Eelgrass public survey at Salerie on Saturday
A LOCAL environmental group is encouraging islanders to take advantage of the low spring tide to learn about a super-plant that grows in local waters.
The Bailiwick Eelgrass Exploration Project will be leading a beach eelgrass walkover public survey this Saturday from Salerie Corner at 2pm.
‘We’re lucky in Guernsey with our tides because it means we can actually see the seagrass on the beach.
‘It makes it more accessible as not everyone can dive and snorkel, people can see what eelgrass actually is as well as a variety of other things like crabs. Every time you can see something different,’ said Guernsey Biological Records Centre manager Liz Sweet.
Using quadrats, islanders will monitor and record the health and density of the plant as part of Beep’s long-term monitoring project, aiming to build data on the presence and composition of Eelgrass in the Bailiwick, raise awareness and identify human induced impacts.
The walkover will be led by Alderney Wildlife Trust living seas co-ordinator Dr Mel Broadhurst-Allen, who is an eelgrass expert.
It is about the fifth time Beep has gone to Salerie, having started the project in 2019.
A group of 30 were in attendance last time.
Eelgrass has many important characteristics to the environment, such as providing food and shelter to marine wildlife including commercial species, locking down sediment to mitigate coastal erosion, and improving water quality by acting as a filter.
It can also absorb and trap large amounts of carbon, with all types of seagrass absorbing 10% of the ocean’s carbon a year.
More information on Beep is available at bit.ly/3mOGxXG.
