Author: Ian Stone – Forestry Extension Agent Walton County
Selecting a consulting forester is often a major decision for small to large private landowners engaged in forest management and enterprises. Consulting foresters provide technical forestry assistance in all aspects of forest management. These professionals can assist landowners by identifying goals and needs and then apply forestry expertise to meet these needs and goals. Consulting foresters are professionals who provide their services for a fee; much like lawyers or engineers. Consulting foresters provide multiple services with various fee structures which can be provided on an hourly, per acre, one-time, or percentage. For example, a herbicide treatment would often be on a per acre basis, while a timber sale would often be done on a percentage. A landowner should always have a consultant provide a scope of work along with the fee structure and estimate. It is advisable that a landowner consult several foresters or firms to compare services and fees before making a selection.
Streamside Management Zone (SMZ) marked prior to harvest so it is clear to the landowner and logger. This service is often performed by a consulting forester as part of timber sale preparation. (Photo Credit: David Stevens, Bugwood.org Image# 5443305)
Consulting foresters are highly skilled professionals with extensive knowledge in many areas. Examples of required areas of knowledge are timber volume estimation and appraisal, forest management, tree planting and reforestation, prescribed fire, wildlife and habitat management, taxation, estate planning, forest treatment such as mechanical, herbicide, fertilization, and many more. Most consultants are well versed in all aspects of the forestry profession, but often have one or two areas of specialization. A landowner should discuss the services and credentials a forestry consultant or firm provides and select on that best fits their unique needs.
Many states require consulting foresters to become registered or certified through a professional certification board. Florida, however, is an exception to this which means landowners in Florida should thoroughly examine the forester’s professional credentials. Landowners should select a forester with the skills and credentials they require. The two largest professional organizations that set professional expectations for foresters are the Society of American Foresters (SAF) and the Association of Consulting Foresters (ACF) Examples of what to look for in credentialing are as follows:
A 4-year bachelor’s degree in forestry or a related field; especially form an SAF accredited university forestry program
Registration or certification in another state or nationally through the SAF Certified Forester
program
Membership in professional forestry organizations such as ACF or SAF, along with similar
organizations such as Tree Farm, Florida Forestry Association, or Forest Landowners Association
The ability to clearly communicate with the client and others. Ask for samples of contracts, a
written quote, an in-person meeting, and references from other landowners
Professional integrity, honesty, and a commitment to ethical practice
Landowners can find listings of Consulting Foresters and firms in their area through multiple sources.
Landowners can find lists of registered foresters through the Alabama and Georgia boards of forestry. Most consultants close to state boundaries practice in multiple states. In addition, SAF and ACF maintain online listings of consulting foresters and members at large.
Additional Helpful Websites for Locating a Consulting Forester in the Panhandle-
It has been a few months since we have posted an article on the changing wildlife over the course of a year on our barrier islands. I took the month of June off and just could not schedule a hike in July. But it is now August, and we DID get out this week.
This is no surprise… it is hot and humid. I think everyone has noticed this. We are also in the rainy season. Based on the NOAA site I track, we are currently at 45.73” for the year. This is an average of 6.53 inches a month which would lead us to an annual amount of 78” if we keep that pace. This would be another wet year.
This rainfall does a lot to cover up tracks I am looking for. It will spook some creatures into hiding waiting out the weather, but there are plenty of others who enjoy the rain and are more on the move.
This rainbow indicates how wet this part of the year can be on our barrier islands.
Today I took my grandson with me on the hike. He loves the outdoors and reptiles and amphibians especially. We began, as we always do, walking a section of the Gulf beach to see what we could see.
We immediately encountered a sea turtle nest. I understand that it has been a good year for sea turtles in our neck of the woods. The turtle patrol had roped this one off, but I did see human footprints inside the roped section. We encourage people NOT to do this. Compacting the sand can be a problem and if they hatch and detect vibrations they may not emerge. It is cool to see one, but do not go past the roped section.
