TAMPA, Fla. — Seagrass in Tampa Bay has been on the decline since 2018, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), which puts together maps of seagrass beds in the region every two years, in an effort to better understand and help the situation. 

Work is now underway for the 2024 maps.

“We map seagrass from just east of Cedar Key up to the north and all the way down to Charlotte Harbor in Fort Myers,” said Dr. Chris Anastasiou, Chief Water Quality Scientist for SWFWMD.

The maps from 2022 showed a 12% decline in Tampa Bay’s seagrass beds. Anastasiou hopes this next round of maps shows regrowth or at least stabilization.

Anastasiou and his colleague, Will Vangelder, have nearly 50 years under the belt mapping seagrass habitats up and down the coast.

SWFWMD puts the maps out every other year based on aerial views from above, and verification through field work down below.

Anastasiou discussed three different species.

“The scientific name is Valasia. Very good grass,” he said. “We love to see that one. Sarangodium. And I think I saw some Haladuli.”

There is also some algae mixed in, something the team says is important to monitor.

Mapping over time helps spot trends.

“It gives us the ability to come back to this very same point in the following successive years and look at the change and have video evidence of that change,” he said.

The results will be released in early 2025.