What has got these kids so excited? On July 7th, 2015, I traveled to Hadley Point on Mount Desert Island to volunteer with Anna Ferrell. Anna is a main conservation core environmental steward and an AmeriCorps member. When I got there, I found all these kids. Apparently, what has them excited is Zoster Marina, eel grass. This project is the brainchild of Anna's host site supervisor, Dr. Jane Disney, founder of the Community Environmental Health Lab at MDI Biological Laboratories. According to Dr. Disney, eel grass is a flowering plant that grows in marine intertidal zones. The areas of Hadley Point in Frenchman Bay were once covered with underwater meadows of eel grass that provided habitat for numerous marine organisms and nurseries for various species of fish, as well as larval muscles, lobsters, and crabs. Eul grass can also stabilize underwater sediments and sequester carbon through photosynthesis. For years, eel grass populations have been on the decline in upper Frenchman Bay. The decline has been attributed to the intensive muscle dragging that used to happen here. However, work with muscle harvesters has resulted in some areas of Frenchman Bay being designated no dragging zones for eel grass restoration. Despite these efforts, in 2012, the upper Frenchman Bay saw the complete collapse of its eel grass population. This was attributed to the record high water temperatures of that year, as well as an explosion in the population of invasive green crabs. Dr. Disney's transplanting method involves placing samples of live eel grass on biodegradable mats and clay discs. These are placed on marked tracks in the water where Dr. Disney and her volunteers can return to monitor the eel grass as survival. Dr. Disney has seen some success tour transplanting methods. In 2014, eel grass seedlings sprouted and restored areas despite the complete lack of eel grass the year before. Her methods are simple, elegant, and have apparently includes these teenagers. These bright-eyed volunteers are here from Robbins' Nest Summer Camp in Sullivan, Maine. The founder of the camp, Robin Barard, brought her campers out to join us. Robbins' camp brings kids from urban settings into the outdoors to foster interest in ecology and stewardship. For many of her campers, Robbins' Nest is a first opportunity to work and play in natural settings. Several of her former campers have enrolled in college-level environmental studies programs after their time here. Maybe someday, upper Frenchman Bay will be home to restored eel grass meadows thanks to the efforts of Dr. Jane Disney and her volunteers. In the meantime, Dr. Disney has the whole Maine Conservation Corps doing the eel grass dance.