Tuesday morning, we all gathered at 8:30 am to get
ready for a day of seagrasses. We were doing quadrant surveys of seagrass beds at three different locations. In Estero Bay, each of the three sites we went
to were different. The first site, near the FGCU campus, had water depths up to
my waist. The water was pretty murky to me, there was a lot of particulate
matter in the water column due to wave, wind, and human action (boats, walking,
etc.). I believe these factors explain the low levels of seagrass on the bay
floor, but because the water was shallow it allowed enough light to penetrate
and allow some seagrass to grow. The second location was much further out and
in much further water. My head barely breached the surface. The location was
also out of the major boating traffic ways and had much better visibility.
These factors are what influenced the abundant amounts of seagrass and
macroalgae. The last location was closer to boating traffic and slightly
shallower than the last location. With the added factors of depth, suspended
particulate matter, and regular boat traffic it does not surprise me to find
the least amount of seagrass of all three locations.
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