Corpus Christi Bay
Encyclopedia
Corpus Christi Bay is a scenic semi-tropical bay on the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 coast found in San Patricio and Nueces counties, next to the major city of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...

. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 by Mustang Island
Mustang Island
Mustang Island is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States. The island is 18 miles long, stretching from Corpus Christi to Port Aransas. The island is oriented generally northeast-southwest, with the Gulf of Mexico on the east and south, and Corpus Christi Bay on the north...

, and is fed by the Nueces River
Nueces River
The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, approximately long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande...

 and Oso Creek from its western and southern extensions, Nueces Bay
Nueces Bay
Nueces Bay is a northwestern extension of Corpus Christi Bay in the San Patricio and Nueces counties of Texas. The bay is fed by the Nueces River, forming a natural estuary, which renders it ecologically and economically vital to the surrounding area. It serves as a habitat for the propagation of...

 and Oso Bay. The bay is located approximately 136 miles (218.9 km) south of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

, and 179 miles (288.1 km) southwest of Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

.

Corpus Christi Bay has a rich history of human settlement along its shores that dates back millennia and is responsible for the growth of Corpus Christi, and the smaller ports of Ingleside
Ingleside, Texas
Ingleside is a town in Nueces and San Patricio Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 9,388 at the 2000 census.Ingleside is also home to Naval Station Ingleside. On August 24, 2005, the BRAC Committee voted to close the base. In 2010, the main base property was turned over to the...

 and Portland
Portland, Texas
Portland is a city in Nueces and San Patricio Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The current mayor and city manager are David Krebs and Mike Tanner. The population was 14,827 at the 2000 census, with a 2007 estimated population of 16,408.-Geography:...

. It is an important natural estuary that supports a diverse collection of wildlife, and attracts many tourists. The bay's abundance of petroleum and natural gas has attracted industry, and its strategic location on the Texas coast is ideal for military establishment.

History

The shores of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) Bay are thought to have been inhabited by the Karankawa
Karankawa
Karankawa were a group of Native American peoples, now extinct as a tribal group, who played a pivotal part in early Texas history....

 Indians before the European discovery. Archeological evidence suggests that pre-Karankawa peoples used the area near Oso Bay as a burial ground between 500 BC and 500 AD. It is believed to have first been spotted by Europeans on Corpus Christi Day
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...

 1519, when Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda
Alonso Álvarez de Pineda
Alonso Álvarez de Pineda was a Spanish explorer and cartographer. His map marks the first document in Texas history.-Expedition:The Spanish thought there must be a sea lane from the Gulf of Mexico to Asia...

 navigated its waters. Joaquín de Orobio y Basterra came across the bay in 1746, when given orders to settle the area between Tampico, Mexico, and the mouth of the San Antonio River
San Antonio River
The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in north central San Antonio, approximately four miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the Guadalupe River about ten miles from...

 at San Antonio Bay
San Antonio Bay
San Antonio Bay is a bay on the Texas Gulf coast situated between Matagorda and Aransas Bay. It consists mainly of the combined waters of the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers, and is located at the mouth of the Guadalupe River, about 55 miles northeast of Corpus Christi and 130 miles southeast...

. He named the bay after St. Michael the Archangel, but the name did not stick and was referred to as "Corpus Christi Bay" in a 1766 report by Diego Ortiz Parrilla. Explorer Blas María de la Garza Falcón
Blas Maria de la Garza Falcón
Blas María de la Garza Falcón was a Spanish settler of Tamaulipas and South Texas.- Biography :...

 is believed to have been the first man to purchase land on the bay in 1746. Shortly thereafter the short-lived settlement of Villa de Vedoya was founded on the mouth of the Nueces River.
The first trading post on Corpus Christi Bay was established by Henry Kinney
Henry Kinney
Henry Lawrence Kinney was born in Pennsylvania, USA on June 3, 1814. In 1838 Kinney moved to Texas and settled near where Brownsville, Texas is today. He served in both houses of the Texas Legislature...

 in 1838 in present day Corpus Christi. By the 1840s, the area developed into a settlement named after the bay, and a deepwater port was established in the 1870s. A bayfront that included a 32 foot overlooking statue of Jesus Christ was designed by Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...

