Great Bay Estuary
Our Region's Estuaries are bustling places of activity
Explore the page below to learn more about the monitoring PREP coordinates and supports, projects PREP staff are leading or participating in, and recent news from our partners in and around the Great Bay Estuary.
Interested in learning about the ecology of the Great Bay Estuary? Check out the Our Region tab above.
Monitoring in the Great Bay Estuary
PREP and our partners collect over 1 million data points annually to better understand the health of our estuaries. Below is a map showing what we track in and around the Great Bay Estuary. Click on the map to see the monitoring sites for water quality, toxic pollutants, fish, oysters, beach closures, salt marshes, and eelgrass. All of this data is compiled into the State of Our Estuaries report where we report on the status and trends of indicators of ecological health. Check out the latest State of Our Estuaries report for information on specific indicators.
Steps Toward Habitat Recovery
Although we have lost over half of our eelgrass acreage in the Great Bay Estuary during the last few decades, PREP and our partners are working diligently to reverse that trend and help this important habitat recover through active restoration. In 2021, we initiated a pilot-scale restoration project transplanting and monitoring 8,000 eelgrass plants across five sites in the estuary to assess different planting locations, donor populations, and restoration techniques. The results of this effort will provide crucial data to inform larger-scale restoration activities in the future, leading to more abundant eelgrass and a more resilient Great Bay.
Partner Projects and Stories
Protecting the natural resources and water quality in our estuaries is no small feat! Fortunately, we work with partners in our mission to protect and enhance our estuaries of national significance.
Below are a few projects and stories from our partners and their work in the Great Bay Estuary.
