Long gone are the days spent driving around the Bay to find a manatee. Now we are looking for ones in clear water WITHOUT other boats near them. We can’t remember the last time that a tour struck out finding manatees to swim with. We’ve become spoiled.
If you have swam, boated, or paddled around Kings Bay this winter, you have probably seen an unusual amount of eelgrass blades floating throughout the canals. A closer look may have even revealed that some of the robust eelgrass beds you have grown accustomed to seeing might be looking a little thinner than usual. No need for concern!
Summertime mean warm weather, fun in the sun, and extraordinary growth for our eelgrass!
We moved our equipment down the road to work on the canals near world famous Three Sisters Springs, a US Fish and Wildlife Preserve. Each winter hundreds of West Indian Manatees come to these waters. Save Crystal RIver is planting food.
With the Pilot project showing positive results, the next step was to gear up activity for the next step - increasingly larger areas of the Bay restored each year.
With a good idea of what to do to get Kings Bay on the way to health, the 2015 pilot project was undertaken. Three years later, it's an unqualified success.
A group of dedicated citizens change what a salt water disaster and 20 years of algae gone wild created. Save Crystal River, a 501(c)3 took on the restoration challenge, and is producing some pretty amazing results.
