Helping to Restore Seagrass Beds and Prevent Boat Groundings
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park comprises over 10,000 acres of submerged seagrass and hard bottom habitats surrounding Indian Key, Shell Key and Lignumvitae Key. Seagrass forms the structure for one of the Keys’ most vital marine habitats. It stabilizes the bottom, filters sediments from the water, and provides food and shelter for much of Keys sea life. Boaters damage Lignumvitae’s shallow seagrass banks, when they stray from the narrow winding channels and run aground. Boat propellers scar and tear holes in the lush green seagrass beds causing fragmentation, erosion, and loss of water clarity. Each year many acres of seagrass habitat are lost at Lignumvitae due to careless boating impacts.