Eelgrass

Patrick Phengsy is a fourth-year undergraduate student who just completed his Associate's Degree in Natural Sciences at the SRJC. He will be transferring to UC Santa Barbara for the upcoming Fall 2023 quarter, where he aims to complete his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and pursue a career in medicine. 

Beds of eelgrass (Zostera marina) form an important habitat in coastal regions throughout the northern hemisphere, crucial to many fish and other species and storing vast amounts of carbon. A new study published July 20 in Nature Plants shows that eelgrass spread around the world much more recently than previously thought, just under a quarter-million years ago. The results have implications for how eelgrass could be affected by a changing climate.

Join us in a celebration of all things seagrass! March 1st is World Seagrass Day, and we're taking an in-depth look at what seagrasses are, how they interact with marine coastal ecosystems, and how they're being impacted by climate change.

Join us in a celebration of World Seagrass Day 2022 by entering an original photo of seagrass OR by sharing your favorite seagrass fact in your own words using the entry form below. Winners will receive a copy of Suzie and the Eelgrass Geese autographed by the author. The book was written by Bodega Marine Laboratory alumna Dr. Nicole Kollars, edited by Carolyn Sotka, and beautifully illustrated by Allison Simler-Williamson. You can learn more about it here.

Spanning six years and seven seagrass meadows along the California coast, a paper published today from the University of California, Davis, is the most extensive study yet of how seagrasses can buffer ocean acidification.

“They are so green!” Dr. Katie DuBois exclaimed as I held the fluorescent green test tube in my hand. The contents of this test tube may look like some vile concoction from a mad science lab, but they are in fact the remnants of a marine plant called eelgrass, Zostera marina. 

Suzie and the Eelgrass Geese is the story of a young girl who lives in a small town on the coast of California whose love of the ocean leads her to work with a Professor at a local marine lab on an experiment that teaches important lessons about the balance of nature.