St. Pete conservation group wants to educate locals, tourists about health of Tampa Bay

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay Watch is working to restore the bay and hopes to create a healthy ecosystem by teaching others to be mindful of the water and what lives beneath the surface. 

Nestled inside the docks at the St. Pete Pier, visitors will find a special vessel located at Gate 23.

It's the Tampa Bay Watch catamaran Discovery and visitors will find that it's aptly named when they embark on a tour of the waterway the group watches over.

"We've been doing conservation (and) restoration projects in Tampa Bay for about 30 years." shared Leah Biery, director of Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center.

"Our Ecotours include a visit to a bird island, you get to learn general information about the bay, the animals that live in it, you get to see dolphins and manatees."

Tampa Bay Watch takes guests out on the water to learn more about the bay and how to protect it. 

Really, it's a way to expose the public to the things that Tampa Bay Watch does every day.

RELATED: St. Petersburg ‘floating classroom’ offers educational cruise around Tampa Bay

"We do a lot of different things," stated Biery. "One of our main projects is to restore the bay is our oyster reef ball program."

That program sounds simple enough, but the work is heavy and time-consuming.

Tampa Bay Watch has a touch tank at the Pier to give visitors an interactive experience. 

Biery added, "We build oyster reef balls which are structures that oysters can grow on. We distribute them throughout the bay. The oysters themselves filter the water, they're filter feeders."

READ: Toxic 'forever chemicals' found in Tampa Bay oysters, study finds

Filtering the bay with these natural filter feeders improves the water quality for other life in the bay waters.

"The Tampa Bay itself has a history of water quality issues. Since Tampa Bay Watch has been doing work to clean it up and restore it, there have been really measurable improvements," said Biery.

Tampa Bay Watch has an aquarium at the Pier with fish that are found in Tampa Bay. 

The end goal for Tampa Bay Watch according to Biery is, "A healthier ecosystem as a whole."

READ: St. Pete couple reviving Tampa Bay’s lost oyster industry

And the EcoTours contribute to that as they educate locals and tourists about the value of healthy bay waters and what lives beneath them.

"Having an awareness of what's in the bay helps us want to take care of it," said Biery, "There's a whole world underneath the bay. There's a lot that's worth taking care of."

LINK: Click here to learn more about the EcoTours with Tampa Bay Watch.