(Mangrove Day Special)
They don’t roar when the storms come. They don’t creak or groan like pines in heavy wind, or splinter under flying debris.
Mangroves stand silent.
Rooted in brackish mud, their tangled legs—prop roots and pneumatophores—lock together like a shield wall. When hurricanes push walls of water toward Florida’s coast, mangroves meet them head-on, breaking waves, slowing surges, and holding sand and soil in place when everything else seems to wash away.
I didn’t grow up surrounded by mangroves. I was born in Key West, spent my childhood in upstate New York, and only returned to Florida as a teenager for a brief time before coming back for good as an adult. But I will never forget Hurricane Charley.
The storm sucked Tampa Bay’s water out to sea before landfall, leaving fish flopping on exposed sandbars and boats stranded in the muck. Hours later, the water came rushing back, fast and high, curling into seawalls and battering docks.
But not everywhere.
On the stretches of coast still hemmed in by mangroves, the water slowed. Waves lost their teeth, curling gently into the labyrinth of roots. Houses tucked behind those green fortresses fared better than the ones standing exposed.
Science backs what I saw: mangrove forests can reduce wave energy by as much as 66% in just 100 meters of trees. They trap soil, keeping coastlines from eroding, and they save lives—human and wild. Nesting herons, juvenile snook, even baby sharks find shelter in the same roots that hold back storm surges.
Though Florida law protects mangroves under the Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act, they are still heavily trimmed for waterfront views and sometimes even illegally removed for development. Every tree lost weakens the green shield that stands between Florida’s coast and the sea.
So today, on Mangrove Day, let’s remember the heroes we forget. They aren’t just “trees in the mud.” They are living storm barriers, wildlife nurseries, and Florida’s first line of defense.
The next time a hurricane churns offshore, say a quiet thank you to the mangroves—because while we board up windows, they stand in the surge and take the beating for us all.