UCF celebrates National Estuary Day

The biology department and arboretum honored local coastal areas for UCF's inaugural National Estuary Day celebration Saturday at the Biology Field and Research building.

Events were held nationwide to educate people of all ages about the importance of ecosystems and what can be done to protect them, but biology professor Linda Walters, who put together the event, felt it was important to hold an event at UCF to focus on local coastal areas.

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"There is a lagoon here in Florida, our very own lagoon, that faces many stressors. Taking care of it is just something we can and should do," Walters said.

With Walters' help, the biology department and arboretum teamed up with the Canaveral National Seashore and the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program. The entities now work together to protect the Indian River Lagoon on the East Coast of Florida from pollution, storm-water runoff, habitat loss and the invasion of exotic species, which she said can be rewarding, but also time consuming.

Walters and her team are currently working on two main projects to improve the state of the lagoon: creating oyster mats and planting mangrove trees.

An oyster mat is a sheet of environmentally safe mesh with empty oyster shells attached to it that is secured to the bottom of the lagoon. The mat then creates a huge welcome mat to attract free-floating oyster larvae. The larvae settle and create a new healthy reef thriving with oysters, which filter the water and help stabilize eroding coastlines.

Mangrove trees are also important to the lagoon, as they provide another oyster habitat, create a slow water flow, and protect coastal areas from erosion and storm surges.

During the celebration, volunteers created almost 250 oyster restoration mats and planted almost 500 mangrove and marsh grass shoots in pots. The mats and plantings will be sent to the lagoon in spring 2012.

"My lab and I wanted to have a big, fun event that would help us produce materials for our oyster mats and mangrove tree pots, which are both huge projects that can get tiring," Walters said. "And we also thought it would be a great opportunity to show how important a healthy estuary is and how to lend a hand, even if it is just one time."

To attract helping hands, Walters coordinated numerous activities such as oyster shell Christmas ornament decorating, marine life face painting, readings of books created by two preschool teachers about the local estuaries, sea grass hat making and the opportunity to make oyster mats and plant mangrove trees that will be later put into the lagoon. There were also scientific posters about research that has been done around the lagoon and live organisms on display from the lagoon for people to observe and learn about.

Most surprising to all was the appearance of two Star Wars Storm Troopers who came to celebrate National Estuary Day. The Storm Troopers took a break from defending the Death Star to listen to readings of the local estuaries and observe the many living organisms brought from the lagoon.

"I hope this event showed people that there is more to the lagoon than just science. There is beauty there and I hope there is a deeper understanding for the lagoon, even though everyone appreciates things differently," Walters said.

Rachel Odom, a biology student, knows the importance of the lagoon and was glad to have the chance to share that with others at the event.

"I hope that the volunteers got a feel for what our local estuaries are and why it is so important to help protect them," Odom said. "Estuaries are really important ecosystems that harbor a large diversity of organisms of today people had a convenient chance to take a look at what these estuaries have to offer and how to help them," said Odom.

Samantha Spinuzzi, senior biology major, was also excited to share her love for Central Florida's estuaries with the UCF community.

"I work with Dr. Walters in the estuaries and I see how it is a very degraded and threatened habitat and I hope after today that people are more aware of the situation and more knowledgeable on how to protect estuaries," Spinuzzi said.