Table 2. Shoreline lengths of subdivisions of Tampa Bay (Lewis and 
Whitman 1985). 
Subdivision Name 
mi 
km 
1. Old Tampa Bay 
211.1 
339.8 
2. Hillsborough Bay 
207.0 
128.6 
3. Middle Tampa Bay 
163.3 
262.8 
4. Lower Tampa Bay 
75.6 
121.6 
5. Boca Ciega Bay 
180.5 
290.4 
6. Terra Ceia Bay 
25.9 
41.6 
7. Manatee River 
118.7 
191.0 
TOTAL: 
903.7 
1,454.2 
Sarasota Bay is approximately 17 miles (27.4 km) long and 3 miles 
(4.8 km) wide and is connected to Tampa Bay on the south by Anna Maria 
Sound and Palma Sola Bay. 
Water level fluctuations within the bay systems occur as a 
combination of diurnal and semidiurnal tides. The change in water level 
results from the sun (diurnal) promoting one high and one low tide daily, 
while the moon (semidiurnal) facilitates two approximately equal high and 
low tides per day. The combination of diurnal and semidiurnal conditions 
ordinarily provides a mixture of both the results in two unequal high 
tides and two unequal low tides each day. 
The watershed, or the area in which all rainwater will eventually 
drain into the bay, is depicted in Figure 3 and is approximately 1,800 
square miles (4,623 km) in size (Lewis and Estevez 1988). Approximately 
85 percent of all freshwater flow to the bay consists of the discharges 
of the four rivers (Lewis and Estevez 1988) which include the 
Hillsborough, Alafia, Little Manatee, and the Manatee. Both Tampa Bay 
and Sarasota Bay additionally receive surface water inputs from numerous 
smaller tidal creeks. 
All of these estuarine water bodies have had past physical 
modifications created to: 
o Develop and expand port facilities 
o Improve navigation 
o Provide transportation routes across the water 
o Build waterfront homes 
o Construct power plants 
o Develop recreational areas 
o Provide flood control 
4 
