Tag Archives: eelgrass
Vancouver Island: Invasion of the green crab
The invasive European green crab is proliferating at an alarming rate on the west and southern coasts of Vancouver Island, devouring smaller Dungeness crab and bivalves as well as the eelgrass that is critical to young salmon. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has identified hotspots around Sooke and Barkley Sound, but environmental groups and First Nations say the green crab’s infestation extends to Haida Gwaii and likely most parts of the B.C. coast. They say “industrial trapping” of the green crab is essential before it wipes out local species and key habitats. >click to read< 19:19
Meet the super-plant from Nova Scotia’s shorelines: eelgrass
Eelgrass protects shorelines against storms, cycles nutrients and provides juvenile fish and lobster with places to hide and grow. If that’s not enough to convince people that eelgrass is a super plant, it is also many times more efficient at capturing and storing carbon than terrestrial forests.,,”If you lose eelgrass there’s nothing to replace it,” says Heike Lotze, a researcher and professor at Dalhousie University,, While protections for eelgrass can be put in place, Lotze points to a lack of understanding and recognition that what happens on land directly affects the ocean. Eelgrass is extremely sensitive to runoff (water carrying sediments and or chemicals) from land due to human activities such as development and agriculture (wastewater treatment plants). >click to read< 17:56
Great Bay watch: Waterkeeper shares concerns on pollution, propane
The most compelling one, Barnum said, is nitrogen discharge, either from wastewater plants or from nonpoint pollution such as runoff from fertilizers. He said nitrogen has killed most of the eelgrass in Great Bay and Little Bay. “It’s just a vital component,” Barnum said of eelgrass. “If we didn’t have the eelgrass, we’d be looking at a mud flat, pure and simple.” Read the rest here 08:23
A Washington ecologist’s wet dream: New Pacific herring populations
Crosscut.com – The Minnow, a NOAA research vessel, takes off across Elliott Bay. In less than five minutes it reaches its destination — the base of the cliffs that line Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood — and puts down anchor. audio, and article here
