Today only approximately 12% of the historical acreage of underwater grasses remain in the Bay.Grasses are good for the Bay! They provide important habitat for juvenile fish and crabs, filter polluted runoff from land, release oxygen into Bay waters, and supply food for waterflow and other aquatic species. In the weeks prior to NOAA Restoration Day in Virginia, volunteers grew trays of wild celery in their offices and classrooms for planting at VCU's Rice Center.

NOAA's Demetria Thomas proudly displays a tray of underwater grass she grew in her office in Norfolk, Virginia before Restoration Day.	NOAA's George Mattingly did not let a little mud stop him from planting underwater grass he grew in his NOAA Fisheries office in Hampton, Virginia.
NOAA's Tammy Graff wades through the mud in the James River to plant the underwater grass she grew in her office in Chesapeake, Virginia.	NOAA employees and students from I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Virginia, plant wild celery they grew in their offices and classrooms prior to planting them in the James River.