- April 4, 2025
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Dave Tomasko’s smile brimmed from ear to ear — it signified success.
As he emerged from the water, somewhere in Upper Sarasota Bay, the executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program held a clump of seagrass — proof, he said, that the bay’s seagrasses are on the mend.
“This is a successful day. This is cool,” Tomasko said, holding the clump of seagrass. “We're at the epicenter of a 1,900-acre increase in seagrass.”
The SBEP recently announced it received the 2024 seagrass maps, which were completed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
The maps showed an increase of 1,912 acres of seagrass across Sarasota Bay, an increase of 19%, from 2022 to 2024.
Seagrasses are an indicator of ecosystem health. The habitats can provide nursing grounds for juvenile fish and crustaceans, but also are a vital food source for animals like manatees and sea turtles.
When Tomasko and SBEP staff went out on Sarasota Bay on March 28 with Chris Anastasiou, the chief water quality scientist with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, there was a big question looming:
Did the 2024 hurricane season impact the seagrass recovery?
The surveys taken by the Southwest Florida Water Management District were comprised of images taken before the 2024 storms. Tomasko and others wondered if the heavy rainfall, increased nutrients and debris could have negatively impacted the seagrasses — impacts the images would not have represented.
The in-field results are what caused Tomaso’s wide smile. It appeared Sarasota Bay’s resiliency could withstand the impacts. It's a testament, he said, that the investments in making the bay cleaner are creating a more sustainable system.
“A cleaner bay is a more resilient bay,” Tomasko said. “It looks like we’ve been able to weather the 2024 hurricane season."
High-fives followed on board among SBEP staff and Anastasiou.
“I’m really excited,” said Tomasko. “This is the payoff from the hard work.”
Numbers don’t lie, and the 2024 seagrass mapping shows Sarasota Bay is recovering from a period of degradation.
“The reason we have a big increase is because we had a big decrease originally,” Tomasko said.
In 2018, the maps showed 12,853 of seagrass coverage in Sarasota Bay. That decreased to 10,539 in 2020 and 9,964 in 2022.
Now, there are an estimated 11,876 acres of seagrass.
Seeing shallow area gains in just a couple feet is an example.
But the more impressive examples are further below the surface, at depths of 5 or 6 feet. Tomasko said that’s what shows a greater impact since it’s more difficult for seagrass to grow in deeper areas with less sunlight.
Some estimates state one acre of seagrass could support 40,000 small fish and 50 million small invertebrates.
| Bay Segment | 2018 (acres) | 2020 (acres) | 2022 (acres) | 2024 (acres) | % Change from 2022-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palma Sola Bay | 1,273 | 1,216 | 1,200 | 1,240 | 3% |
| Sarasota Bay | 10,326 | 8,075 | 7,591 | 9,424 | 24% |
| Roberts Bay | 349 | 332 | 300 | 304 | 1% |
| Little Sarasota Bay | 610 | 607 | 578 | 603 | 4% |
| Blackburn Bay | 295 | 307 | 294 | 305 | 4% |
| Total | 12,853 | 10,539 | 9,964 | 11,876 | 19% |
The seagrass maps are one factor in the SBEP’s annual ecosystem health report card, which looks at the bigger picture of Sarasota Bay.
The report card looks at the bay’s health over a yearlong period rather than looking at what Tomasko called an episodic event, or a short-term event.
“An event that causes a problem for just a short period is not nearly as problematic as something that causes a problem for a long time,” Tomasko said. “An episodic event is not great, but it’s not going to be as problematic as a long-term issue.”
This year’s report card, like the seagrass maps, shows Sarasota Bay continues a positive recovery trend.
It’s broken up into periods, starting with the “reference period” from 2006 to 2012. The SBEP compares new data with the reference period and determines new scores for the report card based on how much the data deviates from the reference.
Using that comparison, then, is how the SBEP determined the period from 2013 to 2019 is the “degrading period.” Scores for some of the bays reached “concerning” or “poor” conditions. But since then, the bay is in the “recovering” phase.
Tomasko chalked much of that recovery up to better wastewater and stormwater management.
In the lower parts of the bay, Tomasko said stormwater retrofit projects like those in Hudson Bayou and Phillippi Creek are prime examples.
Wastewater improvements continue in all parts of the bay, but Tomasko said the Upper Bay is an area to point out.
“What our model suggests is, the reason for that improvement in the Upper Bay is that Manatee County upgraded their wastewater treatment process at the southwest water reclamation facility and that is reducing the nutrient content,” Tomasko said.
Investing in projects like these in the future will be key to maintaining the recovery of Sarasota Bay. Tomasko said continued public support for these projects can help emphasize the importance to local officials.
The recovery in Sarasota Bay is a positive that Tomasko said is unlike other parts of Florida.
“This is kind of unique,” Tomasko said. “And we think it’s because the investments are big enough to be able to make a difference and we’re really happy about that.”
