Snorkellers find ‘huge patch’ of eelgrass
ABOUT 20 snorkellers took to the sea in Belle Greve Bay as part of a project to study eelgrass beds around the Bailiwick and found a ‘huge patch’ that was teeming with life, said the organiser.
The swimmers were in the water for about an hour on Sunday and even then did not manage to survey the entire bed.
‘We found a huge patch,’ said Dr Mel Broadhurst of the Alderney Wildlife Trust, who had earlier given a presentation at the Guernsey Yacht Club.
‘It goes quite far out, to where the markers are.
‘There’s still a lot more to go and look at.’
Those who went along covered a diverse range of people who were interested in finding out more about eelgrass and how to record it, said Dr Broadhurst.
She had never swam in the area before and was excited to see the variety of life in the area: ‘It’s a big, healthy dense bed. There’s a lot of fish and crustaceans, invertebrate and a lot of sea weed that attaches itself to the blades of the eelgrass.’
In addition she said there was life in the sediment and the sand.
This is not the only patch of eelgrass in island waters but not enough was known about what else there is.
With Dr Broadhurst returning to Alderney, survey work will be continued in Guernsey by volunteers.
