Underwater 'zombie grass' signals trouble for Florida fishermen
A massive die-off that began in 1987 and lasted for years helped spark ambitious plans to protect the area, but fishermen say progress has been too slow.
Now, they see the death cycle happening again, as increasingly warm and salty water smothers the underwater grass.
First the grass detaches from the bottom. It floats to the surface during the day and sinks again at night, earning it the nickname "zombie grass," said Steve Davis, a wetland ecologist with the Everglades Foundation, as he inspected a once-popular fishing area called Whipray Basin.
"It's dead, it just doesn't know it yet," he explained.
Eventually, the grass bleaches, and the blades amass into smelly islands.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-04-underwater-zombie-grass-florida-fishermen.html#jCp
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