Fieldwork at Keaton Beach

With a short week due to the holiday, Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserve was able to get in a day of fieldwork by heading out to Keaton Beach to monitor the seagrass where the 2023 urchin mass grazing event took place. In February 2023, an urchin bloom was reported off the coast of Keaton Beach. Staff began monitoring the urchin front and the seagrass response with monthly surveys. After hearing about the urchin bloom, our summer intern was interested in continuing to look at the seagrass response for her independent project, so we headed back up to Keaton Beach to monitor. While the team will need to extend field work due to a summer storm, it appears the seagrass is patchy, but recovering, and no urchins were seen.