IV-9 



and plants living on and in the bottom draw their nourishment from 

 the water itself. Estuarine bottoms are characterized by the kind 

 and amount of sediments, vegetation, and animal life found there, 

 both near the surface and much deeoer. 



Aesthetic Appeal . Not all people enjoy the same thinns: the bustle 

 of the Port of Baltimore might not be appreciated by a salmon fisher- 

 man from Alaska, for example, nor miqht a shrimp fisherman from the 

 marshes of Louisiana appreciate the bluffs along the California coast. 

 Yet an estuary which has no debris along its edqe or floating in it, 

 no smell of oil, or chemicals, or sewage, no dead fish, no floating 

 mats of algae, and no peculiar color is pleasing to all. These things 

 are generally subjective, and since they do not lend themselves to 

 guantitative measurement, are sometimes overlooked in evaluatinq the 

 guality of the estuarine environment. 



Through measurement of these six kinds of characteristics, the domina- 

 ting environmental factors in the estuarine zone can be understood 

 and made to work for the ultimate benefit of mankind. 



