7 Things NOT to do while walking in a seagrass bed

Date: June 12^th , 2016

Location: Anne’s Beach, FL Keys

Written by: Colleen Beck

1.       Text – it is NEVER a good idea to walk and text, especially when that walking is happening on an unstable ground like a sea grass bed. You and your phone could be taking a swim earlier than planned. Just put the phone down and enjoy the sights for the time being.

2.       Get distracted by the fish scavenging – there is a time and place for looking at and admiring the fish swimming by but while doing research is not that place and time. Once again, you don’t want to take an unplanned swim. And you could miss your partner shouting out numbers at you for the shoot count of turtle grass.

3.       Don’t try to avoid things in the water – listen to someone with experience; if you feel bad about accidentally stepping on a crab or anything else, don’t worry about it too much or you’ll lose your footing (unplanned swim!). They either get out of the way or natural selection takes over and you take out a weak link in the food chain.

4.       Don’t stand in one place for too long – taking shoot counts of shoal grass could take quite some time so try and move your feet around. If you don’t your foot could get sucked into the soft sediment and it’ll take a minute to pry it back out; and plus it could be slightly painful pulling your foot out of there.

5.       Pluck the Sea grass – mind the grass, don’t be an ass! Sea grass beds are protected almost everywhere and if everyone started pulling up the beds, there would be none left for the baby fish to grow up in or for the crabs to take shelter from predators.

6.       Get distracted by the dogs – yes they are cute, yes you want to pet them but research needs to get done and there is no time to waste, especially on a hot, hot day when the sun is beating down on you.

7.       Forget to apply sunscreen – this is the most important step, DO NOT FORGET! Bring a hat too for good measure and a rash guard too. Sunscreen is your best friend in that sea grass bed. It is your best friend when you’re working in the hot Florida sun for 2 hours at a time. Don’t forget it or you’ll be taking aloe baths for a week.

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Learn more about the importance of sea grass beds here 

See what other students had to say about their experience swimming with sea grass beds here