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algae is increasing in some bays, but is absent from nearly all areas on 

 early photographs. 



Nautical charts 



The presence of eelgrass on old nautical charts (especially US 

 Coastal and Geological Survey charts), is sometimes denoted by "Grs", 

 "Grass" or "Eelgrass". Only rarely were boundaries of eelgrass beds 

 mapped. This documentation apparently depended greatly on the whim of 

 the field observer or mapmaker, and indications of eelgrass appear on 

 some maps or map editions and not on others. Furthermore, since 

 observations were made from boats, only beds that were conspicuous from 

 the surface (general less than 3.0 m) are recorded. Even then, to 

 prevent map clutter, "Grs" may be written once within a bay. Thus the 

 denotation of eelgrass on a nautical charts affirms that eelgrass was 

 present, but the lack of denotation does not imply eelgrass was absent. 



Study sites 



Changes in eelgrass abundance was studied at 12 sites around 

 Buzzards Bay: The Westport Rivers; Apponaganset Bay, Dartmouth; Clarks 

 Cove, South Dartmouth; New Bedford inner and outer harbor; Nasketucket 

 Bay, Fairhaven; East Bay, West Island, Fairhaven; Sippican Harbor, 

 Marion; Great Neck, Wareham and the Wareham River Estuary; Buttermilk 

 Bay, Bourne and Wareham; Megansett Harbor, Bourne and Falmouth; Wild 

 Harbor, Falmouth; and West Falmouth Harbor. In addition, data from 

 another site on Cape Cod (Waquoit Bay) was included because this bay has 

 had prominent declines in eelgrass. These sites had different histories 



