This site at the south­ern tip of Flori­da has been called ‘a riv­er of grass flow­ing imper­cep­ti­bly from the hin­ter­land into the sea‘. The excep­tion­al vari­ety of its water habi­tats has made it a sanc­tu­ary for a large num­ber of birds and rep­tiles, as well as for threat­ened species such as the man­a­tee.