Beneath the Surface: Understanding Nature in the Mullica Valley Estuary

320 Pages·2020·36.992 MB·English

by  Kenneth W. Able

Kenneth W. Able
BENEATH THE
SURFACE
Understanding Nature in the Mullica Valley Estuary

BENEATH THE
SURFACE

BBBEEENNNEEEAAATTTHHH TTTHHHEEE
SURFACE
Understanding Nature in the Mullica Valley Estuary
Kenneth W . Able
New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Able, Kenneth W., 1945- author.
Title: Beneath the surface : understanding nature in the Mullica Valley
Estuary / Kenneth W. Able.
Description: New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, [2020] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019044065 | ISBN 9780813590202 (hardback) | ISBN
9780813590196 (paperback) | ISBN 9780813590219 (epub) | ISBN
9780813590226 (mobi) | ISBN 9780813590233 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Estuarine ecology--New Jersey--Mullica River Watershed. |
Valley ecology--New Jersey--Mullica River Watershed. | Natural
history--New Jersey--Mullica River Watershed. | Mullica River Estuary
(N.J.)--Environmental conditions | Mullica River Watershed
(N.J.)--Environmental conditions.
Classification: LCC QH105.N5 A25 2020 | DDC 577.7/86--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019044065
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2020 by Kenneth W. Able
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission
from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street, New Brunswick,
NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992.
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org
Manufactured in the United States of America
Design: Nord Compo
To Judy Grassle and the late Fred Grassle,
my long esteemed colleagues who I also count as dear friends.
They have been a constant source of inspiration.

CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
CHAPTER 1
Penetrating the Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CHAPTER 2
Mapping the Mullica Valley: Natural History Landscapes . . . . . . . . 13
CHAPTER 3
Impacts and Invasions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CHAPTER 4
Too Much Salt or Not Enough? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
CHAPTER 5
Seasons and Other Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
CHAPTER 6
Sources: Both Near and Far . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
CHAPTER 7
Marshes: Food Factories for the Mullica Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
CHAPTER 8
Hidden Habitats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
CHAPTER 9
Life and Mostly Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
CHAPTER 10
Insights from Fisheries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
CHAPTER 11
Insights from Other Estuaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
CHAPTER 12
Climate Change Underwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171
VII
CHAPTER 13
Sea Level Rise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
CHAPTER 14
Underwater Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
CHAPTER 15
Fishe Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Diamondback Terrapins and the Lost Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Horseshoe Crabs: Ancient Migrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Marine Mammals: Summer and Winter Visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
A Valley Full of Blue Crabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Tales of the Talons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
River Herring: South Jersey’s Salmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
White Perch and Hogchoker: Estuarine Migrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Fish and Shrimp Are Important Forage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Summer Flounder Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Sharks and Their Relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Striped Bass: The Migratory Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304
VIII CONTENTS