Tampa Bay at A Crossroads

Over the course of my life-time, Tampa Bay-the largest open water estuary in Florida-has gone from neglected and polluted to revived, revered and healed. For decades, elected leaders, government agencies, non-profit groups, universities and thousands of citizen volunteers banded together in the shared and higher purpose of saving Tampa Bay.

For many years, it worked! Seagrass beds recovered, species rebounded, water quality improved and educated citizens became stewards of this treasure. But now, driven by climate change, new powerful challenges threaten the ecosystem.

A recent Tampa Bay Times article presented evidence from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP) that speaks to dangerous and profoundly troubling trends at play the Bay. Deep currents of change ripple below the surface. Hotter water, fresher water, more nutrient pollution fueling harmful algal blooms and the convoluted tentacles of climate change stand poised to undo decades of progress.

If Tampa Bay's seagrass beds collapse, species like the manatee could face increased mortality in the area. Credit: Elizabeth Baillie

Vital Seagrass Beds at Risk

As the realities of climate change come home to roost, we are powerfully reminded of the profound threats our beloved places face. Tampa Bay is again in trouble. If critical seagrass beds shrink or disappear, umbrella species like the Florida Manatee could face increased mortality in the Bay as they did in Indian River Lagoon on Florida's east coast when the ecosystem and its seagrass beds collapsed.

When seagrass beds can no longer depend on stable temperatures and the right balance of salinity and fresh water, calibrated by nature over millennia as the natural standard they evolved to meet, seagrass communities begin to collapse. The stress of temperature fluctuations and water salinity, or lack thereof, is exacerbated by the massive loading of nutrient pollution and resulting harmful algal blooms. Seagrass beds are stressed, shrink and eventually die off. A fundamental food source for Florida Manatees and the nursery for untold numbers of marine species essential to fisheries, disappear.

Meaningful nature-based solutions can create lasting change in the Tampa Bay area. Credit: @geraldmarella.

Creating a Healthy Future for Tampa Bay

TBEP has done the Bay and area residents a great service in releasing their research paper "Hot and Fresh!" referenced in the article. Conservation groups and community partners like the TBEP work for effective solutions to reduce nutrient pollution in stormwater runoff. Meaningful nature-based solutions can protect natural systems from climate change impacts. Addressing the root causes of climate change creates long term solutions.

NWF is committed to scientifically driven and effective policy and advocacy in Florida to protect places like Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. We are fully engaged in efforts to conserve and restore coastal and marine ecosystems in the face of sea level rise, increased temperatures, nutrient pollution, and climate change. We are collaborating with partners both in Tampa Bay, and across the Gulf of Mexico, to make this happen.

None of this is easy, but all of it is possible.

Joe Murphy is the Wildlife Policy Specialist for the National Wildlife Federation's Gulf Program

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