North Shore Park Seagrass Restoration Project in the Green

As the old saying goes, “the grass is always greener…”. But soon, sea grass will be greener at St. Pete’s North Shore Park – or rather, just offshore. 

Starting in late 2025, the City of St. Petersburg will be restoring 32 acres of seagrass habitat near the entrance to Coffee Pot Bayou. The restoration will begin by repairing a dredge hole just offshore using 470,000 cubic yards of fill from a recent channel deepening project at SeaPort Manatee. Over the summers of 2026 and 2027, manatee grass, turtle grass, and shoal grass plugs gathered from a donor site just to the north will be added to this new bay bottom, then monitored for growth. New marine signage around the site will inform boaters that they are entering a shallow seagrass area. The hope is to establish a thriving seagrass meadow, increasing total seagrass in coverage in the area to nearly 180 acres. 

While such “mitigation bank” strategies – which offer a way to offset impacts to environmentally sensitive ecosystems caused by development activities – are common for wetlands and forests, they are relatively rare for marine and estuarine ecosystems. The North Shore Park seagrass mitigation bank will be one of the first such initiatives in Florida.  

But why all the fuss about the humble seagrass? In short, because seagrass is the foundation of a critical marine habitat that shelters fishes, crustaceans, and shellfish (including many commercially valuable species), and serves as a larder for dolphins and wading birds. It also anchors sediment to the bottom of the bay, keeping water clear and healthy. Finally, like terrestrial forests, it absorbs carbon dioxide, playing an important role in climate mitigation. 

For all these reasons, seagrass is recognized as one of the most productive and economically important ecosystems on earth. And Tampa Bay’s seagrass needs support: after growing steadily for three decades, the bay’s seagrass acreage has begun to decline, showing an 28% loss between 2016 and 2022.

Green Machines

The new installation at North Shore Park is part of a growing movement to support seagrass through habitat restoration. “Living shoreline” projects typically include a combination of natural elements like mangroves, grasses, and oyster reef materials introduced along a beach or a seawall. These installations strengthen these coastal edges by absorbing wave energy – that persistent pull that can eventually swallow a beach or create voids behind a seawall. They also prevent erosion on the coastline behind them.

This is the goal for David Reed, who is in the process of installing his own living shoreline at his home along the Hillsborough River, just north of Tampa’s Water Works Park. A regular paddler, Reed has experienced firsthand the way seawalls reflect, rather than absorb, wave energy when he is out on the water, especially along the river’s more developed stretches. “It’s like being in a washing machine!” he exclaims. He hopes that his project, which will transform his steep shoreline into a gradual incline using 30 tons of lime rock layered with soil, biodegradable cloth, and native grasses, will calm the waves and prevent erosion due to increased traffic along the river. 

Living shorelines are often touted as a less expensive and more sustainable alternative to more traditional hardscaped structures, such as Tampa Bay’s ubiquitous seawalls. But their benefits do not end there: the mangroves and grasses often included in living shorelines provide needed habitat for marine species, while oysters assist with water filtration (fun fact: an adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day!). Together with restoration projects like the one in North Shore Park, these installations form a powerful tool – call it a lean, green, estuarine machine – in the fight to restore the bay’s water quality. 

Room to Grow

Curious to see a living shoreline for yourself? There are lots to choose from: the living shoreline at the north end of Lassing Park, installed in 2021, consists of 100 tons of fossilized shell and 792 oyster reef balls. (An oyster reef ball, or ORB, is two-foot dome formed from marine-friendly concrete that provides a hard surface on which oysters can grow). Notably, marsh grasses and trees planted behind this living shoreline survived the 2024 hurricane season relatively unscathed. Phillipe Park in Safety Harbor hosts an experimental living shoreline, where five different designs are being tested for durability and suitability as marine habitat. The living shoreline at St. Pete College STEM Center at Bay Pines is providing a research opportunity for students, while another at Maximo Park is protecting vulnerable archaeological resources. 

And while living shorelines are cropping up everywhere, there is still plenty of room to grow. According to the Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s Habitat Master Plan, as much as 500 miles of Tampa Bay’s shoreline could potentially host a living shoreline. 

Be a Shoreline Steward

As waters around the Old Northeast expand the local seagrass meadow, it is worth mentioning that water quality and habitat restoration projects do not have to be public-works-sized to have an impact. Living shorelines on private property can make an important impact, too.

Reed says he is looking forward to the favorable habitat for manatees, tarpon, and dolphins that his living shoreline project will create. While he admits that hiring an environmental engineer to design the project was costly, and getting the proper permits was a time-consuming challenge, he sees the project as an important investment in the stability of his property and the health of his local environment. 

“It’s such a blessing and a privilege to be able to live on the water. I love it,” he says. “And I think it comes with an obligation to be a good steward of the shoreline. What you do affects everyone else around you.”

This adage is true even for those not living on the water. Stormwater runoff, which carries (among other things) excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers into the bay, can spur the harmful algal blooms that keep sea grass from growing. In fact, it is the number one source of pollutants to the Tampa Bay estuary. Shelving the fertilizer until after the rainy season keeps those pollutants out of the Bay, something many residents can do to help seagrass regardless of their proximity to the bay. What’s more, those slow summer days are the perfect time to daydream about other Florida-friendly changes to your landscaping, such as using native plants or xeriscaping, that will ultimately use less water and keep our bay healthier. 

From innovative city projects to our own backyards, supporting seagrass is an important strategy for building a healthy future for our region. And it is truly a grassroots project!

To learn more about the city project, click here.