Green macroalga caulerpa has replaced seagrass in Florida's Indian River Lagoon

The Indian River Lagoon was considered one of the last "unpolluted coastal lagoons" in Florida in the 1970s. Fast forward to today and most of the 156-mile lagoon is now considered impaired because of external sources of nutrients, including human waste, fertilizers, stormwater runoff, agriculture, rainfall, and sub-marine groundwater discharge.