Galveston Bay is the recreational center of the Texas coast—a 
fishing, boating, and birdwatching playground for the almost four 
million people who live on or near it. A shallow estuary of about 
350,000 acres, the bay supports a rich assortment of wildlife and a 
commercial fishery that pulls millions of pounds of crabs, shrimp, 
and oysters from the water each year. Gateway to the Port of 
Houston, Galveston Bay is also a major corridor for huge volumes 
of international shipping and is home to the nation's largest 
petrochemical manufacturing complex.
 
    How can such divergent and apparently contradictory activities 
coexist? Setting out to find some answers, Sally E. Antrobus has 
produced a book for residents and visitors alike that tunes them in 
to what is happening in, on, and to the bay—the book she herself 
wished for when she first came to live nearby.
  
    Beginning with a short, incisive history of the peopling of the area, 
Antrobus describes how the bay works ecologically and how it is put 
to work, for recreation and for commerce; how nature both 
contributes to and controls the human enterprise there; and how 
power and politics can destroy all the bay has to offer.

    Antrobus serves as an expert guide for those who want to 
discover hidden destinations and attend events that celebrate the 
life on Galveston Bay. Her resources section offers a wealth of ways 
to become active in local conservation efforts, reminding us there is 
much to hope for but also much to do to ensure the survival of this 
great bay.

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Freelance editor SALLY E. ANTROBUS has a special interest in 
natural history and the outdoors. A board member of the Galveston 
Bay Conservation and Preservation Association and trustee of the 
Armand Bayou Nature Center, she produces a bi-monthly journal for 
the Houston Safari Club. Antrobus lives in Seabrook.


Number Eight: Gulf Coast Studies, sponsored by Texas A&M 
University–Corpus Christi


What people are saying about this book

". . . well written, thoroughly researched, and carefully documented. 
Ms. Antrobus obviously has a good understanding of natural history 
and its intricate processes, something many authors lack. She has 
integrated this material nicely with the historical information to 
present a comprehensive picture of the region and its value to us all. 
Galveston Bay Guide is an important contribution to the body of 
literature on the estuary system and its potential fate."—John and 
Gloria Tveten, authors of Our Life with Birds: A Nature Trails Book