A $560,000 research project coordinated by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program seeks to restore natural sandbars to areas of the bay where they once existed.

Scientists hope that re-creating the sandbars will facilitate the recovery of underwater seagrasses vital to the bay’s health by buffering wave action that may be preventing seagrasses from growing.

The project plans to install four longshore bars in various areas of the bay, testing different construction techniques – such a riprap, dredged material and geo-tubes. Funding has been secured for one bar installation, and grants are being sought for the three other experimental sandbars. Seagrass will be transplanted once the bars are in place, and survival and growth rates monitored.

Seagrass already has been transplanted at one site adjacent to MacDill Air Force that historically contained a sandbar. Scientists are monitoring that area to see if the presence of the seagrass might actually promote the natural creation of a sandbar, since seagrasses help to trap and stabilize bottom sediments.

Historical photos of the bay indicate sandbars once were prevalent along the shoreline in many areas, but have since disappeared. Scientists speculate that these sandbars helped soften the impacts of waves, allowing seagrasses to flourish in the quiet, protected waters behind the sandbars.

Restoring sandbars in areas vulnerable to erosion from ship wakes may allow seagrasses to once again colonize these areas, they hope.

A variety of partners are participating in this innovative project, including the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough; Lewis Environmental Services; the city of Tampa’s Bay Study Group; the Tampa Port Authority; and Tampa BayWatch.