DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is 156 miles long, from the Jupiter Inlet in Palm Beach County to the Ponce de Leon Inlet in Volusia County.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is home to more than 4000 plant and animal species.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has 685 species of fish.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon ranges in width from one-half mile to five miles. It's average depth is three feet.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon provides 19,000 jobs and $250 million in annual income to Indian River Lagoon area residents.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has a rich diversity of habitats and biological resources due in part to its existence in the transitional zone between the temperate and tropical climates.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon generates more than $300 million in boat and marine sales annually to the region.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has an annual economic impact of $730 million, in terms of recreational use, fishing, ecotourism and increased land values.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon license plate program helps preserve and protect this magnificent estuary.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has five state parks, four federal wildlife refuges and a national seashore.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has 36 rare and endangered animal species, one of which is the manatee. Over one-third of the nation's manatee population lives in or migrates through the Lagoon.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has four species of fish that only breed in the Lagoon. The Lagoon is the only location in the world where you can find the Atlantic salt marsh snake.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is not a river. It is an estuary - a body of water where freshwater draining from the land mixes with the ocean's salt water.

DID YOU KNOW? Each acre of healthy seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon is valuable to our local economy. Each acre of seagrass generates $12,000. annually to the local economy with the total seagrass acreage valued at a billion dollars.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is a unique and valuable resource that must be preserved and protected.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has more than 200 spoil islands that were created in the 1950's from the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon's commercial fishing industry began about 1865.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon seatrout catch has declined by more than 50% since 1953.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is home to marine mammals - the manatee (also known as the sea cow) and the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (also known as the porpoise).

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon generates more than $54 million dollars from recreational fishing per year.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has five inlets to the Atlantic Ocean.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon seagrasses are important to the ecosystem as they help maintain water clarity by trapping sediments, stabilizing the bottom with their root system, and providing a nursery for fish, shellfish and crustaceans.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has mangroves - a tropical aquatic tree which forms dense thickets in tidal regions. Mangroves offer an important habitat and food source for fish, shellfish and crustaceans.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is the cradle of the nearby Atlantic Ocean, serving as a spawning and nursery ground for ocean and lagoon fish alike.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon has 310 species of birds; the most diverse bird population anywhere in North America.

DID YOU KNOW? President George Bush proclaimed the Indian River Lagoon an Estuary of National Significance on April 20, 1990.

DID YOU KNOW? Each year 100 scientists visit the Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft. Pierce to work in the Indian River Lagoon and nearshore waters.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is one of the primary tourist and recreational attractions in the region.

DID YOU KNOW? Public participation and awareness is a necessary ingredient in keeping the Indian River Lagoon healthy and productive to our economy.

DID YOU KNOW? The diversity of sea grass found in the Indian River Lagoon is greater than that found in any other U.S. estuary.

DID YOU KNOW? The Fort Pierce Inlet, constructed in 1921, is reported by marine biologists to be the most productive and diverse inlet in the entire Lagoon.

DID YOU KNOW? The future of the Indian River Lagoon will be what we make it. We can protect or destroy this important natural resource.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is used by at least one-third of the United States manatee population.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is North America's Most Diverse Estuary.

DID YOU KNOW? The Marine Resources Council works to protect over 4000 species in the Indian River Lagoon.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon contains 2100 types of plants; the Lagoon is also home to more than 2200 species of animals - the most in any North American estuary.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon's mangrove trees, that help hold the soil in place along the shore, have been depleted significantly by development.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon needs you to do your part to protect and restore this valuable resource.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon is a natural treasure that many of us take for granted.

DID YOU KNOW? The Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft. Pierce is a depository for the Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory.

DID YOU KNOW? That most water transportation until 1885 was by sailboat in the Indian River Lagoon. The Lagoon was a primary route for transportation, trading and supplies.

DID YOU KNOW? All experimental attempts to transplant Johnson Seagrass where it has disappeared have been unsuccessful. According to a study for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the transplanted seagrass disappeared within just seven months.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon sea grass habitat is a critical resource for the West Indian Manatee.

DID YOU KNOW? It is illegal to feed or harass the wild dolphin and manatees found in our Indian River Lagoon.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River Lagoon contains all 7 known species of sea grasses.

DID YOU KNOW? Prior to 1940, access over the Indian River Lagoon to the barrier islands was almost exclusively by boat or ferry.

DID YOU KNOW? Many area residents do not realize the tremendous economic value the Indian River Lagoon is to our local economy.

DID YOU KNOW? That two species of marine turtles, the green turtle and the loggerhead, inhabit the Indian River Lagoon.

DID YOU KNOW? That World War II (1941-1945) activities caused excessive dredging of the Lagoon and widening of our inlet.

DID YOU KNOW? That within the Indian River Lagoon, the greatest biological diversity is in the vicinity of the Fort Pierce inlet.

DID YOU KNOW? The Indian River lagoon has several enemies: runoff from fertilizers, pesticides, hazardous waste and human abuse.