The sea turtle patrols mark the nest with stakes and rope. People should not enter beyond the roped section.
We always search the wrack line for cool things and today we ran into a few. First, there were hundreds of small dead anchovies washed ashore. I am not 100% sure what happened but I am guessing a strong storm came and washed them in. Anchovies are a great source of food for many marine fish and these dead ones will certainly feed the numerous birds and ghost crabs that live along the shores. Anchovies play an important role in the ecosystem and, even though these were dead, it is nice to see them.
We did find several catfish heads. Saltwater catfish are not prized by Gulf fishermen. Many prefer to cut their heads off and leave them on the beach. The thing is that this does little to deter the population of this unpopular fish and the spines can be dangerous for beach combers walking barefoot. But the ghost crabs usually collect and feed on them.
The serrated spines of the hardhead catfish are still on this discarded head. beach combers should be careful when walking near these.
We also found a few comb jellies. These are members of a different phylum (Ctenophora) than the classic jellyfish (Cnidaria). They lack stinging cells and move using their rows of ctenes (cilia) that resemble the bristles of a comb as you run your finger over it. This is where it gets its common name. They do produce blue colored bioluminescence in the evening and are beautiful to watch.
Comb jellies do not sting and they produce a beautiful light show at night.
As we crossed the road and enter the dunes, I explained to my grandson how the foredune is dominated by grasses. These plants can tolerate the strong winds off the Gulf and the salt spray as well. On the other side of the road, you enter in the secondary dune field. This region is a mix of grasses and small shrubs, which can grow due to the primary dunes blocking some of the strong Gulf winds.
Today we saw several species of flowers in bloom. Different plants bloom at different times of the year and it is neat to see who is blooming at different times. The low swale areas were full of growing plants and flowers. There were plenty of sundews and ground pine. Some standing water but much was dry. We did find a plant in one of the wet swales I did not know. I am listing it here as redroot but I am not confident in that identification and would love if someone who knows it will share its name.
This once barren flat of sand is now full of grasses and flowers. This common secondary dune plant is what I call “square flower”. I am not sure what type of plant this is. I am calling it red root and hope someone with a better identification will let us know.
There were numerous tracks of armadillos but little else from the animal world. Again, the rains wash them away. The milkweed was still blooming awaiting for the now listed monarch butterflies. And the beach side rosemary was releasing its characteristic odor that says “Pensacola Beach” to me. The plants looked great and seem to enjoy the rain. FYI – we did get rained on during the hike, but not too bad. We had seen the parasitic dodder earlier in the year and the vine was still evident in August.
Though many of the tracks were washed away in the rain, some are still there. The animals are still moving. We first saw milkweed blooming in April. Here in August some are still in bloom. Seaside rosemary is one of the more aromatic plants on our barrier islands. Dodder is a parasitic vine often called “Love Vine”.
In the tertiary, or back dunes, is where I always hope to find tracks or animals of some kind. Today there was little evidence of any. There were raccoon tracks moving along the edge of tallest dunes and along the trails leading to Santa Rosa Sound. But not much else. The pines were bearing their cones and the sweet bay magnolias had their young blossoms forming.
Many of the pine trees growing in the back dunes are now producing cones. Sweet bay is in the magnolia family and produces a similar blossom.
One species my grandson did not enjoy were the numerous devils’ joints. This branching cactus has very sharp spines and were all over the back dunes. We had to stop and remove them several times. He definitely wanted to find a different way back!
The Devil’s Joint is not one of the more pleasant plants to encounter in our dunes. We encountered plenty today!
We did reach the Sound and walked along its edge towards the old fish hatchery. He saw TONS of fish (as he put it) and the grass looked thick and healthy. We did get to explore and talk about the old fish hatchery. And then headed back towards the Gulf and our truck.
