E e on eelgrass

(The following is excerpted by permission from a story by Ken Kelley that appeared in the September issue of Rural Delivery. The problem is one that we should all be aware of and keep an eye out for.)

The disappearance of eelgrass beds, first no— ticed in New Hampshire in 1983, has now spread to parts of Massachusetts and Maine. The current dieoff is showing alarming similarities to the blight which deva— stated eelgrass beds along the North Atlantic coast in the 1930's. That so-called I "wasting" disease first ap— 3; peared in high salinity areas of the U.s. in 1931, and with— “ in three years wiped out 90 ; percent of the eelgrass from "the Carolinas to the Canadian Maritimes, as well as Europe.

The small patches of eelgrass which survived were found in brackish or low- salinity waters. While the cause of the dieoff was gen— erally blamed on a slime mold infection which attacked the plants, other researchers attributed the disease and de- cline to abnormally high water temperatures in the North At— lantic in the early '303.

The current outbreak was

H You Find Evidence ollntecied Eeigrass Q firSt deteCtEd in high salinity 5 areas of New Hampshire's Great CONTACT: Dr. Frederica 1'. Short. . Bay by Dr. Frederick Short of jacxson Estuarine Laboratory _: the University of New Hampshire arnz AdamsPMnt x (UNH). Since then Dr. Short mflham.NH0362& F has confirmed an eelgrass de—

w03)6024175 ‘ 1 cline as far south as Boston

' : Harbour, and north to Casco Bay in Maine. In response to a flyer distributed for infor— mation on sightings of eelgrass declines, Dr. Short has received reports from people from Long Island to Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia.

Eelgrass, Zostera marina, is a seagrass or flowering plant found in shallow coastal waters from the Carolinas to Nerfoundland. It performs a numbers of vital functions in the marine food chain, especially acting as a nursery for juvenile life forms of marine animals.The 19308 dieoff resulted in a drastic loss of ish, waterfowl and shellfish along the East Coast.

Gradually through the 19403 and '505 eelgrass slowly began recolonising the North Atlantic coast. Most areas have had a complete recovery of eel— grass, but in some places there has been a disappearance of eelgrass due to

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