The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves (BBAP), with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), launched a pilot sponge propagation study in the Venetian Basin of Northern Biscayne Bay to explore the viability of using sponges to enhance water quality and ecosystem health.
On April 1, Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve staff teamed up with Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM) to remove and dispose of over one-half ton of marine debris from the State-owned Cocoplum Mangrove Preserve.
The Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) continues to administer state and federal funding to implement priority reef management and research objectives.
On Feb. 27 members of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve (BBAP) updated an Adopt-An-Island name plate in an effort to gain a new adopter for Crescent A island. While visiting the island, they were also able to check for derelict fishing traps and other marine debris within the area.
The Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) continues to administer state and federal funding to implement priority reef management and research objectives.
The Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) continues to administer state and federal funding to implement priority reef management and research objectives. One funded project led by Dr. Nikki Fogarty titled Optimizing Reproductive Success of Corals Spawned in Land-based Nurseries, is using innovative methods to improve upon aquaria induced coral spawning, larval survival, settlement and growout.
The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve (BBAP) Sponge Restoration team was able to begin sponge outplanting. The team started with 10 outplanted vase sponges (Ircinia campana) in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Further outplanting will be occurring throughout next year and throughout the many basins that comprise BBAP.
The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve (BBAP) team assisted the DEP Southeast District permitting team with vessel support to perform a permit verification for a newly proposed mooring field. While awaiting further information from the applicant the team collected three small bags of trash in less than an hour, protecting the bay now and for the future.
Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve’s (BBAP) water quality team was able to lend a hand during the federal shutdown to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Miami by taking the Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Lab’s (AOML) water quality team to complete their October sample run.
Taylor Tucker, Assistant Manager and Resilience Coordinator of the Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), recently visited the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Sciences (RSMAS) to participate in a career panel for undergraduate marine science students.