Workers are busy planting thousands of seagrass sprouts clustered in groups throughout Big Slough, a 13-acre section of the Indian River Lagoon that washes the shore of the island near Ambersand Beach.
The restoration project is one of two that Indian River County will complete this year – the other begins in late June and will plant seagrass in about 10 acres in Preachers Hole, a lagoon inlet west of White Pelican Circle in Orchid.
The projects are part of a larger effort to replenish this vital vegetation, decimated by decades of pollution caused by fertilizer, pesticides and septic leaching in stormwater runoff, which causes algal blooms that block sunlight and kill seagrass. Scientists estimate that the lagoon has lost more than 60 percent of its seagrass beds since the 1940s.
The county is trying to reverse that trend, and levels of chemicals that cause algal blooms have been dropping over the past two years. Scientists are seeing some sparse seagrass clusters returning here and there in the lagoon, said Melissa Meisenberg, senior lagoon environmental specialist with the county’s Natural Resources Department.
“If we can help to enhance that, we can get a jumpstart and see recovery happen faster,” she said. “This is very important because seagrass recovery can take many years.”
Seagrass meadows are like the nursery for the lagoon, Meisenberg said, providing a protective canopy for young fish, crustaceans and other sea life, as well as meals for manatees and sea turtles. Seagrasses also hold sediment in place, reducing erosion, she said.
More than 300 round steel mesh cages, 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, have been placed over the delicate plantings in Big Slough to keep fish, turtles and manatees from nibbling on them before they mature. County employees will clean the cages monthly to remove any buildup of algae and barnacles that might block sunlight, Meisenberg said.
The same devices will be placed over plantings in Preachers Hole, she said.
These two seagrass restoration projects are among 15 projects that received $9.4 million in Transformational Habitat Restoration grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to improve the water quality in the lagoon. Matching grants totaling $1.34 million were provided by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and other agencies.
Indian River County will receive $1,073,506 million from this pool to help pay for the two seagrass projects and contribute in-kind staff labor to maintain the sites.
