Canaveral National Seashore, a 58,000 acre park, doubles as a nature preserve and a buffer zone between Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center rocket launches and the public. The park, located east of Titusville, Florida is home to over 1,000 plant species and 14 threatened and endangered species. The drive through the preserve offers numerous pullouts where wading birds are abundant, as well as the Florida tourist's favorite, the alligator. This thin strip of beach is covered with palmetto scrub, sea grapes and sea oats. Midway along the park's coastline lies a 24 mile stretch of undisturbed beach. Access, from either end, requires hiking, biking or horseback and affords protection for 4,000 endangered sea turtles and their nests. This fragile beach ground cover offers some protection from wind and water erosion, but is no match for the extremes of storm surges and hurricane winds.