Coastal · Benthic Survey
Opening-day benthic survey, no seagrass in the footprint
A Boca Grande dock needed an FDEP benthic survey before its modification permit could move. The survey window opens one day a year. We were in the water on day one, and the footprint came back clear.
- Location
- Gasparilla Island (Boca Grande), Charlotte County, FL
- Project
- Dock modification permit, waterfront residence
- Scope
- FDEP-compliant benthic survey and assessment report
- Blue Arc role
- Field benthic survey, bathymetry, protected-species habitat characterization
Field to report
2 days
Survey window met
Opening Day (June 1)
Seagrass present
None Identified
The challenge
The dock modification permit needed an FDEP-compliant benthic survey. State rules only allow that survey during the seagrass growing season, June 1 through September 30. There is no flexibility on the window. Miss the opening and the permit waits.
What Blue Arc did
We ran the field survey on June 1, opening day. We swam GPS-referenced transects along the dock footprint, out to the waterward limit of the dock or the -4' MLW contour, whichever was further. We logged bathymetry. We characterized the bottom and the protected-species habitat. Then we wrote the FDEP-compliant Benthic Survey Assessment Report.
The result
No seagrass in the survey limits. That removed one of the main regulatory constraints on the dock modification. We delivered the report within a week of being hired, and the permit moved forward without delay.
Why it mattered
On a barrier island, the survey window is a door that opens once a year. Miss it and the permit sits until next season. We were in the water on day one and had the report out in a week. That keeps a project on this year's calendar, not next year's.
Want this on your project?
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