Seagrass Monitoring

Eyes on Seagrass

Eyes on Seagrass is an important University of Florida citizen science project. It is part of the Sea Grant program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is administered in Florida through the University of Florida. Lemon Bay Conservancy volunteers are involved in this effort, attending workshops, collecting samples and providing seagrass reports from around Lemon Bay. Seagrasses are vital habitat for many fish and for the forage species they eat. It is the main food source for manatees. Once destroyed, seagrass is extremely difficult to recover. If there is no seagrass, the fish population declines, along with its interdependent species. It is our goal to educate the public about the importance of seagrass to the health of our waters and to advocate for sound environmental practices. Our future depends on it!

According to the Coastal & Heartland National Estuary Partnership (CHNEP) Water Atlas, seagrass acreage in Lemon Bay, as shown through aerial photography and in-water sampling, began to decline in 2018. By 2020, approximately 1,189 acres of seagrass within Gasparilla Sound / Cape Haze area had disappeared. This troubling decline is complex and involves many factors, both natural and manmade. Increased nutrient levels from stormwater runoff due to increased development, increased use of fertilizers and pesticides, channelization of natural streams and dredging are just a few of the ways rapid human development has affected seagrass habitat. These factors, combined with red tide, hurricanes and changing rainfall patterns have caused damage to the seagrass beds. To join the Lemon BayWatch Eyes On Seagrass team, call the Lemon Bay Conservancy office at 941-830-8922. Sampling will resume in spring and summer 2023.

Chart of monitoring locations 2022

Eyes on Seagrass Training and Sampling April 2022

The initial Sea Grant agent in Charlotte County was Betty Staugler.  Betty has moved on to better things (see below) and the new agent is Kate Rose. Kate is most excited to kick start programs that engage Charlotte County’s youth. She also looks forward to maintaining programs that Betty established over the last 17 years in the role.

A Lemon BayWatch team of Hilary Dahms, Jane and Malcolm Collingwood, Sue and Kevin Wills all attended training for Eyes on Seagrass with the Kate Rose at the Cedar Point Environment centre in Englewood. It was good to get a refresher on the required collection changes from the year before. We selected our sampling locations and collected the necessary equipment.

We completed our three assigned locations in one day. One site near Cedar Point on the east side of the Bay contained limited amounts of seagrass. At another location on the west side of the Bay we encountered strange leach-like creatures in the seabed that attached to shoes, equipment and legs in addition to biting us. We abandoned that site. At the third site near Lemon Creek on the east side of the Bay we discovered a very healthy meadow of seagrass. Samples were collected, labeled, packed on ice and driven to the UF/IFL office in Port Charlotte.

Job well done team.

Sea Grant agent Katie Rose training 2022

Sue Wills prepared for monitoring

Kevin & Sue Wills monitoring seagrass

Jane Collingwood recording information collected

Eyes on Seagrass Training and Sampling April 2021

Betty Staugler conducted our spring training workshop on the procedures for sampling and documenting the conditions of the seagrass beds in our waters. Over 2 days in May the BayWatch team dove into the program assessing the health of the seagrass in three locations near Stump Pass, Don Pedro island and Cape Haze. Using dive masks, snorkels, buckets, syringes and all manner of of collection tools, the team observed and recorded the type of sediment, the microalgae species of sea grass and epibiota (new word of the day — meaning “attached plants and animals”) density and most importantly, the percentage of sea grass coverage In the survey area. The samples were sent to the UF/IFL labs for analysis.

Lemon Bay Watch started seagrass monitoring in 2021 with a wading trip at Cedar Point Environmental Center in Englewood. This program is very popular, and will take you into the vibrant waters of Lemon Bay where you discover seagrass meadows and creatures that live there. Frequently sighted on the trip are seahorses and pipefish, hermit crabs, juvenile fish, lice conchs and whelks, sea birds, dolphins and more! We were careful to return and released back the critters where we found them back into their habitat unharmed.

Malcolm Collingwood & Hilary Dahms monitoring seagrass

Jane Collingwood retrieving equipment

Cedar Point Environment Center Seagrass wading

Betty Staugler. NOAA HAB Liaison, Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida. For 17 years Betty was an Extension agent with the Florida Sea Grant program at University of Florida, based at the UF/IFAS Extension’s Charlotte County office, helping coastal residents and people whose livelihoods depend on the marine ecosystem deal with issues including harmful algal blooms in southwest Florida. Betty is now taking on a new role now as NOAA’s Harmful Algal Bloom Liaison, where she will work with two other NOAA programs to coordinate harmful algal bloom communications: the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), and the NOAA CoastWatch/OceanWatch/PolarWatch Program (NOAA CoastWatch).

Sea Grant is a program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is administered in Florida through the University of Florida.