The Sea, the Storm, and the Mangrove Tangle: 08/27/15

The Sea, the Storm, and the Mangrove Tangle by Lynne Cherry is the story of how a storm helps to create a new mangrove island. As the tree grows so does the island. Animals and plants come to it, providing food, shelter, and shade.

The thing that interested me most about the book was how mangroves can take root in salt water. I realized they could take tidal water where a river was emptying into the sea but I didn't realize they could take full on ocean salinity.

The book brought back memories of canoeing through a mangrove forest along the Hawkesbury river, north of Sydney, New South Wales. The mangroves darkened the entire sky. The landscape was a tangle of roots, branches, vines. It was easy to let one's imagination run wild, picturing all sorts of creatures and dangers lurking on the just visible shoreline. (In actuality, it was an abandoned citrus orchard)

I read the book while working a temporary inventory job at the Region 9 library of the EPA. The library contains a mixture of environmental related materials from reports, maps, studies, history, and picture books.

Five stars

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