“The best filters in the world are seaweed and algae.” Jack Rudloe owns the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab, where a greenhouse has just been built in the hopes of using algae to filter the water here. “We want to grow this type of algae, so these are some of the red algae called Gracilaria that we find in the bay.”

Rudloe says the algae will help filter the water, making it better for marine life in the lab and in the bays. They received a $700,036,000 grant from the Department of Environmental Protection. Stan Brown of Salty Dog Construction built the greenhouse and says he’s proud to help this community landmark.

“My children came here when they were little and my grandchildren come here. It’s nice to be able to help people and know you’re helping the community.” The greenhouse took about 5 weeks to build. It has a retractable roof that gives the plants sunlight to grow. Rudloe is confident that this new addition will help improve water quality and support marine life.

“If we have more algae and more ways to eliminate it, maybe we can keep up with the insane growth that’s happening here.” They say the rest of the greenhouse should be finished in a year. After that, it will be open to the public to gather information.

Source: wtxl.com