I think we got started a bit late to see a lot of the wildlife. This time of year, they will be hunkered down somewhere early in the morning to prepare for another hot day. With the overhead clouds I was hoping to see some movement, but we did not. We will try earlier in the day in September.
I hope you get out and explore our barrier islands. They are fascinating places. But plan to get into the water this time of year. We did. It was hot. We went snorkeling and saw numerous pinfish, a flounder, and snapper, and a nice sheepshead. This is a good way to spend the hot parts of the day. Let’s see what September may bring.
Mangroves in the northern Gulf of Mexico are a relatively new thing for most coastal counties. Some residents are aware they are arriving and are not concerned. Some are aware and are actually excited about it. Some are aware and are concerned. Some are not aware. And others have no idea what a mangrove is. Let’s start with that group.
Black mangroves growing near St. George Island in Franklin County. Photo: Joshua Hodson.
Mangroves are salt tolerant trees that are found all around the globe within the tropics. They grow along the shorelines in areas where they are protected from ocean wind and waves – they like estuaries. There are several species and their location along the shore depends on how long they can be submerged in water. There is a definite zonation of these trees.
The red mangrove with their distinct prop roots. Photo: University of Florida
The red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) is found closest to the waters edge. They can be identified by their prop roots which are designed to keep it standing when the water is moving and shifting the sediment below it. These prop roots also useful during tropical storms when the wave energy increases. The have distinct looking propagules, which are elongated floating seeds which allows the plant to disperse their offspring using the currents and tides. The propagules often wash ashore on northern Gulf beaches but usually in locations not conducive to growth, or they do not survive the winters. These plants can tolerate temperatures in the 30sF for a night or two, but when it drops into the 20sF, and certainly into the 10sF, they will not survive. Despite not being cold tolerant, they have been found growing in the northern Gulf of Mexico. All the mangroves found in the Pensacola area have been of this species.
Black mangroves with their pneumatophores. Photo: University of Florida
The black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) is found higher in the intertidal zone. It lacks the prop roots of the red but rather has what are called pneumatophores, which resemble the knees of the cypress trees. These pneumatophores have structures that help increase the oxygen uptake for the plant, being that the sediments they live in are quite hypoxic. The seeds of the black mangrove are not elongated but rather resemble a bean. These trees are more tolerant of cold weather than the red mangrove and it is they that have led the march north. There are large stands of these trees in the Apalachicola area as well as barrier islands in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. We have not found a black mangrove growing in Pensacola as of yet.
The larger white mangrove. Photo: University of Florida
White mangroves (Laguncularia racemosa) grow more inland than the other two. This species can grow into a large tree (up to 40 feet). Their leaves can excrete salt allowing them to live in saltier conditions. There are no records of this tree in the northern Gulf of Mexico to my knowledge.
Why would anyone be concerned about mangroves dispersing into the northern Gulf?
Those who are concerned are aware that is a shoreline tree that will grow and possibly block their view of the water. They also are aware that this tree is protected by the state, and they are not allowed to remove or trim the tree without a permit. In south Florida trimming mangroves is allowed in some counties during certain times of the year and only by certified arborist. Those concerned are not excited about potentially loosing their water view.
A red mangrove growing near the pass of Pensacola Bay. Photo: Whitney Scheffel.
Why would anyone be excited about mangroves dispersing into the northern Gulf?
Folks who are excited about the possible coming of the mangroves are so because they have spent time snorkeling and fishing in and around them in more southern locations. The prop roots of the red mangrove create an underwater wonderland of marine life. Small fish, crabs, anemones, starfish, mollusk and more find the large openings formed by the roots as great habitat. These in turn attract larger fish like snook, tarpon, rays, and flounder. Many species of larger fish are popular targets for anglers. Manatees are often found in mangrove swamps grazing on the algae and seagrasses growing nearby and enjoying the relatively calm water. Those who have experienced this in south Florida are excited they may have it here in the north.
How many mangroves, and which species, have dispersed into the northern Gulf is still being studied. Florida Sea Grant has partnered with Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant and three of the National Estuarine Research Preserves to survey for mangroves in our panhandle counties and along coastal Mississippi and Alabama. Ten transects have identified in each that are surveyed once a year by volunteers using paddle craft. The presence of a mangrove is documented, measured, photographed and shared with the team, which is overseen by Whitney Scheffel of the Pensacola-Perdido Bay Estuary Program. If you are interested in participating in a survey, contact your county Sea Grant Extension Agent.
Part of our job at Extension is to help enhance science literacy. Often we write about natural history topics of interest to community that focus on interesting wildlife or an environmental issue or on topic we think the public should know more about. These articles have good science in them but are often written in a way as to not be too “sciencey” so that public will not be lost in the message. But sometimes there is a need for “sciencey” articles. Ones that may explain things using concepts and terms that go deeper than the public usually like to go. Not that the public cannot understand this, it is just too much like a science class from high school and not everyone enjoyed science when they were in school. A topic they may not enjoy. We are going to try a “sciencey” topic for this article.
What is salinity?
Most have heard the term and usually associate it with how much salt is in the water. They are not incorrect, and for the most part this definition will suffice when using it in conversation. But it actually goes a bit deeper than that. We will start with what is a salt.
Salt crystals used to de-ice roads. Photo: University of South Florida
A salt is the product of an acid and a base. For example, when you combine hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide you get sodium chloride (salt) and water.
HCl + NaOH – HOH (H2O) + NaCl
Most recognize sodium hydroxide as common table salt. But to better understand the point let’s combine sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide.
H2SO4 + NaOH – H2OH (H2O) + NaSO4
Sodium sulfate (NaSO4) would also be a salt. There are numerous salts found in the environment. They are found in rock and mineral forms from land and the seafloor and will eventually make their way into the ocean – where of course they meet water.
Water has been described as the “universal solvent” and that is because water is a polar molecule and dissolves most things. What does “being polar” that mean?
We understand that “polar” means opposite ends, and in this case one end is positively charged, and the other is negative. This has to do with the alignment of the element’s hydrogen and oxygen in the molecule. To explain the alignment would require more chemistry than we want to go into here. But let’s just say the outer suborbital requires eight electrons to be considered stable – even that will take more discussion.
We know that atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons combine to form the nucleus of the atom while the electrons orbit around the nucleus like the moon orbits around the earth. Well, not exactly like that but that description will suffice to get the idea across. The orbit closest to the nucleus can only hold two electrons, any additional electrons will be forced to another orbit further away. If there are no additional electrons there are no additional orbits.
These orbits are identified by letters. The one closest to the nucleus is an s orbital. S orbitals can only hold two electrons. The next orbit out will have an s orbital and a p orbital. Again, the s can hold two, but the p can hold six. So, the second orbit can hold a total of eight electrons – 2 in the s orbital of the second orbit and another 6 in the p orbital of the second orbit (there is not a p orbital in the first orbit). If the atom has more than 10 electrons (2 in the first orbit and 8 in the second) then there will be a third orbit that has an s orbital (holding 2 electrons), a p orbital (holding 6 electrons) and a new orbital called d (which can hold 10 electrons). And so, it goes. Large atoms with lots of electrons will have lots of orbits with several orbitals holding a fix number of electrons. This may be getting more “sciencey” than we wanted, but we will continue to plow forward to help better understand salinity.
Here is the kicker. The s and p orbitals together hold a total of 8 electrons and the s and p orbitals of the orbit farthest from the nucleus MUST be filled for the atom to be stable. If they are not, then the atom is looking to gain or lose electrons to do so. Let’s look at water, we will start with oxygen.
Oxygen has the atomic number of 8. This means it has eight protons and eight electrons. Protons are positively charged, and electrons are negatively charged. Thus, oxygen has eight protons (+8) and eight electrons (-8). The charges cancel each other out and the atom is neutrally charged. But let’s look at how those eight electrons fill the orbits.