 sculptor Gutzon Borglum
Gutzon Borglum
Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum was an American artist and sculptor famous for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, the famous carving on Stone Mountain near Atlanta, as well as other public works of art.- Background :The son of Mormon Danish immigrants, Gutzon...

 in 1928, but was turned down by the city in 1930. Later efforts to build a statue on the shore were also rejected. The bayside port would later grow into a major city, and had a population of 277,454 people during the 2000 U.S. census. In addition to Corpus Christi, Kinney also found Nuecestown (known to settlers as The Motts) in 1852, near the confluence of the Nueces River and Nueces Bay. The town was attacked by Mexican robbers in 1875, and underwent a steep decline. It is now a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 located in the Corpus Christi city limits. The city of Ingleside
Ingleside, Texas
Ingleside is a town in Nueces and San Patricio Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 9,388 at the 2000 census.Ingleside is also home to Naval Station Ingleside. On August 24, 2005, the BRAC Committee voted to close the base. In 2010, the main base property was turned over to the...

 was founded on the northern shore of the bay in 1854, and grew slowly. It had a population of 9,388 in the 2000 census. Likewise, the city of Portland located on the northeastern bluff between the Nueces and Corpus Christi Bays, did not grow as rapidly as Corpus Christi, following its 1891 founding. During the 2000 census, it had 14,827 residents.

For transportation on the bay, steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

s were commonplace between Corpus Christi and Ingleside during the 1930s. Native Americans used a route made up of a series of shallow oyster beds, dubbed Reef Road. The passage, which was about 18 to 24 inches in depth, could be navigated on foot or horseback during low tides to travel across the opening of Nueces Bay into Corpus Christi Bay. White settlers discovered the road in the 1860s, and it became a common way to pass from Portland to Corpus Christi via buggy, although its jagged course had to be marked with posts and horses would sometimes fall off the beds and drown. A wooden causeway connecting Portland and Corpus Christi was first constructed in 1915, but was repeatedly rebuilt and destroyed by several storms. A permanent concrete bridge was erected in the 1950s, and a double lane was added in 1988. The approximately mile long structure is today known as the Nueces Bay Causeway.

The bay has been strategically important for the military. General Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...

 stationed his men on Rincon Point during the Mexican-American War, and a Union invasion was halted by Confederates on the same point in 1862, during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. The Port of Corpus Christi was used by the Confederates to bring in supplies during the war effort until the Union bombarded Corpus Christi and occupied the bay and port from 1863 to 1870. In 1940, the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi , also known as Truax Field, is a naval base located six miles southeast of the central business district of Corpus Christi, in Nueces County, Texas, USA.-History:...

 was established on the bay, and by 1944 had transformed into a major base with one main air station and six additional stations. Notably, during a March 1960 practice run from the base, future Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

 lost track of his altitude and speed, and his single-seat, single-pistoned-engine AD-6 Skyraider crashed into Corpus Christi Bay and sank to the bottom. He squeezed out of the cockpit, swam ten feet to the surface, and was carried to safety by a rescue helicopter, therefore escaping without major injuries.

Features

The shoreline of Corpus Christi Bay is included in the Texas Coastal Plain in South Texas
South Texas
South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is...

. The surrounding land is semi-arid and is used for ranching and other agricultural purposes. The bay itself is considered subtropical, and was described by Gutzon Borglum as "the most beautiful bay on the Texas coast."

On average, the system is 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep, and covers approximately 497 km2. It is the fourth largest estuarine system in Texas behind Galveston Bay
Galveston Bay
Galveston Bay is a large estuary located along the upper coast of Texas in the United States. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropic marshes and prairies on the mainland. The water in the Bay is a complex mixture of sea water and fresh water which supports a wide...

, Laguna Madre
Laguna Madre
The Laguna Madre extends well into Mexico, to the mouth of the Río Soto la Marina in the state of Tamaulipas. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico on the east by a number of barrier islands, including Barra Los Americanos, Barra Jesús María, and Barra Soto la Marina, and is bounded on the west...

 and Matagorda Bay
Matagorda Bay
Matagorda Bay is a large estuary bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, southeast of San Antonio, southwest of Houston, and southeast of Austin. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Peninsula and...

. The two main extensions are: Nueces Bay
Nueces Bay
Nueces Bay is a northwestern extension of Corpus Christi Bay in the San Patricio and Nueces counties of Texas. The bay is fed by the Nueces River, forming a natural estuary, which renders it ecologically and economically vital to the surrounding area. It serves as a habitat for the propagation of...

