Volunteers plant eelgrass in Upper Newport Bay
Orange County Coastkeeper volunteers planted 1,280 square meters of eelgrass in Upper Newport Bay this summer, the Costa Mesa-based nonprofit announced in a news release this week.
Since 2012, the group has been a key player in the effort to replant eelgrass throughout the bay.
Eelgrass is a form of underwater grass with green, slender blades that can help improve water quality and provide a suitable habitat for marine life like crabs, scallops and fish.
The summer restoration took place at four sites over 15 days in June and July. The group said 159 volunteers, including 17 scuba divers, dedicated more than 1,100 hours to the effort.
In the last four years, the group has planted roughly an acre of the underwater grass. Before 2012, about 0.42 acres of eelgrass existed near the project site in Upper Newport Bay, according to a news release.
In May, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife discovered a rare Pacific seahorse near an eelgrass restoration site, a finding that Coastkeeper leaders attribute to the increasing amount of eelgrass in the area.
The grass has long been present in the bay, but poor water quality contributed to its decline, thus necessitating the need for restoration, environmentalists say.
“The reality of the situation is simple — the bay ecosystem that we all know and love will not survive without a healthy eelgrass population,” Sara Briley, Orange County Coastkeeper’s marine restoration director, said in a statement.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
