Green seagrass is pictured under the clear, shallow water during a chartered scalloping trip in Crystal River. - MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE/Tampa Bay Times/TNS
New surveys of seagrass on Florida’s Gulf Coast shows the vital marine plant is continuing to lose ground at a rapid pace in Tampa and Sarasota Bay. Since 2016, the Southwest Florida Water Management District has documented losses of almost 30% of Tampa Bay’s seagrass and around 26% in Sarasota Bay. The decline comes after local waters were swamped with pollution from the Piney Point industrial site and severe red tides over the past several years. But the seagrass losses also have increased despite many areas meeting state water quality targets, which environmentalists say need changing. Scie...