, which extends west to the mouth of the Nueces River
Nueces River
The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, approximately long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande...

, and Oso Bay, which extends south to the mouth of Oso Creek. Every second, approximately 34 cubic metre of water flows into the bay. The exchange with the Gulf of Mexico occurs at Aransas Pass
Aransas Pass
The second lighthouse in Texas was built at Aransas Pass by the United States government to protect shipping in Aransas Bay.Aransas Pass was originally pictured as becoming a major Texas hub of commerce and travel with rail links to the harbor and harbor links by ships to Mexico, New York and other...

. As a result of the seawater exchange, the bay's salinity is 22 parts per thousand (ppt), which is lower than the seawater average of 35 ppt.

Following the shoreline beginning at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi on the bay's southeastern peninsula, the features of the bay can be best described. Moving northwest from the air station, Oso Bay must be crossed at its confluence with Corpus Christi Bay. On the other side of the meeting is Ward Island
Ward Island (Texas)
Ward Island is an island located in the city of Corpus Christi, Texas. The entire island is used for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi base.Ward Island is situated in Oso Bay in the Coastal Bend of Texas...

 (actually a peninsula), where Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi is a state university located in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States, on Ward Island in Oso Bay. The university is part of the Texas A&M University System...

 is found. Further northwest, the shore begins to curve and off in the distance across the bay, the skyline of Corpus Christi is visible. Following the shore, the land dips inward and forms Emerald Cove, where a seawall has been constructed. Out in the bay, the Alta Vista Reef can be spotted from this location. Moving north along the shore, the seawall continues into the main city, until it reaches Industrial Canal, which has been dredged south of Nueces Bay and extends into the main bay to Port Aransas. Another seawall, which starts in Emerald Cove with gaps at places such as a spoils island that can be viewed in the bay and the canal, is slightly out in the water. This seawall ends when it reaches land at the southern portion of Corpus Christi Beach. North of the canal, Corpus Christi Beach is found along the shore to Rincon Point, where Corpus Christi Bay opens to Nueces Bay and must be crossed using the Nueces Bay Causeway to Indian Point near Portland, from where Indian Reef juts from offshore. Past Portland, the shore curves to the southeast where the large La Quinta Island forms on the backdrop of industrial plants in Ingleside. The La Quinta Channel has been dredged between the island and the shore and meets the Jewell Fulton canal at the confluence of Kinney Bayou. Ingleside Cove is formed in this area between La Quinta Island and an island named Ingleside Point. The shore then curves to the southwest where Ingleside on the Bay
Ingleside on the Bay, Texas
Ingleside on the Bay is a city in San Patricio County, Texas, United States. The population was 659 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ingleside on the Bay is located at ....

 is located on southern shore of the bay's northeastern peninsula. To the southeast, a series of islands form the boundary between Corpus Christi and Redfish Bay
Redfish Bay
Redfish Bay is a southwestern extension of Aransas Bay in Texas, north of Corpus Christi Bay. It separates the cities of Aransas Pass and Ingleside from Port Aransas on Mustang Island.-Features:...

s.

Ecosystem

The Environmental Protection Agency has designated the Corpus Christi Bay system as an estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

 of national significance. More than 234 species of fish are found in the bay, including the Gafftopsail catfish
Gafftopsail catfish
The gafftopsail catfish, Bagre marinus, is found in the waters of the western central Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It has long venomous spines which can cause painful wounds. It feeds on crustaceans and other fish. The male of the species fertilizes the eggs...

, Hardhead catfish
Hardhead catfish
The hardhead catfish is a saltwater species of catfish similar to the gafftopsail catfish. It is one of thirteen species in the genus Ariopsis. The common name, hardhead catfish, is derived from the presence of a hard, bony plate extending rearward toward the dorsal fin from a line between the...

, Atlantic croaker, Atlantic cutlassfish, Black drum
Black drum
The Black Drum is a saltwater fish similar to its cousin, the Red Drum. It is the only species in the genus Pogonias. Though most specimens are generally found in the 5-30 lb range, the black drum is well known as the largest of all the drum family with some specimens reaching excesses of...

, Red drum
Red Drum
The Red Drum , also known as Channel Bass, Redfish, Spottail Bass or simply Reds, is a game fish that is found in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Northern Mexico. It is the only species in the genus Sciaenops...

