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Henderson Creek

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The meandering Henderson Creek makes it way to Rookery Bay and then eventually to the Gulf of Mexico in the distance. The area which has in a sense been damed by Collier Blvd and is bordered by an explosion of housing developments has helped to reduce the natural flow of the creek. Erik Kellar/Staff

Photo by ERIK KELLAR

The meandering Henderson Creek makes it way to Rookery Bay and then eventually to the Gulf of Mexico in the distance. The area which has in a sense been damed by Collier Blvd and is bordered by an explosion of housing developments has helped to reduce the natural flow of the creek. Erik Kellar/Staff

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  • The meandering Henderson Creek makes it way to Rookery Bay and then eventually to the Gulf of Mexico in the distance. The area which has in a sense been damed by Collier Blvd and is bordered by an explosion of housing developments has helped to reduce the natural flow of the creek. Erik Kellar/Staff
  • From left; Jerry and Joyce Downing, listen with their friends John and Linda Hilt, all from Michigan, to Mary Bolen, a volunteer naturalist, explain some of the birds they will see on the Sunset Birding cruise hosted by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The cruise travels through Henderson Creek and around Rookery Bay between Naples and Marco Island showing tourist the rich bird population that is dependent on the fish in the area while the mangroves provide a nesting area and safe haven. Erik Kellar/Staff
  • Betty Boyers looks for a pair of nesting eagles during the Sunset Birding cruise hosted by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The cruise travels through Henderson Creek and around Rookery Bay between Naples and Marco Island showing tourist the rich bird population that is dependent on the fish in the area while the mangroves provide a nesting area and safe haven. Erik Kellar/Staff Erik Kellar/Staff
  • Mary Bolen, a volunteer naturalist, talks about indigenous birds during the Conservancy of Southwest Florida's Good Fortune birding cruise through Henderson Creek and Rookery Bay recently.The cruise travels through Henderson Creek and around Rookery Bay between Naples and Marco Island showing tourist the rich bird population that is dependent on the fish in the area while the mangroves provide a nesting area and safe haven. Erik Kellar/Staff
  • Where once was wild land and natural sheet that filtered through land and flow that would help fill Henderson Creek now is bordered by huge housing development like Verona Walk. The creek has been reduced to a canal and has been damed in a sense by Collier Blvd and cut off from its headwaters by Interstate 75. Erik Kellar/Staff
  • Standardized fluids wait to be used to calibrate the sensors of a data sonde to make sure the sensors are holding their calibration while out in the field. The sonde records oxygen levels, conductivity, temperature and salinity in the water at the base of Henderson Creek. Lexey Swall-Bobay/Staff
  • Christina Panko, a water quality assistant with Rookery Bay National Estuarine, pulls a data sonde off of a speed limit sign at the base of Henderson Creek, about a mile west of Collier Boulevard. A canal that runs along the east side of Collier Boulevard is the starting point for the winding creek. A weir built in 1981 near the U.S. 41 bridge controls how much water the creek gets. Lexey Swall-Bobay/Staff
  • Christina Panko, a water quality assistant with Rookery Bay National Estuarine, places standardized fluids on the sensors of a data sonde to make sure the sensors are holding their calibration while out in the field. The Rookery has five data sonde locations, 4 in the 10,000 Islands, and this one, that is placed at the base of Henderson Creek. The sonde records oxygen levels, conductivity, temperature and salinity in the water. Lexey Swall-Bobay/Staff
  • A boat throws up a wake along a pristine portion of Henderson Creek as it heads in from Rookery Bay in East Naples earlier this year. Henderson creek was among numerous restoration projects Congress included in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project in 2000. Now the multi million dollar project to try and reconnect waterflows and filter man made pollutants from reaching critical habitat may start some time in 2010 . Erik Kellar/Staff

Rookery Bay has become the poster child for the federal government’s stalled campaign to restore South Florida’s ecosystem.

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