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Galiano Eelgrass Project
Senior elementary school students increase eelgrass in a local harbour
Choosing the Issue:
The SeaChange Marine Conservation Society, with the Galiano Conservancy Association, set up an eelgrass restoration program for grades six to eight with the teachers at the Galiano Community School. The program was incorporated into the school's science curricula as part of the "From the Forest to the Sea Watershed Program"
What They Did:
At low tide, the students collected loose eelgrass rhizomes from Montague Harbour and placed them in an eelgrass aquarium for propagation. Eelgrass is an important habitat for all sorts of marine life, including salmon fry which are protected by the blades of the eelgrass while they feed. Eelgrass habitat aquariums can be cooled by either a saltwater cooler or by tubing connected to a freshwater aquarium. (Contact Nikki Wright at (250) 383-7790 for information.) These habitats can serve as outstanding teaching tools when placed side by side with a salmonid aquarium.
The students discussed the effects of human activity on eelgrass beds. Kayakers trampling on it repeatedly while entering or exiting the water, anchors from recreational boats dragging into the beds and sewage from boats and houses can damage these plants. The young people observed the marine life collected by divers and temporarily housed in beach aquaria. Back at school, the students monitored the temperature, depth, nitrate and pH levels of the water in the aquarium, and at the end of the school year, they transplanted the eelgrass back into Montague Harbour.
» Case study: Eelgrass project (pdf)
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