CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. — Efforts are underway to protect the waterways and manatees in Citrus County.
Friday morning, the next generation of eco-warriors in Crystal River took action as they learned about the importance of protecting our natural habitats.
Right off of Hunter Springs Park, 5th-grade students from Crystal River Primary School got their feet wet as they planted rockstar eelgrass.
Student Alice Ann-Marie Hays explained, "It's a type of aquatic plant that we plant out in the bay and it helps filter out gunk and algae from the water, and it's food for a lot of animals in the bay, like the manatees and other fish."
The planting was the culmination of months of work. The students, in partnership with the non-profit Save Crystal River, have spent the past several months growing the eelgrass in their classrooms.
Lisa Moore, President of Save Crystal River said, "They have been learning all year because they started planting the grass back in October, and all the way through they've watched it grow in their classrooms. They've each got an aquarium."
As the kids planted, they were eager to share what they had learned through the process.
"There's no substitute for hands-on education," Moore said. "When they get out there and actually do it and they and are involved and they experienced it, they remember."
Save Crystal River, in partnership with Sea & Shoreline Aquatic Restoration, has planted more than 100 acres of eelgrass in Crystal River to date, and says they have at least 60 more acres ahead of them.
As for the newly planted eelgrass, Sea & Shoreline leaders say they will now cover the eelgrass with cages for the next year, at which point it will be fully rooted and ready for the manatees to munch on.