Tampa Bay seagrass recovers; 40,000 acres most in 60 years

There are more acres of seagrass in the Tampa Bay estuary than any time in the last sixty years; the Southwest Florida Water Management District announced Wednesday that the bay now supports more than 40,000 acres of seagrass beds.

WMNF News interviewed Kris Kaufman, a senior environmental scientist with SWFWMD.

Kaufman said their study found a 16.3 percent increase in seagrass coverage in Tampa Bay from 2012 to 2014. She said seagrass recovery requires relatively clean water and congratulated the community for making an effort to cut back on pollution.

Kaufman said the best recovery is in Old Tampa Bay (the location of the three bridges from Hillsborough County to Pinellas) where there are now three thousand acres more seagrass. Next is Hillsborough Bay, near the urban and industrial parts of Tampa.