- April 23, 2024
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Volunteers and exhibitors gathered Saturday at Sarasota Sailing Squadron.
A boat heads off into Sarasota Bay as part of the Seagrass Survey.
Nate Falcone measures the water depth before checking its clarity near Longboat Key.
Nate Falcone and Peter Peduzzi raise the diver-down flag before snorklers went into Sarasota Bay just east of Longboat Key.
Michael Harrison was working with a group in shallow water near the Ca' d'Zan.
A boat with survey volunteers works near shore south of Ringling College.
A pair of pelicans kept an eye on things near City Island.
Jana Hoefling and Cat Dillard told people about their organization, Rethinking Plastic.
Michelle Leahy and Sarah Denison of Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources presented a display and brought a play zone for children.
Luke Calijan, 5, was the first to place a fish on the seagrass board.
Longboat Key Turtle Watch was represented by Charlene Donnelly, Michelle Marinangel and Vicki Marinangel.
Isabella Arnett, 8, tried out the play zone.
Christian Arnett, 5, enjoyed the play zone with elements made to look like an underwater scene.
Around the Bend Nature Tours allowed children and adults to try dip netting in the seagrass beds near City Island.
Greyson Giguere, 6, tried his hand at dip-netting in the waters surrounding City Island.
Annie Cederberg and Greyson Giguere check out some of the creatures they found in the water.
Volunteers fanned out across Sarasota Bay on Saturday as part of the county’s Seagrass Survey, an event that is part social occasion, part awareness-raising effort and mostly a scientific endeavor meant as an annual health screening for the 150 square-mile estuary.
About 100 people signed up for the fifth-annual event, which launched from the Sarasota Sailing Squadron on City Island. In addition to the data gathering, which took place from the Sarasota-Manatee border south toward Siesta Key, there were plenty of displays and exhibits to examine – even a play zone modeled to look like a seagrass bed.
Volunteers in powerboats and kayaks were assigned one of approximately 30 hexagons to examine, identified by GPS coordinates. From there, water clarity and the state of the seagrass beds were assessed and recorded.
Sarasota County Environmental Utility Manager John Ryan said the data collected, in addition to the aerial surveys of Southwest Florida Water Management District, are used to help inform policy decisions at the local and state level.
Seagrass in Sarasota Bay is critical to the development of many marine species, from tiny fish and crabs to much larger animals.
Ryan said the health of the seagrass beds, especially after 2018’s red tide bloom, is a strong indicator of the overall health of the bay. The concern going in was that the red tide outbreak reduced dissolved oxygen near the bottom of the bay’s shallow waters, possibly leading to a seagrass die-off in some areas. Volunteers’ data would be compared to previous years’ results.
But the survey wasn’t all science and data.
About a dozen exhibitors and vendors, such as the Longboat Key Turtle Watch, Sarasota Bay Watch, representatives from Sarasota County, Manatee County and the state parks system, spoke with kids and adults alike, making their points about the health of Sarasota Bay and other ecological pursuits.
