Today we toured Dauphin Island, a 14 mile-long barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. Dauphin is French for dolphin, and historically was the title given to the heir apparent for the French crown.
We first visited the Alabama Aquarium at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, a working facility devoted to education and research for the Mobile/Tensaw River delta, Mobile Bay estuary and the Gulf of Mexico. Bonus Question: What is the difference between a swamp and a marsh? (Answer at end of post)
Next we visited the well-preserved Fort Gaines, built in the mid-1800s to protect the bay’s entrance, and a key prize in the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay.
Then it was on to the 11-acre Indian Shell Mound Park, created by native peoples from discarded oyster shells and fish remains and believed to date back to 1,000 B.C. Today it is a bird sanctuary criss-crossed by a network of trails, with shell fragments still visible beneath the grass. The flora is tropical and magnificent, with vines, ferns, palms and moss-draped oaks. Fun fact: Spanish Moss is neither Spanish nor moss; it is in the same genetic family as pineapples.
Lastly we took an extended walk on the long public beach, returning to our car at sunset.
Bonus Question Answer: A swamp is flooded woodland while a marsh is flooded grassland.
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