T&T: Anchoring in the grass

[C. Marin Faure]

 >Nowadays I see signs posted every hundred
feet or so in the water off our favorite destination barrier island  
saying
something to the effect that this is a delicate sea grass area - not a
prohibition on anchoring, etc, just a moral reminder sort of thing.

There are a few places in the Puget Sound/San Juan Islands area where  
anchoring is forbidden at depths less than 30 feet because of the  
presence of eel grass beds.  Also, the Washington Parks Department  
has been replacing the traditional "double concrete block" anchors  
for the mooring buoys in the marine parks with screw anchors.  These  
are wound into the bottom by a drill rig on a landing craft.  The top  
with the ring projects a short distance above the bottom and the line  
from the mooring buoy is attached to the ring.  So as boats shift  
they do not drag the secondary concrete weight its chain around on  
the bottom where they bulldoze everything in their path.  Regardless  
of the environmental benefit, the screw anchors will resist  more  
pressure than the concrete block anchors, so this change is a good one.

There are increasing rumors that the next step will be to prohibit  
anchoring completely in those marine park bays that have or will  
support eel grass.  Right now anchoring is allowed anywhere in a  
marine park as long as it does not interfere with other boats or the  
boats moored to the park buoys.  Over the last year or so they have  
been installing mooring buoys and screw anchors in park bays where  
there had been only anchoring  before.  They have also installed  
linear moorings in some of the park bays, although so far nobody  
seems willing to use them.  But it would not surprise a lot of us to  
eventually see all anchoring banned in the marine park bays.

It's not that anyone is in love with the eel grass itself, but the  
eel grass beds play a critical role in the food chain by providing  
feeding, breeding, and hiding places for crabs, small fish, and other  
critters that are essential for keeping the bottom end of the food  
chain going, which is essential for keeping the top end of the  
chain--- salmon, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and whales--- going.

____________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington