Once in a Lifetime Bloom

My first job after graduating with my environmental science degree was with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, working on seagrass restoration in the Florida Panhandle. It was hands-on, rewarding work—bringing back the underwater meadows that support entire ecosystems.

In the lab, I micropropagated seagrass, carefully growing new shoots to transplant into restoration areas. Out in the field, I relocated seagrass from areas where people had been granted permission to build docks. Before they drove pilings into the seabed, I would retrieve the seagrass from each marked location and transplant it to areas in need of regrowth. It was a delicate balance—allowing development while ensuring the environment didn’t suffer unnecessary loss.

One day, while exploring a seagrass bed near Johnson’s Beach, I stumbled upon something I never expected to see—a vast bed of Thalassia testudinum (turtle grass) in full bloom. In the Panhandle, the warm season is short, making seagrass flowering incredibly rare. But here it was—white flowers at the base of each plant stretching for yards. In all my years, I had never seen a seagrass bloom before, and I haven’t seen one since.

That day, my young son was with me. I had taught him to swim as a baby, long before he could walk, so he was comfortable in the water. Maybe he was too young to remember, but I should ask him—because even if he doesn’t recall, I’ll never forget.