Balanced Nature
Scavengers: organisms that feed on carrion (flesh of dead animals). Before you say "Ewe, Yuck!!!", think how nasty it would be if the scavengers didn't remove the dead things. Thank those bald-headed vultures and buzzards that circle overhead for doing their own version of CITO.
The Balanced Nature caches on this Marsh Trail of the CREW are themed to just remind everyone of what we all take for granted. Nature must be balanced for the Earth to survive and the continuance of life here as we commonly know. As we stroll through the CREW on the Marsh Trail, take some time and look at what the Earth and nature has to offer us. Find the geocaches and look around to see if you can find the main theme to this cache. You may see it here, or you may see it elsewhere on the trails. Nature is all around, but…….. sometimes it hides. Just like geocaches.
Have fun, look around for the theme of this cache and enjoy the day.
CREW (Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed) is a 60,000 acre watershed. A watershed is an area of land that absorbs rain and ground water and then drains it into a wetland. The CREW marsh is a 5000 acre wetland which holds onto the water it receives allowing the water to slowly sink into the ground. The marsh protects downstream areas from flooding during the rainy season and stores water for use during a drought. The plants in the marsh, dominated by sawgrass, filter the water, removing pesticides and other substances harmful to humans. After it is cleaned, the water through the force of gravity sinks into the ground through the spaces in the soil and bedrock ( rock that underlies the soil) recharging the underground aquifer. An aquifer is a permeable layer of bedrock that stores and conducts the water. The bedrock in the CREW marsh is composed of limestone which makes a good aquifer. This aquifer is the main source of drinking water for this part of Florida. Most of the 55 inches of annual rainfall the marsh receives comes in the summer and fall.