The Power of Seagrass

It can be seen from space. You couldn’t recognize it if it were in front of your face. Before last week, I didn’t even know it existed. Even if you dropped us in a whole bed of it, we’d still probably think it was sea weed.

Even so, it’s been there for millions of years, sopping up extra CO2, bacteria, and sunlight, providing food and habitat for thousands of animals, and fertilizing our coasts since ancient times. It doesn’t need us, but we sure need it.

Seagrass is also called Turtle Grass, since it’s a major foodstuff of sea turtles like the one above. Photo from: P.Lindgren [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

It’s older than the famous ichthyosaur, evolved at about the same time as bees, and is even more aged than the first known species of ant. The most famous dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, wouldn’t show up for another 32 million years after seagrasses first took hold. Though the T-Rex has stolen some fame, few species have been more essential to the world’s existence (and ours) than seagrass. The ancient world probably would have carried on just fine without the king of the dinosaurs. The modern world may not exist without this tiny plant.

Seagrasses are just like any other grass, they just prefer a wet, salty environment. They belong to a family called Monocotelydons, AKA “One leafs”. Though they may look like algae and seaweed, they’re vastly different. Seagrass have a whole network of veins that they use to carry nutrients around just like we use our arteries. Every part of the plant is interconnected…