, Southern flounder
Southern flounder
The southern flounders are a small family of flounders found in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. There are six species of southern flounders in four genera....

, Crevalle jack
Crevalle jack
The crevalle jack, Caranx hippos is a common species of large marine fish classified within the jack family, Carangidae...

, Ladyfish, Inshore lizardfish
Inshore lizardfish
The Inshore Lizardfish, Synodus foetens, inhabits the east coast of the Americas. They are a slender fish, growing to no more than 16 inches in length. The mouth is large and wide, the upper jaw extending beyond the eyes. The jaws contain many needle-like teeth, found as well as on the...

, Atlantic midshipman
Midshipman fish
The midshipman fishes are the genus Porichthys of toadfishes. They are distinguished by having photophores and four lateral lines...

, Silver perch
Silver Perch
Silver perch is a medium sized freshwater fish endemic to the Murray-Darling river system in south-eastern Australia. The scientific name comes from an aboriginal name for the species recorded by Major Mitchell on his 1832 expedition. It is not a perch, being a grunter in the family Terapontidae...

, Pinfish, Smooth puffer
Lagocephalus
Lagocephalus is a genus in the pufferfish family .- Species :* Lagocephalus gloveri Abe & Tabeta, 1983* Diamondback puffer, Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda-Ribeiro, 1915...

, Scaled sardine
Scaled sardine
The scaled sardine, Harengula jaguana, is a herring-like fish in the family Clupeidae. It is native to coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, from the Gulf of Mexico down to Brazil....

, Bighead searobin
Sea robin
Sea robins, also known as gurnard, are bottom-feeding scorpaeniform fishes in the family Triglidae. They get their name from their large pectoral fins, which, when swimming, open and close like a bird's wings in flight....

, Sand seatrout, Spotted seatrout
Spotted Seatrout
The spotted seatrout also known as speckled trout,or spotted weakfish is a common estuary fish found in the southern United States...

, Sheepshead
Sheepshead
Sheepshead or Sheephead is a trick-taking card game related to the Skat family of games. It is the Americanized version of a card game that originated in Central Europe in the late 18th century under the German name Schafkopf. Although Schafkopf literally means "sheepshead", it has nothing to do...

, Gray snapper, Common snook
Common snook
The common snook is a species of marine fish in the family Centropomidae of the order Perciformes. This species is native to the coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, from southern Florida and Texas...

, and the Tripletail
Tripletail
Tripletails are perciform fishes in the genus Lobotes, the only genus in the family Lobotidae.-Species:* Pacific tripletail, Lobotes pacificus Gilbert, 1898.* Atlantic tripletail, Lobotes surinamensis ....

.

In 2009, $1 million of federal stimulus money was delegated to the restoration of the marshland near the Nueces Bay Causeway to increase the population of birds and fish. The Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collaborated to place soil and plant marsh near the causeway to allow a larger nursing location for fish and provide greater quantities of food for water birds. Over 490 species of birds have been found in the area including the Brown pelican
Brown Pelican
The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is in length, weighs from and has a wingspan from .-Range and habits:...

, Black-billed whistling duck
Black-billed Whistling Duck
The West Indian Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna arborea, is a whistling duck which breeds in the Caribbean. Alternative names are Black-billed Whistling Duck and Cuban Whistling Duck....

, Reddish egret
Reddish Egret
The Reddish Egret is a small heron. It is a resident breeder in Central America, The Bahamas, the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast of the United States, and Mexico. There is post-breeding dispersal to well north of the nesting range...

, White-faced Ibis
White-faced Ibis
The White-faced Ibis is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae.This species breeds colonially in marshes, usually nesting in bushes or low trees. Its breeding range extends from the western USA south through Mexico, as well as from southeastern Brazil and southeastern Bolivia south to...

, Pauraque
Pauraque
The Pauraque – also called the Common Pauraque to distinguish it from similar species – is a nightjar species, the only bird in the genus Nyctidromus...

, Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
The Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Amazilia yucatanensis, is a medium-sized hummingbird. It is long and has a mass of .Adults are a metallic olive green above and buffy in the lower breast. The tail and primary wings are rufous in color and slightly forked. The underwing is white. The bill of the male...

, Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
The Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Melanerpes aurifrons, is a North American woodpecker. Its preferred habitat is mesquite and riparian woodlands. It is distributed from Texas and Oklahoma in the United States through Mexico to Honduras and northern Nicaragua...

, Long-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
The Long-billed Thrasher is a medium-sized resident songbird of South Texas and eastern Mexico.It is slender and long-tailed, averaging 26.5–29 cm in length and about 70 g in weight...

, Olive Sparrow
Olive Sparrow
The Olive Sparrow, Arremonops rufivirgatus, is a species of American sparrow in the family Emberizidae. Its range includes Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and southern Texas .It is long, and is the only sparrow with an olive back...

, Neotropic Cormorant
Neotropic Cormorant
The Neotropic Cormorant or Olivaceous Cormorant is a medium-sized cormorant found throughout the American tropics and subtropics, from the middle Rio Grande and the Gulf and Californian coasts of the USA south through Mexico and Central America to southern South America. It also breeds on the...

, Laughing gull
Laughing Gull
The Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Northernmost populations migrate further south in winter, and this species occurs as a rare vagrant to western...

, Franklin's gull
Franklin's Gull
The Franklin's Gull is a small gull.-Description:It breeds in central provinces of Canada and adjacent states of the northern United States...

, Ring-billed gull
Ring-billed Gull
The Ring-billed Gull is a medium-sized gull.Adults are length and with a wingspan. The head, neck and underparts are white; the relatively short bill is yellow with a dark ring; the back and wings are silver gray; and the legs are yellow. The eyes are yellow with red rims...

, Herring gull
American Herring Gull
The American Herring Gull or Smithsonian Gull is a large gull which breeds in North America. It is often treated as a subspecies of the European Herring Gull but is now regarded as a separate species by some authorities.Adults are white with gray back and wings, black wingtips with white spots,...

, Gull-billed tern
Gull-billed Tern
The Gull-billed Tern formerly Sterna nilotica , is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae...

, Common Loon, Brown-crested flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
The Brown-crested Flycatcher is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds in open woodland from southern California, southern Nevada, central Arizona, and southern Texas southward to Argentina and Bolivia, and on Trinidad and Tobago...

, Hooded Oriole
Hooded Oriole
The Hooded Oriole, Icterus cucullatus, is a medium-sized New World oriole.Adults have a pointed bill and white wing bars. The adult male has an orange head with black on the face and throat; they are black on the back, wings and tail, orange on the underparts...

, Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...

 and Piping Plover
Piping Plover
The Piping Plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black ring around the neck...

. Bird populations are protected and can be viewed at the Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge on Oso Bay.

Industry

Corpus Christi Bay is a natural harbor, and its port has contributed to the growth of the main port city of Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi is the sixth largest port in the United States, and the deepest on the Gulf of Mexico. The channel to the Gulf was dredged through the bay to the jetties at Port Aransas
Port Aransas, Texas
Port Aransas is a city in Nueces County, Texas. The population was 3,370 at the 2000 census.-Early history:Karankawa Indians played a key role in the early development of the Texas Gulf Coast. The Karankawa Indians inhabited the Gulf Coast of Texas from Galveston Bay all the way to Corpus Christi Bay...

. Freight exchanged at the port include seafood, industrial and agricultural goods and petroleum. Six oil refineries and 1,500 wells are located near the bay as well as a large supply of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

. In 1987 alone, $277 million of oil and gas were produced in the area. Metals, stone products, glass, chemicals, and gypsum products are also produced near the bay. Ingleside originally focused its economy on agriculture, notably viticulture
Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

. Later, industrial plants including those established by the Brauer Corporation, Reynolds Metals
Reynolds Metals
Reynolds Group Holdings is an American packaging company with its roots in the Reynolds Metals Company, was the second largest aluminum company in the United States, and the third largest in the world...

 (five miles away) and DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...

 opened. La Quinta Channel was dredged by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s.

Tourism to the bay is encouraged by the area's climate, fishing and birding opportunities as well as sites in Corpus Christi including Corpus Christi beach, USS Lexington Museum
USS Lexington (CV-16)
USS Lexington , known as "The Blue Ghost", is one of 24 s built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name, is named in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington...

, the bayfront marina, and the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. The bay was also the site of the 2008 U.S. Wind and Water Open, as well as the Texas International Boat Show in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
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