Remember the orbit closest to the nucleus only had an s orbital and can hold two electrons, which is does. But this leaves six electrons to place. The second orbit has an s and an p. S can only hold 2 electrons, so 2 of the 6 will go there. The p can hold 6, but now the oxygen atom only has 4 electrons left (after filling the first two s orbitals). So, it places those remaining four in the p orbital. But the p orbital is not full. It will hold 6 but only has 4. It has two empty orbitals and those MUST be filled. It needs 2 electrons from somewhere. (see below).
Filled s12 s2 2 p26
Oxygen s12 s2 2 p24 – it needs two electrons
Where does it find two electrons to become stable?
Let’s look hydrogen.
Hydrogen has the atomic number of 1. It has one proton (+1) and one electron (-1). Its orbit configuration would look like this:
Filled s12
Hydrogen s11 – it needs one electron to fill
Remember if you do not have enough electrons for a second orbit, there is no second orbit. BUT as you see the first orbit of hydrogen (which needs 2) only has 1 electron. It is not full.
Let’s look at another example to first understand how MOST atoms deal with this problem.
Sodium has the atomic number of 11. Eleven protons (+11) and eleven electrons (-11)
Chlorine has the atomic number of 17. Seventeen protons (+17) and seventeen electrons (-17). They would fill their orbits, and orbitals, as follows.
Na s12 s2 2 p26 s31
Cl s12 s2 2 p26 s32 p36 s41
You can see that the last sp for both are not full. However, if sodium “gives” the electron in s3 to chlorine then it’s s3 orbital is gone and the sp2 for the second orbit of sodium would be full – stable. Likewise, if chlorine “accepted” that electron its s4 orbital would be full – stable. And this is what happens. However, this throws the electronic balance off.
If sodium is (+11) (-11) and gives away an electron it is now (+11) (-10) – no longer neutral. It becomes positively charged (+1) and charged atoms are called ions (Na+1). Likewise, chlorine accepting the electron (+17) (-18) would form a negative ion (-1) (Cl-1). Opposite charges attract with Na+1 and Cl-1 combine to form NaCl – salt. This is known as an ionic bond. Two oppositely charged ions combining to form a compound.
Water is a bit different.
Hydrogen s11
Oxygen s12 s2 2 p24
You can see oxygen needs 2, but hydrogen does not have 2 to give AND if it gives the ONLY electron, it has it will no longer exist. So, it SHARES its 1 electron with oxygen. The hydrogen atom will allow its lone electron to orbit the last orbital of oxygen BUT it must circle back and orbit the hydrogen nucleus as well. To get the required 2 electrons that oxygen needs to fill its sp2 it will need another hydrogen atom to do so – hence H2O. When sharing electrons to form a compound we call this a covalent bond.
Now comes the alignment part.
To graphically illustrate how the electrons fill the last sp orbitals of an element they use what is called the electron-dot. It would be laid out as follows:
S **
p Na p if full would look like this ** Na **
p **
The first two electrons would fill the s orbital. Then any additional electrons filling the p’s BUT you would first place an electron in each p and then come back and fill (two max) in clockwise form. The number AND ALIGNMENT of the electrons would be represented by dots.
In the example just given – sodium – the atomic number is 11. The eleven electrons would be placed as follows
s1 – (2) s2 (2) p2 (6) s3 (1) The electron dot would look like *
Na
Chlorine (17) would look like this…
s1 (2) s2(2) p2 (6) s3(2) p3 (5)
**
Cl **
**
You can see the open space for one electron to fill this and complete the two for each. Sodium would GIVE it’s one electron to chlorine (having a full s2p2 with eight dots all around) forming an ionic bond known as sodium chloride (NaCl) or salt. The next inner orbit of sodium would have its sp orbitals filled and would be stable but charged due to having more protons than electrons.
