First SeagrassFest to celebrate increase in seagrass in Sarasota Bay

SARASOTA -- Seagrass plays a vital role in the environment and increased levels in Sarasota Bay will be celebrated from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

The first SeagrassFest will celebrate a 5 percent increase in seagrass coverage in Sarasota Bay between 2012 and 2014.

"This event is a celebration of that increase," said Darcy Young, outreach assistant with Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

The free event at Ken Thompson Park, 1700 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, is organized by Sarasota Bay Estuary Program in partnership with Sarasota County's Volunteer Seagrass Survey.

"They should come out to have fun and to learn something about the bay especially the seagrass that supports everything they love about the bay," Young said.

Sarasota Bay's seagrass coverage has increased in the last decade and a half, said Mark Alderson, executive director of the Sarasota

Bay Estuary Program.

"Since 1988, we have increased our seagrass coverage by 51 percent baywide," he said.

There have been similar improvements in seagrass levels in Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor as well, Alderson said.

"It is really throughout all of Southwest Florida that we are seeing these improvements," he said.

The increase is a result of a number of different factors, including wastewater treatment plan consolidation, citizen actions and elimination of wastewater discharge in most areas of the bay, Alderson said.

"Seagrasses are a measure of water quality and so the clearer the water the more seagrass you are going to have," he said.

"This large increase is indicative of the community's action to improve water quality. You can see that throughout all of Southwest Florida and additional projects underway right now to further improve water quality. It seems the investment has been a good thing for us."

There will be a number of hands-on activities at the event for adults and children, including the Mote Marine Mobile Exhibit and Sarasota High School's Carefree Learner, which will be for trips around the bay's seagrass beds. There will also be food and music.

Some co-sponsors, including Manatee County government, will have booths. Manatee County's booth will be interactive, highlighting seagrass science as well as the county's preserves, said Greg Blanchard, county environmental program manager.

"We want to participate in Sarasota Bay program's major outreach events obviously to support the program's goals and objectives," he said.

"We thought we had an interesting display that we thought would add to overall program."

Information: sarasotabay.org.

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter @Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 11:22 PM with the headline "First SeagrassFest to celebrate increase in seagrass in Sarasota Bay ."