FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 69, NO. 2 



Figure 1. — External features of Thalassia testudinum. 



confined our restoration studies to the trans- 

 plantation of adult plants. This paper describes 

 the procedures for and results of transplantation 

 of turtle grass into modified environments. 



trol site was 95.5% sand (>62.5/x) and 4.5% 

 silt and clay (<62.5/Lt) on a dry weight basis. 

 At the planted areas of the finger-fill canals, 

 sediments averaged 98.6% sand and 1.4% silt 

 and clay. No analysis of the carbonate fraction 

 was made for these samples; however, all sites 

 had shell fragments, which appeared to be more 

 abundant in the canals than at the control site. 



MATERIAL AND METHODS 



The work was divided into two phases: Phase 

 I extended from July 1966 through August 1967 

 and phase II from April through October 1967. 

 In phase I, methods of deflecting and reducing 

 the force of tidal currents and waves in the vi- 

 cinity of transplants and of anchoring new trans- 

 plants in the substrate were tested. Concrete 

 building blocks were laid in parallel rows at 

 both transplant sites to form enclosed areas for 

 sheltering new transplants against the forces 

 of moving water (Figure 3). Plugs of grass 

 approximately 8 inches square (20 X 20 cm) 



DESCRIPTION OF TRANSPLANT SITES 



All experiments took place in the southern 

 end of Boca Ciega Bay, Fla., an elongate coastal 

 lagoon joined to Tampa Bay and separated from 

 the Gulf of Mexico by a line of barrier islands 

 (Figure 2). The area it encompasses is a par- 

 amount example of grass bed destruction by 

 hydraulic engineering (Hutton et al., 1956; 

 Phillips, 1960; Taylor and Saloman, 1968). 



A rectangular area 8.2 by 21 m (27 by 7 ft) 

 in a large turtle grass bed was cleared by hand 

 to serve as the control site. Two other trans- 

 plant areas of the same size were in two adjacent 

 finger-fill canals in a large land-fill development. 



Construction of houses had not begun along 

 the canals selected, and none was built during 

 the experiments. Boating in the canals was 

 light, and during periodic inspections we saw 

 no disturbance of the plants directly attributable 

 to man. 



Sediments from transplant sites were an- 

 alyzed by particle size. A sample from the con- 



FlGURE 2. — Locations of experiments (phases I and II, 

 and control area). 



274 



