The Salt Marsh

Salt marshes are found around the world, but the one you are about to tour can be found right here in South Carolina on the North American continent. Salt marshes are located only along the coast. This is because a salt marsh is an area that is flooded by saline (salty) water. The salt marshes are better developed as you move farther south in South Carolina.

Within this Series

Crabbing & Fishing in the Marsh | The Salt Marsh

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The salt marsh is home to many animals, including some that people like to eat. Blue crabs are often caught in wire boxes called crab pots. Shrimp grow from tiny larvae to big adults while they live...

Fiddler Crabs Emerging from Their Burrows | The Salt Marsh

Video

This time-lapse clip shows the fiddler crabs emerging from their burrows as the tide goes out. After the movie has loaded and played, try dragging the "playhead" of the clip back and forth to simulate...

Great Egret | The Salt Marsh

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The great egret is a large white wading bird. Unlike the snowy egret, the great egret has a yellow bill and black legs and feet. This bird is the symbol of the National Audubon Society. Their long...

Male Fiddler Behavior | The Salt Marsh

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Male fiddler crabs have one large claw, which can be either their left or right. They wave these large claws at other males to frighten them away from their territory. When they wave the claw, they...

Mud Snail | The Salt Marsh

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The mud snail is black, with a very strong shell, and is about 1/2 inch in length. It is an effective scavenger and hundreds of snails will collect around a dead fish or shrimp bait until they...

Raccoon | The Salt Marsh

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

It ís a raccoon! Raccoons often feed near water and frequently visit the salt marsh during low tide. Raccoons are omnivorous and eat many different plants and animals. In the salt marsh, they often...

Terrapin | The Salt Marsh

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The upper surface of the terrapin's shell, called the carapace, is formed of 13 plates, or scutes. Each scute is roughly circular and grooved with rings. Since one ring is formed each year, the age of...

Tides | The Salt Marsh

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Tides flood into the salt marsh twice a day and bring salty water from the sea. Then twice each day the tide ebbs and leaves the salt marsh high and dry. The tides are at their highest (and lowest)...

Alligators | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Alligators are not normally found in brackish or salt water, although they do occasionally swim there. They much prefer freshwater and must return to it to drink. They can reach 19 feet in length, but...

Annelid | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Several different annelids are associated with the oyster reef, but the spaghetti worm is one of the largest and most spectacular. The spaghetti worm lives in a burrow of mud that it builds among the...

Bay Anchovy | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The bay anchovy is the most numerous fish in the estuaries of South Carolina. They are food to larger fish and to many birds. Anchovies are specialized to feed on plankton. They have a huge mouth and...

Biomagnification | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

How can low levels of DDT in farm fields end up at high levels in ospreys? Several different pesticides, an example of which is DDT, can be biomagnified by the food chain. The pesticides are used to...

Blue Crabs | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Blue crabs are active predators and effective scavengers. They occur throughout the estuary. They can swim by using their last pair of legs, which have been modified into paddles instead of walking...

Clapper Rail | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Clapper rails live their whole lives in the salt marsh. They even nest in clumps of Spartina just above the water. The downy black young are hard to see against the dark marsh mud. Both the adults and...

Copepods | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The most abundant animals in the plankton are copepods, such as the one pictured. As adults, they are less than 1 millimeter in length. The abundance and diversity of plankton species are highest in...

Detritus | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Detritus is the collection of dead stems of Spartina and other things that float. This combination of materials floats up in the marsh during high tides, and winds often drive it ashore, where it...

Flounder | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

There are several species of flatfish that occur in South Carolina. These include flounder, soles, and tonguefish. The flatfish lie slightly buried on the bottom, where they wait for prey, such as...

Fungi | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Fungi are the only kingdom of life not represented in the plankton. Bacteria have only recently been demonstrated to exist in great abundance as our sampling gear has improved enough to capture these...

Glasswort | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

There are two species of glasswort. One is an annual and lives only for one year, then dies. It is the taller, branched plant farthest out into the salt flat. The other is a perennial and lives for...

Great Blue Herons | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Great blue herons are the largest of our herons. Standing over 3 feet tall, with a large, 6-inch-long dagger of a beak, they eat anything they can spear. They are bluish-gray in color. They most often...

Hard Clams | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The hard clam, or quahog, is common along our coast. The clams are sold commercially as littleneck, cherrystone, or chowder clams, depending on size, with littlenecks about an inch in diameter and...

Marsh Wren | The Salt Marsh

Photo

The wrens build their nests in the tips of living Spartina. The nests are made out of dead Spartina. They are not open, but are covered, so the nest looks like a ball of dead grass. There is a hole on...

Oystercatchers | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Boldly patterned in black and white, the stocky American oystercatcher is hard to mistake. It has long red legs and a large red bill. As the name suggests, they feed mainly on oysters, although they...

Oysters | The Salt Marsh

Photo

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The Eastern oyster occurs along the entire East Coast, from Canada to the West Indies. It varies somewhat in habitat along this area. Oysters build reefs because the young oysters, called spat, are...