Group restoring Casco Bay’s eelgrass meadows one seed at a time

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 17, 2026

A combination of factors — including climate change and destructive invasive species like the green crab — have wiped out more than half of the Casco Bay eelgrass population in recent years. A team led by the Collaborative for Bioregional Action Learning and Transformation, or COBALT, along with students and staff at Bowdoin College’s Schiller Coastal Studies Center and other local partners, are working to understand and potentially combat the decline — by transplanting eelgrass seeds from healthy meadows to unhealthy meadows.