Gator Lake

Site 5- Gator Lake is a small black water lake in the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. It is fed freshwater by the surficial aquifer and swale runoff from ridge and swale topography to the west. It is also connected to Little Lagoon by a small bayou which allows salt water to create brackish conditions from time to time. When we asked for permission to access our Site 4-SW in the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge via pine Beach Road we agreed to sample the Lake and record physical parameters and bacteria levels. Bacteria levels can be quite high in the lake which is no surprise given the amount of wildlife in the BNWR and proximity of the Lake to a significant rookery.