March is Seagrass Awareness Month
Op Ed by Katie Tripp, Ph.D.
Director of Science & Conservation
Save the Manatee Club
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For Immediate Release: March 1, 2012
March signals spring time in Florida – the longer days and warmer weather can create ideal conditions for fishing, kayaking, boating, or stand up paddle boarding in Florida’s estuaries and other coastal waterways. It is fitting then that March is also Seagrass Awareness Month because seagrass beds are such an important component of our coastal waterways. According to a recent report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 2.2 million acres of seagrasses have been documented in Florida waters, providing ecological services worth $20 billion per year. Ecological services include habitat values that cannot be measured by a traditional economic scale – i.e. the value of providing habitat to juvenile sport fish or food for manatees and sea turtles. Seagrass beds also provide direct economic benefits to Florida through fishing charters and ecotourism businesses.
The condition of Florida’s seagrasses varies in different regions. Seagrasses in the Keys are believed to be stable while those in certain areas of Southwest Florida and the Panhandle are declining. Seagrasses along Florida’s east coast have been showing an increasing trend, and South Florida contains nearly 60% of the state’s seagrasses. However, great losses in seagrass abundance in Brevard County in 2011 caused by environmental factors are a reminder that these ecosystems are vulnerable.
Seagrasses are found in clear and relatively shallow waters because their growth is fueled by sunlight. Their occurrence in shallow water makes them susceptible to damage by boats that may try to motor through areas without proper clearance, creating “prop scars” in the grass beds. A churning propeller cuts not only the blades of the grasses, but uproots and destroys the rhizomes (roots) in the sand and it can take years for the sediment to support regrowth and allow the scars to heal. To prevent prop scarring, boats should stay in marked deep water channels while traveling. Flats boats fishing in the seagrass beds should use poles and trolling motors to move through the water, to avoid damaging seagrasses with their engines. If boaters become stuck in a shallow area with seagrssses or other submerged resources, they should never use the engine to try to blast free. Instead, they should turn off the engine, shift passenger weight distribution in the boat, and try to move the boat using a long pole or oar. If necessary, one or more passengers can exit the boat and push it to deeper water. Boaters should also use polarized sunglasses to reduce glare and help them see resources like seagrasses located beneath the water’s surface.
Seagrasses are negatively affected by stormwater runoff and algae blooms that block the sun’s rays since they need sunlight to grow. Stormwater runoff to coastal waters can be reduced by creating swales and retention ponds and using pervious pavement. Limiting use of fertilizers in landscapes adjacent to coastal waterways can reduce the nutrient loading that contributes to algae blooms. All of us who live and recreate in coastal areas can take steps to make our waters cleaner and protect the seagrasses that are so vitally important to our aquatic ecosystem and economy.
Dr. Tripp has been Save the Manatee Club’s Director of Science and Conservation since May of 2008. She received her Ph.D. in Veterinary Medical Sciences from the University of Florida, where she conducted research on manatee physiology.
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