Frequently Asked Questions
Why did you build this website?
I am a geologist who was laid off from the oil industry in 2015. I am taking advantage of the downturn to acquire new skills using GIS software, including ArcGIS and QGIS. Modern geologists are data scientists, and I am rapidly learning that the amount of public data for coastal geology available on the internet is astounding. I am sorting through this information, in the desire to create a website that is entertaining and educational for the general public and for persons interested in the outdoors and environment.
Why so much focus on Christmas Bay?
Christmas Bay is the most pristine bay in the Upper Texas Coast. Because there are no rivers or bayous that drain into the bay, it remains unpolluted despite the proximity to the Houston Area. In 1988 Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) and the General Land Office (GLO) designated Christmas Bay an official State Coastal Preserve and State Scientific Area.
The north shore lies within the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. The south shore consists mostly of salt marsh, where development is limited to two road access spurs, each with approximately a dozen houses. In the 1970s and 1980s, there were perhaps two dozen cottages constructed along the periphery of Christmas Bay - Arcadia Reef, Rattlesnake Point, the east shoreline, and Churchill Bayou. The last of these abandoned and dilapated structures were removed in November 2016 by the GLO. The low elevation of Follets Island is frequently inundated by hurricanes, which discourages development along much of the beachfront, despite the proliferation of land for sale signs.
While seagrass disappeared from the Galveston Bay System in the 1970s, native seagrasses continue to thrive in Christmas Bay, which is an important nursery for shrimp and fish. The shallow water and oyster reefs discourage most motorboat traffic in Christmas Bay and it is too shallow for shrimp boats. Christmas Bay remains as a natural treasure to remind us of what the Texas bays were like before development, industrialization, and pollution.
What is a KMZ file?
KMZ is a file extension for a file used by Google Earth. KMZ stands for Keyhole Markup language Zipped. Keyhole was the founding company of the Earth Viewer software that Google Earth was built upon. A KMZ file can be opened in Google Earth to view the image as an overlay. KMZ files can also be loaded into Garmin GPS devices as custom maps.
Can I get high resolution aerial photographs or prints?
File size limits the resolution that I can publish on the internet. I will provide high resolution images upon request. I also can provide laminated printed images at cost.
I am a geologist who was laid off from the oil industry in 2015. I am taking advantage of the downturn to acquire new skills using GIS software, including ArcGIS and QGIS. Modern geologists are data scientists, and I am rapidly learning that the amount of public data for coastal geology available on the internet is astounding. I am sorting through this information, in the desire to create a website that is entertaining and educational for the general public and for persons interested in the outdoors and environment.
Why so much focus on Christmas Bay?
Christmas Bay is the most pristine bay in the Upper Texas Coast. Because there are no rivers or bayous that drain into the bay, it remains unpolluted despite the proximity to the Houston Area. In 1988 Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) and the General Land Office (GLO) designated Christmas Bay an official State Coastal Preserve and State Scientific Area.
The north shore lies within the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. The south shore consists mostly of salt marsh, where development is limited to two road access spurs, each with approximately a dozen houses. In the 1970s and 1980s, there were perhaps two dozen cottages constructed along the periphery of Christmas Bay - Arcadia Reef, Rattlesnake Point, the east shoreline, and Churchill Bayou. The last of these abandoned and dilapated structures were removed in November 2016 by the GLO. The low elevation of Follets Island is frequently inundated by hurricanes, which discourages development along much of the beachfront, despite the proliferation of land for sale signs.
While seagrass disappeared from the Galveston Bay System in the 1970s, native seagrasses continue to thrive in Christmas Bay, which is an important nursery for shrimp and fish. The shallow water and oyster reefs discourage most motorboat traffic in Christmas Bay and it is too shallow for shrimp boats. Christmas Bay remains as a natural treasure to remind us of what the Texas bays were like before development, industrialization, and pollution.
What is a KMZ file?
KMZ is a file extension for a file used by Google Earth. KMZ stands for Keyhole Markup language Zipped. Keyhole was the founding company of the Earth Viewer software that Google Earth was built upon. A KMZ file can be opened in Google Earth to view the image as an overlay. KMZ files can also be loaded into Garmin GPS devices as custom maps.
Can I get high resolution aerial photographs or prints?
File size limits the resolution that I can publish on the internet. I will provide high resolution images upon request. I also can provide laminated printed images at cost.