, is crossed by the mile-long (1.6 km) Nueces Bay Causeway, which leads to Portland. West Portland is found on the shoreline of the bay as it curves north and west, which is lined with pier
s and residences. The bay leads back west to Whites Point on the north shore, which is largely used for agriculture.
in 1985, freshwater inflows have decreased from the Nueces River, increasing the bay's salinity
, and hurting the natural oyster and shrimp habitat. In response, the City of Corpus Christi, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
and two additional state agencies have worked to restore the natural freshwater inflows into the bay. The Odem Bay extension is low in salinity and serves as a nursery for shrimp, which migrate to Nueces Bay in spring. Oyster
beds are common throughout the bay and are known to be hiding spots for such fish as Trout
, Black drum
, Flounder
and Redfish
. Such finfish must be protected from excessive freshwater introduction for survival.
A diverse collection of birds sustained by the water life, such as the black skimmer
, brown pelican
, great blue heron
, egret
, laughing gull
, roseate spoonbill
, tern
, and the white ibis
, can be found in the bay, especially near the mouth of Rincon Bayou. Local efforts by the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries program have benefited bird populations by adding crushed oyster shells to the bay's small islands for improved nesting conditions, and the restoration of marsh near the Nueces Bay Causeway to increase fish populations to satisfy the birds' dietary requirements. At the nearby Nueces Delta Preserve, countless birds have been observed, as well as Bobcat
s, Coyote
s, Feral hogs, Mountain lions, Rattlesnake
s, Texas spiny lizard
s, Western diamondbacks and White-tailed deer
.
accounted for a yearly input of $17 million to the local economy, while commercial fishermen
contributed $27.3 million. Commercial oyster farming
was common in the bay until 1995, when the Texas Department of State Health Services
suspended the practice, due to an unhealthy annual average zinc
level of nearly 2500 mg/kg in oysters, which as filter feeder
s, are affected by high levels of zinc in the water. The excessive zinc is believed to have been dumped into the bay by the American Smelting and Refining Company's Encycle Texas Incorporated subsidiary, which operated a zinc refinery at the site from 1942 to 1985. The Nueces Bay Power Station is also believed to have discharged zinc used for coolant until December 2002. Since that time, zinc levels in the bay have been reduced to slightly under 1000 mg/kg, which remains above the healthy levels of 700 mg/kg. The power station has since come under the control of the Topaz Power Group. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
has established the Total Maximum Daily Load Program to measure the level of pollutants throughout the Nueces watershed, in an effort to restore the bay to safe levels of contaminants. Pesticides that seep into the bay from the heavy agricultural activity on the north shore can also spur adverse environmental affects.
Several oil spill
s have occurred as a result of the heavy petroleum industry
on the south shore of Nueces Bay. In 1984, approximately 20000 gal of oil leaked from a busted pipeline, which blackened 5 miles (8 km) of the shore. Ten years later, Koch Industries
, which owns a refinery on the bay, was responsible for a major spill that resulted in the release of 100000 gal of oil, leaving a 12 miles (19.3 km) slick that seeped into Corpus Christi Bay. The Environmental Protection Agency fined the company $30 million for the spill in 2000, and $2.5 million was later given by the company to the state of Texas to improve the bay's water quality.
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 and Oso Creek from its western and southern extensions,...
in the San Patricio and Nueces counties of Texas. The bay is fed by the Nueces River
Nueces River
The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, approximately long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande...
, forming a natural estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
, which renders it ecologically and economically vital to the surrounding area. It serves as a habitat for the propagation of fish and shellfish, which sustain diverse species of birds and other wildlife. The bay is threatened by pollution from the heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
on its southern shore, which prevents oyster farming. Petrochemical production and oil are important to the surrounding economies of the major settlements of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
and Portland
Portland, Texas
Portland is a city in Nueces and San Patricio Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The current mayor and city manager are David Krebs and Mike Tanner. The population was 14,827 at the 2000 census, with a 2007 estimated population of 16,408.-Geography:...
, found on the eastern shore and connected by the Nueces Bay Causeway at the bay's confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
with Corpus Christi Bay.
Agriculture dominates the northern shore, where many plots of land are still owned by the descendants of early settlers. The largely abandoned historical communities of Rosita and West Portland are also located in this area. To the west, the Odem Bay extension is formed, and is fed by Rincon Bayou and a large complex of marsh formed by the Nueces River delta. Just south of the mouth, are the remains of the abandoned Nuecestown settlement, which is now included in the Corpus Christi city limits.
