Last Saturday, Nature Guernsey organised a rock pooling afternoon at Cow Bay, the harbour side of Castle Cornet in St Peter Port. The spring tide was low enough to uncover a good patch of Eel Grass. There are two species in Bailwick waters, Common Eelgrass, Zostera marina, and Dwarf Eelgrass, Zostera noltei. I think this patch is Common Eelgrass.
It is a flowering plant so pollinating insects aren’t going to help them to produce seed for the next generation. Instead, these plants release long strands of male pollen which the tide disperses. Some of them will become entangled in the female stigma which are hook-shaped. The fertilised seeds are then carried by currents and spread far and wide. They grow in shallow seawater, well-lit from above as they need to photosynthesise.
BEEP – Bailiwick Eelgrass Exploration Project is our very own conservation organisation whose aim is to increase awareness of Eelgrass in local waters. You can follow BEEP on social media. They organise Eelgrass walkovers and snorkelling as they are committed to citizen science. I haven’t been to one yet, but plan to go on the next walkover. I think I even have a snorkel and mask from years ago when I did a little diving! https://www.facebook.com/beepresearch https://twitter.com/beepresearch https://www.instagram.com/beepresearch/
It looks ordinary but it packs a punch. Seagrass ‘meadows’ create a perfect habitat for young fish and small sea creatures to thrive. Overwintering Brent Geese feed on it. It absorbs and stores carbon dioxide (and methane) in its roots so is a valuable ally in combatting climate change.
Natural history of the Bailiwick of Guernsey 
Isn’t this the grass that the swans have thrived on over the centuries at Abbotsbury in Dorset?
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