Oxygen (8) would look like this…
s1 (2) s2(2) p2(4)
**
O **
*
This alignment would force the two hydrogen atoms SHARING electrons to do so NEXT to each other.
Water would appear like this…
**
H** O **
H **
The water molecule. Image: Florida Atlantic University
In the sharing of the electrons to form water the oxygen molecule holds the electrons longer than the hydrogen (it is larger). This makes hydrogen slightly positive and oxygen negative. Due to this alignment with both hydrogens at one end of the water molecule gives it a positive and negative end – it is polar – it has opposite poles – a positive and negative one. It acts like a magnet.
The first impact of this situation is that water molecules attach to each other. The positive hydrogen end of one water molecule attaches to the negative oxygen end of another. All of the water molecules bond together and form a lattice of water molecules – like they are all holding hands. These bonds are weak and can be easily broken if a creature is trying to swim through them, but attached they are.
A second impact is that they will disassociate (dissolve) ionic compounds that they come in contact with, like salts. The ionic bond we know as salt – sodium chloride (Na+Cl–) will dissolve in water. The positive ion Na+ is attracted to the negative end of the water molecule. The opposite is true for the chlorine ion.
So, what is actually “drifting” around in the water are dissolved ions – not the salts themselves. Which salts and ions are drifting in seawater? All of them. All 92 natural elements found on the planet are dissolved in seawater – not just sodium and chloride. It is true that the sodium and chloride ions make up about 85% of all the dissolved ions in seawater, but not all. So “sea salt” looks and taste like table salt but it is different.
Salinity then is the measure of dissolved solids (or ions) in the water – not exactly salt.
How salty is the water? What is its salinity?
We can measure this several ways.
Conductivity meter. Photo: Iowa State University
Being that you are measuring the amount of dissolved charged ions in the water you can use a conductivity meter. Conductivity is the measure of the ease of which an electric charge (or heat) can pass through a material. The more ions dissolved in the water the higher the conductivity. This can be measured easily with the conductivity meter. Though conductivity is NOT a measure of the amount of ions in the water, but rather the measure of how easily an electric current passes through the water, it is still very closely related to the amount (or salinity) and is often used (making corrections) to determine the salinity of the water.
Hydrometer. Photo: University of Queensland
Another method is measuring the density of the water. The more dissolved ions in the water the denser it is. A hydrometer is a glass tube filled with a fixed amount of lead shot with a calibrated stem (you can get them with different amounts of lead to measure salinity at a wider range). As you place it in the sample, the density of the water holds the hydrometer in specific position and you can read the salinity from the calibrated stem.
Refractometer
Playing off the density game. The denser the water is the more it will refract light passing through it. A refractometer is an instrument that uses a calibrated scale to measure salinity based on much light passing through refracts (or bends). The volunteers monitoring salinity in our citizen science project are using this method.
Salinity is measured in parts per thousand – parts of salt to 1000 parts of water. Using any of these instruments, or one called a salinity meter which works similar to a conductivity meter but is calibrated to salinity not conductivity, you can determine the salinity of the water.
0 parts per thousand (ppt, ‰) would be freshwater water.
35 ‰ would be seawater.
Salinities between 0 and 35 ‰ would be brackish water.
These values are not set in stone.
Many scientists argue that anything above 0 ‰ is not freshwater. I have read salinities in Perdido River as high as 4 ‰ and it did not taste like salt water. Some would say that up to 5 ‰ could still be considered freshwater – but again, not everyone agrees. One must also understand that in nature there are always SOME dissolved ions in the water. It is just their concentrations are SO low that our instruments cannot detect and give a reading of 0 ‰.
Likewise, the salinity of the Gulf of Mexico can run between 30 – 38 ‰, the average is 35 ‰.
Usually, the salinities in the lower parts of the Pensacola Bay system run between 20-30 ‰.
The bayous are typically between 10-20 ‰.
