BAY BULLETIN NETTLES from page 5
Bay nettle probability as of press time. Image: weather.gov.
But the jellies are spreading through parts of Chesapeake Country, too (especially the Patuxent)— and further north. Bay nettles have been spotted on the surface over the last couple of weeks at least as far north as Baltimore, says one of the jellyfish experts at the National Aquarium. Jennie Janssen, assistant curator of the aquarium’s stunning Blue Wonders exhibit, explains the factors that impact jellies include their food. “In order to have a lot of jellies in abundance, you need to have all their food sources available in the months prior and in the same places as these jellies are growing up,” says Janssen. And of course, temperature and salinity, which can be impacted by a strong rainstorm. “If there’s a strong rain and suddenly the salinity in local waters is very low at the surface, often times the jellies will go down,” Janssen says. Of course, the nettles we can see in the water are only the ones near the surface. Janssen says, “I’m more interested in knowing, are they [NOAA predictors] talking about the surface of the water, because obviously the place where you’re going to see them most is within the first two feet of the surface. But does that mean they’re five feet down? 10 feet down?” Daniels has an answer. “It’s actually an average of the top one meter of the Chesapeake Bay.” His best advice? “I would say look before you jump into the water.” And check the map before you go out. Find it at ocean.weather.gov/Loops/ SeaNettles/prob/SeaNettles.php
Watching the Grass Grow Arlington Echo Gets More Resilient BY MATT LIPTAK
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t usually means doing something extremely boring, but for Rachel Pierson, watching grasses grow is actually somewhat exciting. “I just went down to check on them today, and they’re holding up great,” she said. “They continue to grow taller, wider and thicker.” Pierson has been checking on plugs of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) that were planted in early June at the Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center in Millersville. She has been watching the grass grow ever since. Thanks to AmeriCorps and volunteers at Arlington Echo, the shoreline at the convergence of the Severn River and Indian Creek have at least 1,000 new plantings of grasses this summer. Arlington Echo is an environmental education center run by Anne Arundel County Public schools and teaches students to make responsible environmental decisions with overnight camps, field trips and hands-on activities. The grasses serve multiple purposes on the shoreline. Their roots help stabilize the shore and help prevent the tides from washing away sand. The grasses themselves pull in excess nutrients and toxins, preventing them from entering the Chesapeake Bay. And they also provide habitat for creatures like grass shrimp. The planting of the plugs that start the grass took a bit of patience. Volunteers put on chest waders and entered the water to scoop out a little
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6 • BAY WEEKLY • July 29 - August 5, 2021