#AcrossTheNOAAverse September 17-23 is National Estuaries Week, and there is a great deal to celebrate! Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are bodies of water usually found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water — a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater. Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. Many animals rely on estuaries for food, places to breed and migration stopovers. Estuaries are delicate ecosystems. Congress created the National Estuarine Research Reserve System — one of NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management’s primary programs — to protect more than one million acres of estuarine land and water. These estuarine reserves provide essential habitat for wildlife, offer educational opportunities for students, and serve as living laboratories for scientists. Pictured here: He‘eia National Estuarine Research Reserve, located in Hawaii. The reserve includes unique and diverse upland, estuarine and marine habitats within the He‘eia estuary and a portion of Kāne‘ohe Bay, protecting features such as the He‘eia stream, coral reefs, sand flats and important cultural components. Credit: Manuel Mejia, The Nature Conservancy. #Conservation #EstuariesWeek #AcrossTheNOAAverse @noaadigitalcoast @noaaocean