HUB3 Eelgrass Restoration Mid-Summer Brief

The DMF Seagrass group has had an aggressive schedule this summer.  Luckily, we've also had fantastic weather (knock, knock) and an energetic crew (a small team of three rotating divers and two top people - see team photos below - with occasional much appreciated help from two other DMF divers).  So far for the HUB3 mitigation project we have planted test-plots in Boston Harbor and are nearing completion of the Beverly restoration site.  With an opportunity to take plants that will be impacted by the Logan Airport Runway project, we harvested and planted 4,608 shoots from the Logan Airport bed into an approximately 1/4 acre site in Salem Sound, Beverly, MA.  We are now planting the rest of the site with plants donated from a near-by natural eelgrass bed in Beverly.  The total site is 1/2 acre and will have 13,824 shoots when complete. Recent one month monitoring indicated a 97% survival of planted squares (1 m2 planted squares were planted with 24 shoots).   

The DMF Seagrass Team - Mark (ready to dive), Wes, Kate, Tay and Andrew (on a rare day on land)

Pictures from Manchester Mooring Dives