History
Nueces Bay formed approximately 9,000 years ago, as the sea level rose at the conclusion of the last ice age. The sea level stabilized 6,000 years later, shaping the present-day Nueces Bay. The first human inhabitants were the nomadic Aransas Indians, who settled between the Copano and Baffin bays about 8,000 years ago, until 1300 CE. In the next century, the Karankawa IndiansKarankawa
Karankawa were a group of Native American peoples, now extinct as a tribal group, who played a pivotal part in early Texas history....
arrived, and were present when Europeans came ashore.
Nueces is Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for "nuts", and refers to the pecan trees that grew along the banks of the Nueces River, noted by Spanish explorer Alonso De León
Alonso De León
Alonso de León wasexplorer and governor, who led several expeditions into the area that is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas.-Early life:...
in 1689. It is unclear when the name was given to the bay; it was called San Miguel Arcángel by Spanish captain Joaquín de Orobio y Basterra in 1747, and an 1835 map of Texas identified it as Papelote or "wastepaper" Bay. It appears to have been first noted on a Spanish map in 1527 as the mouth of the Río Escondido or hidden river, which is believed to be the Nueces. French explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle sailed into the bay in 1685, mistakenly believing it was the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. Spanish colonial governor José de Escandón
José de Escandón
José de Escandón y Helguera, 1st Count of Sierra Gorda was a Spanish Indian-fighter in New Spain and the founder and first governor of the colony of Nuevo Santander, which extended from the Pánuco River in the modern-day Mexican state of Veracruz to the Guadalupe River in...
planned a villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
on the mouth of the Nueces River named Villa de Vedoya. Fifty families were sent the site in 1749, but failed to establish a settlement, due to a lack of sufficient supplies. Later that century, missionaries discussed the possibility of moving Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission to the site, but decided against the idea due to conflict with the Lipan Apaches. Germans attempted to settle the same area, but were turned away by the French during the Pastry War
Pastry War
The Pastry War was an invasion of Mexico by French forces in 1838.-Background:The war arose from the widespread civil disorder that plagued the early years of the Mexican republic. In 1828, President Manuel Gómez Pedraza ejected Lorenzo de Zavala from the office of governor of the state of México...
in the 1830s. The next decade, a colony for freed slaves was proposed by abolitionist Benjamin Lundy
Benjamin Lundy
Benjamin Lundy was an American Quaker abolitionist from Ohio who established several anti-slavery newspapers and worked for many others...
, who had to cancel after the outbreak of the Texas Revolution
Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...
.
Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
, which was founded as a trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
on the southeastern shore in 1839, is believed to be the first permanent settlement on the bay. It soon grew into a major Texas port with a population of 277,454 at the time of the 2000 census. In 1852, a settlement was finally established at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Nueces River and Nueces Bay by Henry Kinney
Henry Kinney
Henry Lawrence Kinney was born in Pennsylvania, USA on June 3, 1814. In 1838 Kinney moved to Texas and settled near where Brownsville, Texas is today. He served in both houses of the Texas Legislature...
, who also founded Corpus Christi. The community was referred to as The Motts by German and English settlers for nearby tree clusters, but was officially known as Nuecestown. It was raided by Mexican bandits in 1875, but recovered and grew to a population of 200 by 1896. After the railroad passed on the town in 1905, it declined, and is today included in the city limits of Corpus Christi. To the north of the bay, the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company controlled a large segment of San Patricio County for ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
ing during the aftermath of the Texas Revolution. David Sinton
David Sinton
David Sinton was a pig-iron industrialist, born in County Armagh, Ireland, who became one of the wealthiest men in America....
and later Charles Phelps Taft
Charles Phelps Taft
Charles Phelps Taft I was an American lawyer and politician.-Biography:He was born on December 21, 1843 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Alphonso Taft, and his brother was President William Howard Taft....
, whose names are immortalized by the nearby towns of Sinton
Sinton, Texas
Sinton is a city in San Patricio County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,676 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of San Patricio County...
and Taft
Taft, Texas
Taft is a city in San Patricio County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,396 at the 2000 census. The city is served by Taft Independent School District.-Geography:Taft is located at ....
, were involved with the company. They sold a plot of land on the northeast of Nueces Bay to George H. Paul, who hired Mexican immigrants to clear the land of mesquite
Mesquite
Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...
trees and founded a ranching community later named West Portland. The plots of land in this community are still mostly held by the descendants of the original owners. The town of Portland
Portland, Texas
Portland is a city in Nueces and San Patricio Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The current mayor and city manager are David Krebs and Mike Tanner. The population was 14,827 at the 2000 census, with a 2007 estimated population of 16,408.-Geography:...
