A recently updated status report on Tampa Bay's health shows overall continued progress toward improving water quality, recovering seagrasses and restoring coastal habitats - but notes some specific problem areas and "red flags" that warrant a closer look.

The Baywide Environmental Monitoring Report is produced every few years by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and is written by the scientists conducting monitoring programs around the bay. The just-released update summarizes the results of key monitoring programs from 1998-2001. Among the important indicators of bay health examined in the report are: freshwater inflows, nutrient loadings, water quality, seagrass coverage, fisheries, marine mammals, birds, and sea turtles.

The 1998-2001 time frame examined in the report was dominated by the presence of an El Ni–o climatic event beginning in the winter of 1997-98. The El Ni–o rains dumped the equivalent of two feet of freshwater on the bay, as well as large amounts of nutrients associated with increased stormwater runoff. Scientists believe the El Ni–o event is largely responsible for the loss of 2,000 acres of seagrass throughout Tampa Bay during the 1998-1999 period. The most recent data on seagrasses, however, indicates a recovery of about 1,200 acres of that amount as of January 2002.

Among the Trends:

• Atmospheric deposition (air pollution) accounts for between 20 and 30 percent of the total nitrogen load to the bay, depending upon rainfall amounts.
• Water quality is holding steady, with the exception of El Ni–o years, and improvements in clarity achieved in the early 1980s were maintained through 2001.
• Most of the benthic community, composed of small, bottom-dwelling animals that form the foundation of the bay's food web, is relatively healthy. Exceptions are found around the Port of Tampa, the mouth of the Hillsborough, Alafia and Palm rivers, and near the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Airport.
• Use of Tampa Bay by manatees has increased from about 190 in the winter of 1994 to 300 in 2001, and from 100 to 150 animals in the summer. In January 2001, a record 3,276 manatees were counted statewide - with 356 in Tampa Bay.
• Breeding populations of reddish egrets, roseate spoonbills, American oystercatchers and other shorebirds increased steadily between 1994 and 2001. The El Ni–o rains of 1997-98 improved foraging conditions for many wading birds, and breeding populations of white ibis almost tripled before returning to pre-1998 conditions in 1999.
• The abundance of juvenile redfish in the bay remained relatively constant from 1996-2001.

Red Flags Warrant Closer Look:

• Seagrass continues to decline in parts of Old Tampa Bay, most notably in the Feather Sound area, despite improving water quality. An intensive monitoring program to examine this problem area more closely is now underway.
• The amount of sunlight penetrating the water column did not meet target levels in three of the four major bay segments from 1998-2001, due in part to El Ni–o rains. Sunlight is necessary to support seagrass growth.
• More heavy metals such as mercury, zinc and copper enter Tampa Bay through air pollution than previously estimated.
• Manatee deaths due to watercraft exceeded perinatal (newborn) mortality for the first time on record. From 1998-2001, 89 manatee deaths were reported and verified in Hillsborough, Manatee, and Pinellas counties. Collisions with watercraft caused 23 deaths, or approximately 26% of the total.

Monitoring programs are critically important to help bay managers assess the success of management efforts. Monitoring allows tracking of trends and provides an early warning system alerting scientists to emerging problems.

"The monitoring programs in Tampa Bay are among the most scientifically rigorous in the country, and are critical to helping us identify problem areas and, ultimately, adjusting management strategies to address those problems," said Holly Greening, senior scientist with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

The Baywide Environmental Monitoring Program is a collaboration of the Estuary Program, Manatee and Pinellas counties, the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, the City of Tampa, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Marine Research Institute, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, National Audubon Society, Tampa Bay Water, and the University of South Florida. All partners participate in field collection and research, but each partner has a unique niche or area of specialization to provide baywide analyses for a specific monitoring element. For example, the Florida Marine Research Institute takes the lead in contributing valuable information on the status and trends of fish populations by conducting monthly adult and juvenile fish monitoring at roughly 60 stations throughout the bay.

The 1998-2001 Baywide Environmental Monitoring Report can be accessed through the U. S. Geological Survey website. Click on "Search the Digital Library" and enter "Baywide Environmental Monitoring Report."

The report also can be ordered from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program by calling (727) 893-2765 or e-mailing cheryl@tbep.org