The health of much of the waters around Tampa Bay is looking good. That's the preliminary results of a survey being done by water district officials, who say part of the reason is our ongoing drought.
Regular surveys of seagrass around the region are done by teams from the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
During a tour on Monday off Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County, the seagrasses were looking healthy.
The first step is collecting aerial photos from airplanes. But to ensure that data is accurate, Swiftmud scientists have to get their feet wet.
So Chris Anastasiou, the district's Chief Water Quality Scientist, donned his swim trunks and took a dive into Boca Ciega Bay.
Anastasiou said a lack of runoff from rain has slowed the growth of algae.
"We're very pleased to see that there wasn't much macro algae, a lot more seagrass," he said. "Not potentially unexpected, because we are experiencing a drought and during dry conditions, we tend to see less macro algae, which is ultimately good for the seagrass."
Healthy seagrasses mean a healthy ecosystem. They provide food and shelter for large numbers of fish and marine life.
They have seen record levels of seagrass since they started mapping in the 1980's.
But he said that good news is offset elsewhere.
"And I think what we saw today was a confirmation that things seem to be doing very well. That's not the case everywhere in Tampa Bay," Anastasiou said. "Places like old Tampa Bay continue to struggle. We've seen seagrass loss there and it is an area that we're working closely with our partners like Tampa Bay Estuary Program, to come up with some potential solutions for that."
