NAVIGATION
This page is a sub-page of ObsSG, a top-level page on
the website Barbados Fringing Reefs and Seagrass Beds
(www.versicolor.ca/barbados).
Go to ObsSG for a list of other subpages in this section
of the website.
DRAFTING…
The Species
Zieman 1982
Of the 6 species of seagrass commonly found in the Caribbean region, four are found in Barbados: Thalassia testudinum (Turtle Grass), Syringodium filiforme (Manatee Grass), Halodule wrightii (Shoal Grass) and Halophila decipiens (Paddle Grass).
From A NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY & ACTION PLAN FOR BARBADOS (2002) , some line breaks and punctuation/bolding inserted:
“Seagrass areas, commonly known as seagrass beds or meadows, are distributed along the coast in shallow water where sunlight penetration is adequate to facilitate photosynthesis.
Delcan (1994b), reported seagrass beds
– along the west coast at Shermans, Six Men’s Bay, Speightstown and Brighton;
– along the southwest coast at Bridgetown, Hastings, Rockley, Worthing, St.Lawrence, Dover, Maxwell, Welches, Oistins, Enterprise and Atlantic Shores of Barbados;
– and along the east coast at Bath and Conset Bay.“There is evidence that the quality of the local coastal marine water is deteriorating due to increased sedimentation, eutrophication and sewage pathogens, localised increases in temperature, decreases in salinity, and perhaps increases in toxins (Delcan, 1994a).
Tracing from aerial photographs showing putative turtlegrass (T. testudinum) beds.
At right is a tracing from aerial photographs I produced in 1967 showing all of the dark patches/putative turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) beds. I checked them out by direct observation, T. testudinum was confirmed at all sites excepts Gays Cove. I went there, there was a coarse rubble beach with a fairly steep descent into deeper water and I was greeted by a very large barracuda – my first encounter. I left without further investigation.
Comment Brathwaite et al, 2008, pp 48-9 in Barbados: A Coral Paradise (Miller Publishing), paragraphing inserted:
Seagrass beds have faired little better than mangroves on the island. Areas where the habitat was once prolific such as Worthing Lagoon in the south and Bath in the east have either steadily or abruptly lost their grassy marine meadows over the course of the last 40 years.
These fish nurseries and natural sediment sinks have all but been lost from the southern coastline, with only a few pockets of growth remaining in the St. Lawrence area. Here the demise has been witnessed since the 1960’s when the lagoon once hosted a mature seagrass meadow comprising dense mats of turtle grass and associated macroalgal species, sea eggs and conch.
By the 1990’S the area of the meadow had declined considerably and the early 2000’s witnessed a drastic decline and virtual disappearance of any seagrass in this area. This was a result of a combination of deteriorating water quality and changing sediment transport patterns within this dynamic area, together with a bumper recruitment of the white sea egg which grazed the grass blades en masse an~their underground rhizomes as sand erosion exposed them.
It is ironic that the sea egg, much prized as a local delicacy,decimated the last remaining beds within the lagoon, leaving bare sand in their wake. Recent studies of the lagoon however are revealing signs of recovery of seagrass and corals within the area.
Thus, barring the occurrence of severe natural or man-made disturbances in the near future, there is hope that Worthing Lagoon may one day be covered in a lush seagrass meadow again.
At Bath, the loss of seagrasses is less severe, as this area is much less prone to human induced impacts than the heavily developed south coast. However, changes in water quality due to increased levels of development, land use changes and increased volumes of sediment carried to the nearshore in storm water run-off have taken their toll on the habitat.
Regrettably, the Bath seagrass beds, the largest sweep of seagrass beds in Barbados followed a demise much like that which occurred at St. Lawrence circa 20 to 25 years earlier. See Bath 2024 & 2025.
It appears (2024, 2025) there remain only patches of Turtle Grass (Thalassia testudinum) beds anywhere in Barbados, but I have not made a formal survey to back that up.
The descriptions above refer generally, I believe, to “seagrass beds” rather than to seagrass species per se which can include, beside occurrences in distinct “beds”, sparsely distributed plants that don’t form distinct beds and don’t show up as “dark patches” visible from shore, from the air or from a boat (as do “seagrass beds”).
Some examples are shown below. Except for the first, which is a patch of Halophila decipiens, the photos are of spasely distributed Halodule wrightii. Interestingly, both areas where I observed them – Carlisle Bay on the SW coast, and SurfSide in the MPA on the west coast – are frequented by green turtle, a seagrass-grazing species. As well, in Carlise Bay, I observed a Red Cushion Star, a species once common in seagrass beds of the Caribbean but that is much less common these days.
The Halodule wrightii at SurfSide which I observed in 2024 and in earlier years, appeared to have been completely elimniated when I visited the area in Feb and Mar of 2025. I suspect the causative agent was massive physical disturbance by swells generated by Hurricane Beryl, those impacting Barbados on June 30/July 1, 2024. Coincidentally or not, green turtles which had been common at Surfside in earlier years, were completely absent in Feb and Mar of 2025.
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2016 – #068 Halophila decipiens on sandy bottom, circa 5 m depth, Vauxhall Reef area in the Folkestone MPA, Mar 22, 2016. It was not seen in subsequent years (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024, 20250 |
2016 -#580 Halophila decipiens specimen. Coin is 23 mm width. View iNaturalist record. |
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2023 #236 Red Cushion Seastar (Oreaster reticulatus) on sandy bottom with sparse Halodule wrightii (s0me with green algal ephiphytes) at Carlisle Bay, April 6, 2023 |
2024 – #375 Green Turtle on sandy bottom with sparse Halodule wrightii at Carlisle Bay, circa 7 m depth, Mar 21, 2024 |
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2024 – #786 Trunkfish on sandy bottom with sparse Halodule wrightii (s0me with green algal ephiphytes) at Carlisle Bay, Mar 21, 2024 |
2023 #212 Green Turtle on sandy bottom with sparse Halodule wrightii (some with green algal epiphytes) at Surfside in the Folkestone MPA, circa 7 m depth Jan 27, 2023 |
