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Admiral Farragut students' mission: saving our coast

They are growing a waterfront nursery that has provided plants to help restore Tampa Bay's coastline.

By RITA FARLOW
Published September 20, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Students at Admiral Farragut Academy are continuing their mission to help restore shoreline vegetation in the Tampa Bay area.

In April, middle division students at the St. Petersburg school transplanted 2,500 salt marsh plugs from the school's nursery to a coastline area at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

"It's important for the world," said eighth-grader Raquel Rubin, 13. "Every person is taking from the world, so we should give back,"

This month, work focused on regrowing the nursery by dividing the remaining plants.

"We filled out the whole nursery again," said science teacher Sari Deitche. "At the end of this academic year, we'll have all new planting units."

The efforts are part of the Bay Grasses in Classes program, sponsored by Tampa Bay Watch, a nonprofit group devoted to the protection and restoration of the Tampa Bay estuary and its natural wildlife.

Last fall, students in grades 6-8 constructed a second nursery at the school, next to one already maintained by the upper division. The lower-grade students spent a day at the Port Manatee Fish Hatchery, pulling smooth cord grass and then replanting the plugs in their nursery to grow.

Begun in 1994, the Bay Grasses program works with 16 schools in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Since 2001, students have planted 185,000 plugs, helping to restore 75 acres of shoreline vegetation, said Martha Garcia, environmental specialist for Tampa Bay Watch.

"It helps establish the coastline from eroding away, filters storm water runoff and provides a hiding ground for juvenile fish and crustaceans," Garcia said.

"It also gives the kids a sense of ownership of where they live because they are growing the grasses and planting them at the restoration site."

Students harvest cord grass plugs from natural donor sites, plant them in a nursery and let them grow for 6 to 8 months, Garcia said.

During that time, they monitor growth, regularly checking salinity and pH levels of the water. At the end of the period, students transplant about half the nursery to a coastal site in need of restoration; the rest of the plugs are split to regenerate the nursery.

Raquel, who participated in the original transplanting last fall, said it was "amazing" to watch the progress. "After six months, you get to see how much they grew. You get to see how much of an accomplishment you were a part of," she said.

Scott Claudon, 12, who is new to the school, said that teamwork was an integral part of the endeavor. "It's like a group project. We can all make a big difference by working together."

[Last modified September 20, 2006, 09:09:28]