OSO BAY & THE BLIND OSO

The Blind Oso is an urban tidal flat associated with Oso Bay, a tertiary bay of Corpus Christi Bay.  Oso Bay  receives about 57 million gallons of treated municipal wastewater each day and over 1.9 billion liters of hypersaline water from the Laguna Madre via the cooling ponds of the Barney Davis Power Plant.  Discharges from the power plant affect the hydrology of lower Oso Creek and Oso Bay.  Sediments in this flat are primarily clay.  Although the hydrology of the entire bay is driven mainly by the discharges from the power and wastewater treatment plants, wind still plays an important role in the flooding and exposure of the Blind Oso.  Many aquatic birds can be found in this bay and associated tidal flats.  The primary invertebrates living in the sediment are polychaetes and they can be very, very abundant.

Oso Bay is located on the southern end of Corpus Christi Bay.  The Blind Oso is located between Ennis Joslin Drive and Ward Island.  There are several points of access including Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Area on Ennis Joslin Drive, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) on Ward Island, and the bridge between the University and the Naval Air Station (NAS). 

At Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Area you can look out over the bay and tidal flat from the boardwalk or walk along the edge of the bay.  In general, this area is covered with shallow water, so the majority of birds seen in the area are wading birds like Great Blue Heron or a variety of ducks.  There are small amounts of submerged vegetation in the water and a well-developed marsh around the storm water discharge area. 

At TAMU-CC, you can park on campus (Visitor’s Parking Permit required) and get down to the tidal flat from a variety of points along the hiking/biking trail.  The easiest place to get down to the flat is by walking down the slope behind the Natural Resource Center near the storm water discharge.  From this point, the entire flat spreads out in front of you.  Be sure and wear shoes that can get wet and muddy if you choose to walk out on this flat.  Many species of shorebirds can be seen between August and April, so bring binoculars.  In addition, halophytic plants can be examined along the edge of the flat and the blue-green algal mat, although not as well-developed as on other tidal flats in the area, can also be seen.  If you visit the flat several times over the course of a week or month, you will see dramatic changes in both the amount of water covering the Blind Oso as well as the abundance of life on the flat. 

At the bridge between TAMU-CC and NAS, there is deep water in the channel and shallow water along the edges of Ward Island.  Here there is a variety of submerged and marshy vegetation patches with shallow water in between.  Mostly wading birds use this area.  This is a good area to pull a seine to see what kinds of fish and invertebrate nekton are living in the shallow water.

HOME