Eelgrass Mapping

So here it is Saturday again and where are we?....back in the classroom, at a workshop put on by the Nile Creek Enhancement Society (NCES). This time learning about Eelgrass which is a bright green ribbon-like grass ( it is not a seaweed) which produces roots, flowers and seeds and grows near the low tide line. It is important because it helps produce oxygen, filters pollutants and protects the coastline from erosion by slowing waves and currents. Eelgrass meadows are feeding and nursery areas for many species of invertebrates and they attract more than 70 species of fish including salmon and herring. World-wide, seagrasses including Eelgrass are among the most threatened of coastal habitats so it is important to map the areas where it grows, as a benchmark for changes that occur, and to plant it in areas where none currently exists.
Biologist Nicky led the classroom overview and theory and then we reconvened at low tide on the beaches off of Deep Bay to practice mapping the beds.


The class gathers at an Eelgrass bed and the plants are identified by Biologist Nicky.


There are a number of criteria required for mapping: measuring off a 60 meter baseline and using GPS to position it, doing random samplings and counts of density of plants within a perimeter, taking photo's and making notes of date, time, place (meta data) all for future reference and comparison.


Plants are counted within a measured area at random points to establish density. While on the beach we watched a number of Eagles and Herons feeding off the small fish in the Eelgrass exposed at low tide. And a Needlefish, one of the inhabitants of an Eelgrass Meadow.

It was a very interesting and informative day. If I'm going to volunteer, I think I can manage a day at the beach, walking among the tidal pools, listening to the calls of the shorebirds and counting plants. Poor me!