by Jeremy Morrison
Hugging the shoreline of East Bay, a group of kayakers spent their Sunday learning about the local environment as part of a guided tour hosted by the Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program. The tour was part of a larger series of events for National Estuary Week, Sept. 17-24.
A major component of Sunday’s guided kayak tour was an overview of the area’s oyster reef restoration project. While not intended to be harvested for food, these oyster reefs are meant to provide habitat for fish and spur new oyster development in the area; the oysters will also act as filters, cleaning the water.
While the kayak tour only visited a few of East Bay’s oyster reef sites, this project includes a total of 33 reefs. Funded by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s FWF Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund grant, the project required 61,000 tons of rock and oyster shells and runs along more than six miles of shoreline.
In addition to learning about East Bay’s oyster reef restoration efforts, tour attendees also got an overview of ghost trees. Hauntingly beautiful, the weathered trees along the water’s edge result from erosion in the area due to storms and sea level rise.
Other tour elements included stop-offs for a quick ecology lesson — learning about plant life in the area, such as Black Needlerush and Smooth Cordgrass — or diving into the bay’s history with the Florida Public Archeology Network, which partnered with PPBEP for this tour.
Upcoming events planned for National Estuary Week include a couple of more nature outings — a bike ride through Gulf State Park and a river walk in Milton, both on Sept. 22 — as well as an estuary-themed trivia night on Sept. 20 at Perfect Plain Brewery and a week-long Brews to Bays beer trail guiding participants to area breweries where they can check off a beer for a chance to win prizes. Estuary kicks off Monday with a virtual lunch focused on manatees and sea turtles.
Estuary week peaks on Sept. 23, when PPBEP hosts its annual Community Grant Symposium. This second annual symposium will highlight work completed by the estuary program and serve as the unveiling ceremony for this year’s grant recipients. The estuary program provides $250,000 in funding to efforts to improve the local watershed or educate the public about issues facing the watershed.
For more information about events during National Estuary Week or to learn more about PPBEP, visit https://www.ppbep.org/get-involved.