And the upper portions of the bay run between 0-10 ‰.
There are exceptions.
Bayou Chico usually runs between 0-10 ‰ but readings above 10 ‰ are found near the lower end of the bayou.
Perdido Bay is lower than Pensacola Bay. Lower Perdido Bay averages between 10-20 ‰.
Note: The tide plays a role in what the salinity is at any given moment. High tide brings in more saline water, to any system that experiences tides, and the salinity will be higher at that time.
For reasons we will not go into here, many of the plants and animals that call our waters home have specific salinities they prefer. There is a range they can tolerate, but also a smaller range they prefer. The biology of the upper and lower bays can be very different. The seagrass known as tape grass, or eel grass (Vallisneria) prefers low salinities, typically under 10 ‰, and are found in the upper reaches of the bay. Whereas shoal grass (Halodule) and turtle grass (Thalassia) prefer it above 20 ‰ and more common in the lower reaches. Some species, like turtle grass, have a small range of salinity they can tolerate and are called stenohaline species. Others, like shoal grass or widgeon grass (Ruppia), have a much broader range and can be found in many waterways within the bay system. These are called euryhaline.
Sea Grant is currently looking at the salinity across the bay area (from shore) to determine how (if at all) the excessive amount of rain we have been receiving in the Pensacola area in recent years is impacting the salinity of the system. As we described above, this could impact those stenohaline species who cannot tolerate it. We hope to conduct a more robust salinity monitoring project in the future.
Hopefully this was not too “sciencey” and that you learned something new about the salinity of our bay.
We used to find them here. I have heard stories of folks who could fill a 5-gallon bucket with them in about 30 minutes right by Morgan Park. An old shrimper told me that back in the day when shrimping in Santa Rosa Sound they often found scallops along the points. They would drop a grab and collect them for sale. This was when both commercial scallop harvest, and shrimping, were allowed in Santa Rosa Sound. Neither are today. There are numerous tales of large beds of scallops in Big Lagoon and scientific reports of their presence in both locations and in Little Sabine. I myself have found them at Naval Live Oaks, Shoreline Park, Big Sabine, and in Big Lagoon.
Bay scallops need turtle grass to survive. Photo: UF IFAS
But that was a long time ago. The reports suggest the decline began in the 1960s and today it is rare to find one. What happen is hard to say but most believe it began with a decline in water quality. A decrease in salinity and an increase in nutrients from stormwater runoff degraded the environment for both the scallops and the turtle seagrass they depend on. Overharvesting certainly played a role.
But they are not all gone. There is still turtle grass in our system and occasionally reports of scallops. They are trying to hang on. There have also been attempts to improve water quality by modifying how stormwater is discharged into our bay, though there is much more to do there. Each year Florida Sea Grant Agents at our local county extension offices provide volunteers an opportunity to survey our bay for both species. We have a program called “Eyes on Seagrass” where volunteers monitor sites with seagrass once a month from April through October. We partner with Dr. Jane Caffrey from the University of West Florida to assess this. We also hold our annual “Pensacola Bay Scallop Search” each July.
In the Scallop Search volunteers will snorkel four different 50-meter transects lines either in Santa Rosa Sound or Big Lagoon searching for scallops. These surveys are conducted at the end of July. There are 11 survey grids in Big Lagoon and 55 in Santa Rosa Sound extending from Gulf Breeze to Navarre. To volunteer you will need a team of at least three people and your own snorkel gear. Some locations do require a boat to access. If you are interested in searching along the north shore of Santa Rosa Sound contact Chris Verlinde at chrismv@ufl.edu (850-623-3868). If you are interested in searching along the south shore of Santa Rosa Sound, or Big Lagoon, contact Rick O’Connor at roc1@ufl.edu (850-475-5230).
Volunteers conducting the great scallop search. Photo: Molly O’Connor
Reminder, harvesting scallops in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties is still illegal. Please give them a chance to recover.
