The declaration, first adopted in November 2023 after the discovery of Caulerpa prolifera in the Coronado Cays, has now been extended through 15 March 2026, enabling continued diver surveys and eradication of the alga.<\/p>\n
\u201cContinuing the local emergency declaration helps the port remain eligible for these critical funds,\u201d the port stated, noting that rapid deployment of resources is essential to prevent further spread.<\/p>\n
Eradication drive<\/strong><\/p>\n Backed by a new US$200,000 grant from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Port aims to limit the spread of the fast-growing alga, which is transported by tides, vessel traffic and fishing activity and poses risks to port biodiversity, marine infrastructure and water quality.<\/p>\n Classified among high-risk marine invasive species, Caulerpa spreads through fragmentation and can smother eelgrass and native seaweeds that underpin the bay\u2019s ecosystem.<\/p>\n San Diego Bay supports nearly 2,600 acres of eelgrass habitat, forming the base of the food chain for more than 70 fish species and over 100 endangered green sea turtles while helping capture carbon and improve water quality.<\/p>\n Since the initial September 2023 detection during a routine dive survey, follow-up inspections have identified about 11,300 square feet of growth across the bay.<\/p>\n Trained divers have sealed known patches with benthic barriers that block light, oxygen and circulation, a method proven in previous Southern California eradications.<\/p>\n The port is coordinating with the Southern California Caulerpa Action Team and has committed more than US$1,19m of its own money to surveys and removal.<\/p>\n Officials say sustained monitoring is critical to protect port biodiversity, curb port pollution risks linked to habitat degradation and to safeguard commercial waterfront operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Port of San Diego has renewed its emergency order and secured fresh funding to combat invasive Caulerpa algae which is threatening both bay habitats and port operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,8],"tags":[2466,2465,2252,1166],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-6090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americas-greenport","category-projects-initiatives-greenport","tag-marine-biodiversity","tag-marine-invasive-species","tag-pollution-control","tag-port-of-san-diego"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6092,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions\/6092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6090"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=6090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}