Life Support

This swale on the Rafter T Ranch in Florida was originally dug to build a road. Now it is plugged and holds water on the landscape, keeps excess nutrients from flushing into the lake, and creates wildlife habitat. 

American lotus leaves, coated in fine hairs that repel water, cover large areas of Lake Okeechobee in spring and summer, sprouting yellow flowers before dying back in autumn.

Paul Gray, Audubon of Florida’s Okeechobee science coordinator (in his signature barefoot state), works tirelessly to restore the lake’s ecosystem. Okeechobee—“plenty big water” in the Seminole language—is the Southeast’s largest lake and the heart of a water system that includes the Kissimmee River, the Everglades, and Florida Bay. 

Lake Okeechobee.

Yellow lotus bloom on Lake Okeechobee.

Water management system at Buck Island Ranch, in Florida.

Pink clusters of eggs belonging to the exotic apple snail. Snail kites feet on apple snails. 

Lotus.