Biscayne Bay's "Hidden Flora" Is the Island's Life Force

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2010

Like a mirage on the horizon, the deep green forests of Virginia Key rise from a languid and transparent sea that is Biscayne Bay. 

The life force that stirs beneath those clear, calm waters is described by Commodore Ralph Munroe in The Commodore's Story, his account of sailing and living on Biscayne Bay beginning in the late 1800's: 

“No sea-lover could look unmoved on the blue rollers of the Gulf Stream and the crystal-clear waters of the Reef, of every delicate shade of blue and a green, and tinged with every color of the spectrum from the fantastically rich growths on the bottom, visible to the last detail through this incredibly translucent medium.”

Munroe undoubtedly was speaking of the seagrasses, those “rich growths” that anchor one of the most dynamic and diverse ecosystems of the 40-mile-wide bay.

Combined with the mangroves that stabilize the shoreline and provide shelter for marine life as well as birds and other animals, the lush seagrass beds found throughout Biscayne Bay and in the waters surrounding Virginia Key, form the food chain for everything for the Florida spiny lobster to shrimp, fish, sea turtles and manatees. 

And for those who love to fish and/or love to eat fish, listen up: Seventy percent of Florida’s marine recreational fish depend upon seagrass communities sometime throughout their lives. 

There are about 52 species of seagrasses in the world, but only seven species are found in Florida’s waters, including Johnson’s seagrass, a threatened species under federal law that is found on Virginia Key. 

The shallow waters of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve that surround Virginia Key contain Johnson's seagrass, turtle grass, manatee grass and shoal grass. The area serves as an important undisturbed spawning area for many species of fish and invertebrates, including a large variety of sponges, invertebrates and algae.