Marsh Kingdom
<ul>
	<li>Long Island Sound's natural fringe is dominated by tidal marshes, part of the great belt of Atlantic and gulf tidal wetlands stretching from <a href="http://www.ehow.com/facts_5506250_animals-plants-long-island-sound.html">Maine</a> to Texas. Those of Long Island Sound grade from salt to brackish to freshwater marshes as you travel upriver.</li>
</ul>
Tides
<ul>
	<li>Tides demarcate different zones within the sound's estuarine marshes. The "low marsh," dominated by smooth cord-grass, is the area typically flooded by the vast majority of high tides. The "high marsh" is inundated by more extensive high tides, but is often dry for extended periods; its prevalent grasses, like salt meadow cord-grass, are usually shorter and more delicate.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Tidal Animals</h2>
<ul>
	<li>The tides bring nutrients to immobile creatures like ribbed mussels, expand hunting opportunities for <a href="http://www.ehow.com/facts_5506250_animals-plants-long-island-sound.html">fish</a> and crabs and facilitate reproductive cycles of invertebrates and the mummichog, a killifish.</li>
</ul>
Fish
<ul>
	<li>More than 120 species of fish inhabit the sound, including flounder, herring and striped bass.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Birds</strong>
<ul>
	<li>The productive marsh and offshore habitats of the sound attract numerous birds. Herons prowl the water line, osprey cruise for offshore fish and multitudes of shorebirds, seabirds and waterfowl add to the mix.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Horseshoe Crabs and Shorebird Gathering</strong>

At Pikes Beach, in past years, from about mid-May to the first week of June, thousands of Horseshoe Crabs, as well as a variety of migrating birds (including Red Knots) gather at this beach. It’s an incredible sight to see all the more so, in the beautiful light of the setting sun. The horseshoe crabs are there to spawn, the birds to feed on their eggs and fuel themselves for their long migration journeys .

<strong>Salamander Seining.. and Some Frogs too!</strong>

Many salamanders breed in the water, and here’s your chance to see the larval aquatic stage of the endangered Eastern Tiger Salamander before it comes on land to live. You’ll also see some of our local frog tadpoles, as Andy Sabin, “Mr. Salamander,” wades into a freshwater pond and, using a seining net (a large two-person fishing net with weights at the lower edge and floats at the top), brings to the surface the pond-stages of these young animals, members of the class Amphibia.

<strong>Breeding Warblers</strong><strong> </strong><strong></strong>

Thirteen species of warblers have been recorded as breeders on Long Island; nine are confirmed breeders in one area in Montauk. Joe, experienced birder and delightful teacher, will lead you on a search to find these active small songbirds and with luck you will hear them singing and possibly see them carrying food to their nests.

<strong>Scooter the Box Turtle</strong><strong>             </strong>

New York state has several native turtles, but no native tortoises. Tortoises are land dwellers. All of the turtles in New York live in or around water areas. Box turtles although they don't live in water, they do like to wallow in the water and need moist habitat to survive.

<strong>Seaweed</strong>

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Seaweeds in the Sound occur in greatest abundance in rocky areas between high tide and low tide as well as on rocks on the lucky point sea floor. Green seaweed populations fluctuate with the seasons. <a title="Monostroma" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monostroma">Monostroma</a>, with a hue of Atlantis, reproduces in the early spring and dies out by late summer. <a title="Grinnellia (page does not exist)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grinnellia&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Grinnellia</a> appears in August and poofs four to six weeks later

<em>April 16, 2012 (Bridgehampton, NY)</em> – The excitement East Enders feel when spotting the first Osprey of the season is a predictable recurrence in springtime, but it was not always that way. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, “the breeding population declined from an estimated 1,000 active nests in the 1940s, between New York City and Boston, to an estimated 150 nests in 1969.” Something had to be done.

Hermit Crabs which inhabit abandoned snails shells.

Swimming is accomplished by sculling the oar-like fifth pair of legs, the swimming legs.

Walking is accomplished with the three pairs of thin walking legs. Blue crabs almost always walk sideways, clearing a path with their sharp lateral spines. The blue crab’s most prominent features are the large and powerful claws, which are used for food gathering, defense, digging and sexual displays. If not handled properly, blue crabs can inflict severe injury. <em><br clear="all" /> </em>

<strong>Threats in East End Waters</strong>
<ul>
	<li>Trash: Discarded plastic bags, wrappers, helium balloons, Styrofoam, and other plastic garbage that end up in the ocean can be deadly to sea turtles, as well as to other marine wildlife. These items, when floating in water, resemble food (such as jellyfish) to a sea turtle. When turtles mistakenly eat the plastic or balloons, their digestive systems become blocked and the turtles eventually die.</li>
	<li>Fishing Equipment: Turtles can become entangled in discarded monofilament fishing line and other gear, preventing them from reaching the surface to breathe or cutting into the animal and causing infection or possible loss of limbs.</li>
	<li>Vessel Strikes: Boat propellers, which often inflict serious wounds on sea turtles, have been responsible for many turtle deaths.</li>
	<li>Pollution: When pollution, such as oil spills and run-off of chemicals, fertilizers, and petroleum, kills aquatic plants and animals, it also reduces the amount of food that is available to sea turtles. Pollution also can cause the turtles to develop diseases.</li>
</ul>
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