Do you smell it? That smell. A kind of smelly smell. The smelly smell that smells... smelly.

Today at Bahia Honda, that smelly smell was decaying seagrass on the beach. Bahia Honda State Park leaves this seagrass on the beach because it plays a vital role in keeping the coastal ecosystem healthy and thriving. Some people want it removed due to its smell and roughness when walked on, but it is important to understand its importance to the environment. Our class volunteered to help clean up some of the garbage in this long stretch of wrack that is still washing up from hurricane Irma.

The piles of seagrass are referred to as wrack. It washes ashore when seagrass loosens from the sea floor. It also contains decaying animal matter. The amount of wrack on the shore changes with season, tide, currents and wind. Wrack is home to amphipods which eat the seagrass and help break it down. Amphipods are also an important food source for shore birds which feed on them while migrating thousands of miles. Wrack also provides shelter for animals to hide away from predators. Commonly, seabirds can be seen napping in the wrack while blending in. As the wrack breaks down into essential nutrients, it becomes fertilizer for dune plants. In addition, it stabilizes the windblown sand to prevent beach erosion. 

The wrack contains seeds that it carries from dune plants. As the sand builds up over time, the seeds will take root and new dunes grow and form. 

Here is a guide to some organic matter that make up wrack:

1. Turtle grass 

-Turtle grass has ribbon-like flat blades and is a green or brown color. 

2. Manatee Grass

-This grass has tube like blades and forms white tubules when dead. This grass gets its name because it is the main food source for manatees. 

3. Hamburger beans 

-They are round with a thick black band in the middle. Hamburger beans come from the rainforest vines in the West Indies and American tropics. 

4. Redbeard Sponge 

- Redbeard sponge can be identified by its velvety red branches. Sponges are commonly used in labs to study how separated cells can form back into a new organism. 

http://www.longboatkey.org/pView.aspx?id=52024

http://bahiahondapark.com/