During stage 1 we will kayak 1,400 miles from Seattle, Washington to Skagway, Alaska. The Pacific Northwest is home to a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial animals. We will be studying whales and other marine mammals, kelp forests, salmon, and many other species.
The Pacific Northwest is home to a variety of large land mammals including Grizzly Bears, and Black Bears. Above and below the surface we are sure to find plenty of things to learn about. Many of these large mammals need large undeveloped spaces to thrive and the roadless sections of British Columbia and Alaska provide the perfect habitat.
From Skagway, Alaska we will hike over the Chilkoot Pass in the footsteps of thousands of gold seekers who struggled across the pass to reach the Klondike. Many of artifacts remain from those early days, and we will follow their path all the way to Dawson City along the mighty Yukon River.
From Bennet Lake on the eastern side of the Chilkoot Pass we will canoe through a chain of lakes that form the headwaters of the Yukon River past White Horse and down the swift flowing Yukon River to Dawson City. 
From Dawson we will hike 100 miles through the mountains to the headwaters of the Blackstone River. The Blackstone flows into the Peel River, which flows in the McKenzie River, which will lead us to the Arctic Ocean. The rivers flowing through these rugged mountains as some of the most pristine wild rivers in North America, with hundreds of miles of flowing waterways between towns or roads.
After over 2,600 miles of paddling and hiking we hope to reach the Arctic Ocean before freeze up. We will spend the month of October,2010 training our dogs, and learning about native life in the Arctic. In November we will head south along the McKenzie River by dog team, crossing 1,800 miles of frozen wilderness. There are many remote native communities along our way and we are sure to learn a lot from the people we encounter.
When the ice melts in the Spring of 2011 we will transition from dogsled to canoe and paddle 2,300 miles along the historic travel and trade route pioneered by Alexander McKenzie, Samuel Hearne, and other Canadian Explorers in the 1700's. We will finish this stage of our journey in the fall of 2011 by completing the 8 1/2 mile Grand Portage which will lead us to the rock shore of Lake Superior.
After spending the winter giving presentations and making final preparations we will begin 4,800 mile kayak journey from Grand Portage, Minnesota to Key West, Florida. The first 2,200 miles will take us through the Great Lakes and out the Saint Lawrence Seaway. 
During the final stage of our journey we will kayak the length of the Atlantic Coast from the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Key West, Florida. We will be following the seasonal whale migration from the Bay of Fundy in Maine to the warm clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way we will visit cities large and small, and study a variety of ecosystems and environmental topics. We also plan to take side trips into the cyprus swamps and Everglades National Park looking for Alligators, birds, and other critters.
Expedition Blog Exploring Mangrove Swamps
Exploring Mangrove Swamps
Sunday, 03 March 2013 05:58
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We experienced an abrupt change this week when we left the Suwannee River and paddled out into the Gulf of Mexico. When we saw a dolphin I said,”wow, we have not seen a dolphin in a long time.” Then I remembered that the reason we had not seen dolphins - we had been traveling on rivers for the past few weeks. Now we see dolphins every day. Plus, we are seeing lots of other plants and animals like stingrays, sea turtles, ospreys and pelicans, which are all common along the Gulf Coast. We have also entered a new habitat, the mangrove swamp.
The roots of the mangrove trees are growing in the water. Photo by NOAA, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mangroves.jpg
Mangrove swamps are coastal wetlands found in tropical and subtropical regions. Mangrove swamps are made of halophytic (salt loving) trees, shrubs and other plants growing in shallow brackish and salt waters. Mangroves are often found in estuaries, where fresh water meets salt water and are infamous for their impenetrable maze of woody vegetation. We camped in a mangrove swamp a few nights ago and it was really hard to climb through the tangle of roots and limbs in search of a flat, dry place set up our tent.
Map of mangrove distribution, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_mangrove_distribution.png
In North America, mangroves are found from the southern tip of Florida along the Gulf Coast to Texas. Florida's gulf coast supports one of the largest mangrove swamps in the world. The mangroves' tangle of roots and branches provide shelter for a wide range of birds, fish, insects and other animals. Many animals use mangroves as a nursery for their young.
Mangroves also provide shelter for humans! Mangroves protect shorelines from damaging storm and hurricane winds, waves, and floods. Mangroves also help prevent erosion by stabilizing sediments with their tangled root systems. They also help maintain water quality by filtering pollutants and trapping sediments originating from land. Mangroves are a buffer between the ocean and the land. They help the ecosystems around them stay healthy.
This is an overhead view of a mangrove swamp in Florida. Photo by Bill Wilen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/natdiglib/id/6230/rec/18
Experts have found that as much as 50% of the world’s mangroves have been destroyed by development over the last 100 years. During the last 100 years a lot of the mangroves in Florida have been destroyed as well. However, people now understand the importance of protecting mangrove habitat. In Florida, the Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act makes it illegal to use poisonous chemicals in mangroves. People need a permit from the government before they can disturb mangroves in any way.
When we paddled through a maze of mangroves yesterday we saw fish feeding on the surface, dolphins surfacing and many birds roosting in the tangled branches. It was easy to see that mangroves are an important habitat. We are happy that scientists understand how important mangroves are and people are working hard to protect them.
Further Exploration
http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=39
http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/mangrove.cfm
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/gallery/mangrove-trees/?ar_a=1
http://www.oceansforyouth.org/mangroves.html
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