Eelgrass meadows shelter marine life and absorb storm energy
Heat shimmered above a Casco Bay sandbar on a sunny afternoon in early August as a research crew slipped beneath the surface. Wetsuit-clad and finned, the divers swam out over sand, rocks, and kelp until they reached a verdant seagrass meadow, Delger Erdenesanaa reports for the Maine Monitor.
The crew had come to collect Zostera marina, the seagrass species that predominates in Maine’s coastal waters. Unlike kelp and other seaweeds — which are algae — seagrasses are flowering plants that grow fully submerged.
The meadow the divers swam over held the kind of life the plant is known to support. Long, thin green ribbons stretched through the water, flattened by the strong current. Small fish moved in and out of the blades; crabs and lobsters crawled beneath them. At one point during the dive, a seal drifted past.
Beyond the marine life they shelter, seagrass meadows perform several functions coastal communities rely on, according to the reporting. The plants improve water quality and store a portion of the excess carbon released by the burning of fossil fuels.
Seagrass beds also absorb wave energy, a function that reduces shoreline erosion and buffers coastal communities from storms.