National Park Service-Canaveral National Seashore: Nature & Science
http://www.nps.gov/cana/pphtml/nature.html
Surfrider Foundation: Beach Sand at the Base of the Food Chain (pdf file)
http://www.surfrider.org/specialplaces/beach_sand.pdf
MotherJones.com-Action Atlas: Coral Reefs-Reefs in Trouble
http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/coral_reef/science.html
Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre-Ask a Scientist: Plants and Algae
http://oceanlink.island.net/ask/algae.html
Oyster River Middle School: Online Marine Picture Book
http://marine.borism.net/
Stony Brook University-Marine Biology Web: Glossary of Marine Biology
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/glossary.html

As the dog days of summer begin to set in, humans tend to flock like seagulls to the sun and sand of the shore and sea. This Topic in Depth examines several topics of interest from food chain on a beach to coral reefs.

The first site (1), from the National Park Service, offers a look at the exceptionally beautiful Canaveral National Seashore. The site gives information about the flora and fauna found at the seashore as well a great photo gallery. The second link(2) leads to a white paper by Peter Entnoyer, Chad Nelson, and Kevin Ranker of the Surfider Foundation on the value of beach sand in the food chain. At the third site (3) from Mother Jones, visitors will find an article about the status of coral reefs. The fourth site, (4) from Ask a Scientist provides several questions and answers about plants and algae. The next link leads to the Online Marine Picture Book (5), a great resource for great photos from everything from crabs to starfish. The last site, from SUNY Stony Brook(6), provides a great glossary of marine biology related terms from Abyssal Plain to Zooxanthellae. [JPM]