Sarasota Bay Estuary Program

The Sarasota Bay Estuary Program is a cooperative partnership among communities, researchers, and governments that strives to improve the health of Sarasota Bay and enhance the area's natural resources for public benefit.

Promotional poster for the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program’s “Sarasota Baysball” campaign, part of National Estuaries Week. The design mimics a baseball theme and invites people to celebrate local waterways and the teams protecting them. The poster features five trading card-style graphics highlighting different annual themes, with the 2025 card titled “Megafauna MVPs” and showcasing marine animals like a pelican, dolphin, sea turtle, and manatee. The background resembles a baseball stadium, with a large logo of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program in the top right corner.

Celebrating National Estuaries Week

From September 20–27, organizations across the country, including SBEP, will be celebrating their local waterways. To honor our own and the dedicated groups working together to hit home runs in water quality, habitat restoration, and education, we're shining a spotlight on some of the standout “Sarasota Baysball” players.

A pond before and after the surrounding flowering plants have grown in

GT Bray Has Come A Long Way!

The Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, Manatee County, the City of Bradenton, and the US Environmental Protection Agency hosted a ribbon-cutting event on September 19, 2024 to celebrate the completion of two restoration projects at GT Bray Park. A year later, both sites are flourishing thanks to effective maintenance plans and robust volunteer efforts.

Featured News & Notes

Palma Sola Bay At Sunset

Director’s Note: City of Bradenton’s efforts to address wastewater issues

As you know, the recovery of Sarasota Bay’s water quality over the last few years didn’t come about by chance alone.  Two years ago, we informed the board about FDEP’s findings that they were going to formally “de-list” the open waters of Sarasota Bay from their prior determination of being out of compliance with Numeric Nutrient…

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People recreating along the coastal shoreline

Director’s Note: Potential sources of bacteria along Palma Sola Bay

If you’ve ever mowed your lawn in Florida, you know that most people don’t use a bag on the back side of their mower to “catch” grass clippings.  Instead, most of us use mulching mowers.  In the summer, I would mow my lawn every weekend, and by the time Saturday rolled around, the grass clippings…

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Aerial photo of people riding horses in the bay

Director’s Note: Bacteria Source Identification Efforts

Almost two years ago, the SBEP was communicating with local stakeholders to try and explain the different bacteria classes and standards that exist for our waters – Director’s Note: Bacteria and impairment status updates – Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. The state of Florida uses three main “fecal indicator bacteria” to determine compliance with standards meant…

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A woman on a kayak

2025 Eyes on Seagrass Wraps Up

The Eyes on Seagrass Program is a bi-annual citizen science event where participants travel to various locations throughout Sarasota Bay to collect information on macroalgae and seagrass coverage. Results are then integrated into the Sarasota Bay Ecosystem Health Report Card. This year, 42 dedicated volunteers contributed a total of 168 hours to the program. Thank…

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Lbk Seawall Square

Longboat Key Bayfront Park Living Seawall

The Bayfront Park seawall retrofit, funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, features Living Seawall panels that reintroduce aquatic habitat to hundreds of feet of shoreline on Longboat Key. While not as biodiverse as natural shorelines, these panels illustrate one of the many ways we can optimize manmade infrastructure to support marine life.  What…

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Seagrass from underwater

Director’s Note: What’s the big deal with seagrass coverage, anyway?

Hopefully, you’re aware of our recent good news on the health of the bay. If not, it’s pretty basic, and it involved a couple of steps: Concerns over the obvious deterioration in the health of the bay manifested themselves in a series of public meetings, culminating in a packed auditorium at Riverview High School in…

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Our Programs

We work with our partners to improve the science of bay management, restore wildlife habitats, and increase community engagement in bay restoration efforts.

Water Quality
Habitat Restoration
Community Engagement