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Located 1,360 kilometres north of Brisbane, The Port of Townsville is a world-class gateway for trade and investment.
Monitoring Seagrass Health in Cleveland Bay
Seagrass communities’ health is one indicator that reef managers can use to understand the overall health of the marine environment. Port of Townsville Limited commissions an annual Seagrass Health Survey in Cleveland Bay which is carried our by James Cook University's Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER).
The annual survey maps areas of seagrass meadows as well as species types and density. Surveyors from JCU record observations at hundreds of sites in Cleveland Bay and track changes over time.
The 2016 Annual Seagrass Survey results for Townsville showed that seagrass in Cleveland Bay:
- Ranks "good" or "very good" for area and species composition indicators in most monitoring meadows;
- Have increased in total area for the fifth consecutive year;
- Have lower biomass scores than last year due to a range of climatic conditions;
- Are in satisfactory overall condition.