—on the extreme northeast of the bay—was also established from land purchased from the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company by future State Senator John G. Willacy with help from a New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
company. The town steadily grew and reached a population of 14,827 by 2000. To the northwest of the bay, on the Whites Point peninsula, a settlement was established around 1866 by cattledriver
Cattle drives in the United States
Cattle drives were a major economic activity in the American west, particularly between the years 1866-1886, when 20 million cattle were herded from Texas to railheads in Kansas for shipments to stockyards in Chicago and points east...
Darius Rachal, who had purchased land on the point from the cattle-driving White family. Soon after his purchase, many of the Whites died of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
as an epidemic swept the area and killed 14 people. Rachal used his land to raise cattle, grow cotton and sell real estate to new settlers. A post office was established at the site in 1892, and was given the name Rosita or "little flower" after the names "White Point" and "Rachal" were rejected by United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
. After a 1915 gas explosion and two massive hurricanes, including a 1919 storm
1919 Florida Keys Hurricane
The Florida Keys Hurricane or Atlantic Gulf Hurricane of 1919 was an intense Atlantic hurricane, killing 772 people as it moved through the Florida Keys and Texas. The second tropical cyclone of the 1919 hurricane season, it moved in the proximity of the eastern Greater Antilles and Bahamas...
that killed 26 residents (approximately 50 were killed in Portland and 47 in Corpus Christi), the post office was abolished in 1919 and by the next year most residents had relocated to Odem
Odem, Texas
Odem is a city in San Patricio County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,499 at the 2000 census.-History:The city was platted in 1909 by John James Welder and David Odem...
.
Features
Nueces Bay covers an area of 28.9 square miles (74.9 km²) and drains the 16950 square miles (43,900.3 km²) of the Nueces River basin. It has an average depth of 2.3 metres (7.5 ft), and a volume of 39700 acre.ft. The bay is considered the southern extreme of the Texas Coastal Plain, which stretches northeast to Galveston BayGalveston Bay
Galveston Bay is a large estuary located along the upper coast of Texas in the United States. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropic marshes and prairies on the mainland. The water in the Bay is a complex mixture of sea water and fresh water which supports a wide...
, and is part of the geographic transition from the grasslands of the coastal plain to the dry brush region of South Texas. It forms at the base of the Nueces River, which enters at the southwesternmost point of the bay. North of the Nueces entrance is the extension of Odem Bay, named for the nearby settlement of Odem. This extension includes shallow marsh fed by an extensive system of tidal streams including Rincon Bayou, and is headed by Whites Point to the east. Due south of Whites Point at the mouth of Odem Bay, is an oil field, situated against the backdrop of heavy industry on the shore to the southwest. The southern shore, which continues toward Rincon Point, is slender due to the industrial canal dredged to the south to the Port of Corpus Christi
Port of Corpus Christi
* Port Corpus Christi is the 5th largest port in the United States in total tonnage . Port Corpus Christi is located on Corpus Christi Bay in the western Gulf of Mexico, with a straight 45’ deep channel. The Port is located close to downtown Corpus Christi, Texas, Nueces County, Texas; but the...
. The mouth of Nueces Bay on Corpus Christi Bay from Rincon Point to Indian Point, is crossed by the mile-long (1.6 km) Nueces Bay Causeway, which leads to Portland. West Portland is found on the shoreline of the bay as it curves north and west, which is lined with pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
s and residences. The bay leads back west to Whites Point on the north shore, which is largely used for agriculture.
Ecosystem
The Nueces estuary provides an ecosystem for a wide variety of wildlife. However, since the construction of Choke Canyon ReservoirChoke Canyon Reservoir
Choke Canyon Reservoir is a reservoir in southern Texas, USA. The lake and the dam that creates it are managed by the City of Corpus Christi.- Geography :...
in 1985, freshwater inflows have decreased from the Nueces River, increasing the bay's salinity
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...
, and hurting the natural oyster and shrimp habitat. In response, the City of Corpus Christi, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department 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...
and two additional state agencies have worked to restore the natural freshwater inflows into the bay. The Odem Bay extension is low in salinity and serves as a nursery for shrimp, which migrate to Nueces Bay in spring. Oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
beds are common throughout the bay and are known to be hiding spots for such fish as Trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
, Black drum
Black drum
The Black Drum is a saltwater fish similar to its cousin, the Red Drum. It is the only species in the genus Pogonias. Though most specimens are generally found in the 5-30 lb range, the black drum is well known as the largest of all the drum family with some specimens reaching excesses of...
, Flounder
Flounder
The flounder is an ocean-dwelling flatfish species that is found in coastal lagoons and estuaries of the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.-Taxonomy:There are a number of geographical and taxonomical species to which flounder belong.*Western Atlantic...
and Redfish
Redfish
Redfish is a common name for several species of fish. It is most commonly applied to members of the deep-sea genus Sebastes, or the reef dwelling snappers, Lutjanus. It is also applied to the slimeheads or roughies , and the alfonsinos ....
. Such finfish must be protected from excessive freshwater introduction for survival.
A diverse collection of birds sustained by the water life, such as the black skimmer
Black Skimmer
The Black Skimmer, Rynchops niger, is a tern-like seabird, one of three very similar birds species in the skimmer family. It breeds in North and South America...
, brown pelican
Brown Pelican
The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is in length, weighs from and has a wingspan from .-Range and habits:...
, great blue heron
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
, egret
Egret
An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...
, laughing gull
Laughing Gull
The Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Northernmost populations migrate further south in winter, and this species occurs as a rare vagrant to western...
, roseate spoonbill
Roseate Spoonbill
The Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea ajaja, is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae...
, tern
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
, and the white ibis
White Ibis
There are three species of bird named White Ibis.* American White Ibis, Eudocimus albus* Australian White Ibis, Threskiornis molucca* Asiatic White Ibis is an alternative name for the Black-headed Ibis, Threskiornis melanocephala...
, can be found in the bay, especially near the mouth of Rincon Bayou. Local efforts by the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries program have benefited bird populations by adding crushed oyster shells to the bay's small islands for improved nesting conditions, and the restoration of marsh near the Nueces Bay Causeway to increase fish populations to satisfy the birds' dietary requirements. At the nearby Nueces Delta Preserve, countless birds have been observed, as well as Bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
s, Coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
s, Feral hogs, Mountain lions, Rattlesnake
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...
s, Texas spiny lizard
Texas spiny lizard
The Texas spiny lizard is a species of phrynosomatid lizard native to the south central United States, in the states of Texas and Oklahoma, and northeastern Mexico in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí...
s, Western diamondbacks and White-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
.
Industry
Oil has been pumped from the bay since 1912, but fishing has been a mainstay since humans have inhabited the area. In the early 1970s, recreational fishingRecreational fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing, is fishing for pleasure or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is fishing for profit, or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival....
accounted for a yearly input of $17 million to the local economy, while commercial fishermen
Commercial fishing
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under adverse conditions...
contributed $27.3 million. Commercial oyster farming
Oyster farming
Oyster farming is an aquaculture practice in which oysters are raised for human consumption. Oyster farming most likely developed in tandem with pearl farming, a similar practice in which oysters are farmed for the purpose of developing pearls...
was common in the bay until 1995, when the Texas Department of State Health Services
Texas Department of State Health Services
Texas Department of State Health Services is a state agency of Texas. The department was created by House Bill 2292 of the 78th Texas Legislature in 2003 through the merging of four state agencies: the Texas Department of Health, Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Texas...
suspended the practice, due to an unhealthy annual average zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
level of nearly 2500 mg/kg in oysters, which as filter feeder
Filter feeder
Filter feeders are animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish and some sharks. Some birds,...
s, are affected by high levels of zinc in the water. The excessive zinc is believed to have been dumped into the bay by the American Smelting and Refining Company's Encycle Texas Incorporated subsidiary, which operated a zinc refinery at the site from 1942 to 1985. The Nueces Bay Power Station is also believed to have discharged zinc used for coolant until December 2002. Since that time, zinc levels in the bay have been reduced to slightly under 1000 mg/kg, which remains above the healthy levels of 700 mg/kg. The power station has since come under the control of the Topaz Power Group. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is the environmental agency for the U.S. state of Texas. The commission is headquartered at 12100 Park 35 Circle in Austin....
has established the Total Maximum Daily Load Program to measure the level of pollutants throughout the Nueces watershed, in an effort to restore the bay to safe levels of contaminants. Pesticides that seep into the bay from the heavy agricultural activity on the north shore can also spur adverse environmental affects.
Several oil spill
Oil spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is mostly used to describe marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters...
s have occurred as a result of the heavy petroleum industry
Petroleum industry
The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...
on the south shore of Nueces Bay. In 1984, approximately 20000 gal of oil leaked from a busted pipeline, which blackened 5 miles (8 km) of the shore. Ten years later, Koch Industries
Koch Industries
Koch Industries, Inc. , is an American private energy conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and Matador Cattle Company...
, which owns a refinery on the bay, was responsible for a major spill that resulted in the release of 100000 gal of oil, leaving a 12 miles (19.3 km) slick that seeped into Corpus Christi Bay. The Environmental Protection Agency fined the company $30 million for the spill in 2000, and $2.5 million was later given by the company to the state of Texas to improve the bay's water quality.