NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Alligators and RocketShips

National Wildlife Refuge
Alligators and Rocketships video with Jon Cowart

Merritt Island

Kennedy is located on a barrier island, called Merritt Island, about 34 miles long and varying in width from five to 10 miles. The total land and water area covers just over 140,000 acres, however, only 6,000 acres are actually used for space shuttle operations. Many people don't realize that Kennedy Space Center is also a National Wildlife Refuge.

Kennedy is a National Wildlife Refuge

Since August of 1963, Merritt Island's National Wildlife Refuge has shared a common boundary with the John F. Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida. Just south of launch pad 39A, manatees graze protected in a sanctuary in the northern end of Banana River. Between May and September, thousands of endangered sea turtles come ashore on this barrier island in the dark of night to lay their eggs. Merritt Island's strategic location along the Atlantic Flyway provides a resting and feeding place for thousands of wading birds, shorebirds, and songbirds. Diverse habitats that include brackish marshes, salt water estuaries, and hardwood hammocks provide homes to an amazing diversity of more than 500 species of wildlife. Today these 220 square miles are managed by the Dept. of the Interior as a National Wildlife Refuge and National Seashore.

Another endangered species is the beloved sea turtle. Most often the female turtles will come ashore in the calm of the night to lay their eggs. With its protected shoreline, Kennedy has one of the most dense turtle populations in the northern hemisphere.

Sea Turtle

Bald Eagle Nest

There are more than 15 varieties of endangered wildlife at Kennedy. There are at least five active bald eagle nests around the Center. Nests can reach more than six feet in diameter and are usually inhabited from September through May. The eagles usually produce one or two chicks per year.

Manatee

Manatees are also abundant at the center with more than 300 of the lovable creatures accounted for, thus making up around 30 percent of Florida's total manatee population. No discussion of wildlife at Kennedy is complete without mentioning alligators! While the interactions between man and alligator are few, the biggest problem is during Shuttle landings. Prior to each Kennedy Shuttle landing, it is the task of a special crew to clear the runway of all debris, including any alligators that might be sunning themselves on the runway surface.

Alligator

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