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Macroalgae Survey Results
from
Ocean Pines and Ocean City Dead End Canals
Figure 1: Canal near Shell Gut Point.
No macroalgae was observed at this site. |
In response to several calls from citizens
concerned with an over-abundance of macroscopic algae in the Maryland
Coastal Bays, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, between May 9th
and May 15th, conducted several surveys in various areas of the
Coastal Bays to visually assess the distribution and abundance of macroalgae.
In general, the crews
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did not observe an
excessive abundance of algae in most areas. The areas with the largest
prevalence of algae were the canals North of Route 90 in Ocean Pines. Several
canals in this area were observed. The survey showed that the canals with the
most direct connection to the St. Martin's River had no macroalgae or small,
sparsely distributed patches. Figure 1 shows the canal located
just south of Shell Gut Point, between Teal Circle and Lookout Point.
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The second site, located between Teal Circle and Ocean Parkway,
showed some macroalage present, but not in large, spatially
extensive patches (Figure 2). Figure 3
shows an example of the algal species that was present at this site,
Enteromorpha spp. This species is a green algae that is common
to coastal areas. A study conducted on the jetty at Ocean City in
1969, showed several species of Enteromorpha present. Based
on these results, it is assumed that this species is not new to the
Maryland Coastal Bays. |
Figure 2: Small patches of
macroalgae were observed in the canal between Teal Circle and Ocean
Parkway.
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Figure 3: Enteromorpha spp. was the species
present in the canal off of Teal Court.
Figure 4: The canal between Drawbridge Road
and Portage Court showed more extensive algal distribution. |
More abundant and spatially extensive macroalgae was found in the canals further
inland, that are located a longer distance from the river proper. Figure 4
shows the extent of the distribution in the canal located adjacent to Portage Court and
Drawbridge Road. The algae appeared to be extensively distributed in the shallows along
the canal edges, with some small patches in the deeper mid-sections of the canals. |
| Though there were no quantitative measures recorded, qualitatively, these patches
appeared to be more dense than those found in the canals nearer to the St. Martin=s River (Figure 5). Figure 6
shows the dominant species that was present, the green algae know as Cladophora spp.
In scientific literature, this species has been identified as a possible shade tolerant
species (more photosyntheticaly active). This may give this species a competitive edge
over other species that require more light to photosynthesize. |
Figure 5: Cladophora sp.
extends from the bottom to the surface in the shallow areas of the canals |
Figure 6: The green algae
Cladophora spp.
was dominant in the back canals.
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Figure 7: A canal representative of those
found in Ocean City, north of Route 90. There was little macroalgae visible in these
canals. |
The canals in the Ocean City area (between 94th and 140th
streets) did not show any significant amounts of algae from the visual surveys that were
conducted (Figure 7). Slight amounts of macroalgae were observed at the
terminal end of the canal on 94th street, adjacent to the 94th
Street Park and in the canals between Old Landing Road and Old Wharf Drive. Figure
8 is representative of the abundance and distribution of the algae that was
present in these |
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areas. The species found was predominately Cladophora spp. |
Figure 8: Macroalgae present in the Ocean
City canals
was found in small localized areas.
There is no conclusive evidence that suggests that these
species are harmful to the aquatic resources. In fact, during the surveys,
biologist noted that there were many small fish and crabs inhabiting these algae beds.
This would suggest that these area are suitable refuge for juvenile aquatic species.
If you have any questions about Maryland's Coastal Bays,
please feel free to e-mail,
Cathy Wazniak, or call (410) 260-8638.
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