Eelgrass

Description:

Judging by what was floating on the surface and washed up on shore, eelgrass looks to be doing pretty well in Snow's Cove on the Bagaduce River. I kayaked there today at low tide. I'd sometimes go through clumps of long blades floating on the surface and there were several full plants with roots also floating in the water. One that I grabbed had 76 cm long blades. Visibility was poor so I couldn't get the shapes of beds recorded. There are better images in the video I took by holding the camera just under the surface and kayaking in a line when I found a bed: http://youtu.be/_-_nVjyPaww

Habitat:

I saw a lot of organisms attached to the eelgrass, such as membranipora membranacea and others pictured that I couldn't identify. There were what looked like mussel and clam and possibly oyster shells in the mud in shallow areas where I could see the bottom. The bottom type was primarily muddy with boulders. Ascophyllum (rockweed) was growing on the boulders. There were schools of tiny black fish. I saw three moon jellies. There is an oyster aquaculture operation to the north west, around a bend toward the falls.

Notes:

The DMR Eelgrass maps from 2010 show that while most of the Penobscot Bay region had lost its eelgrass, the Bagaduce river had some dense beds left in the area of Snow's cove. I am not sure how what I saw compares to 2010, but there are definitely beds there now. If it has declined, my immediate guess would be that it is because of very low transparency.