NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Voluteers are needed and you and your family can have some fun while being part of a oyster reef restoration project.
NSBNews.net photos by Jeanette DiCara / Richard Sturge, Skipper of Sea Scout Ship 495 and other volunteer scouts work on oyster conseervation project with the Marine Discovery Center of New Smyrna Beach.
The New Smyrna Beach Marine Discovery Center is working on an oyster conservation project that is funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also known as NOAA, and The Nature Conservancy, which is a worldwide non-profit organization based in Virginia.
On Saturday Sept. 24, I volunteered along with about 25 other people including some of the members of local Sea Scout Ship 495. We offered two hours to make oyster mats.
Here are close-up shots of the work that goes into preparing this oyster restoration project.
First, we scooped shells from a large pile into buckets, where they were poured down a tube into mesh bags. Work gloves are recommended for this part of the task.
These bags were carried to the workshop to have holes drilled in them. The sun was strong and temperatures were in the low nineties by late morning, so bringing chilled water bottles was a good idea.
Bug spray will brought relief as we sat in the shade and assembled the mats.
These mats are lap-sized meshes with empty half shells tied to them. They are then placed in the nearby estuary to conserve the life of young oysters floating in the water.
This project is part of a large group effort with the goal of putting 80 oyster reefs in the lagoon at the Canaveral National Seashore. For this outdoor project, volunteers help conserve the life of oyster larvae in the Indian River Lagoon.
This project is part of a large group effort with the goal of putting 80 oyster reefs in the lagoon at the Canaveral National Seashore. For this outdoor project, volunteers help conserve the life of oyster larvae in the Indian River Lagoon.
Young oysters will cling to hard surfaces and will have a better chance of survival if they attach to the oyster shells.
These shells protect oysters and some other small animals that are vital to these waters from dangers such as predators, and from being shaken loose by boat wakes. These new reefs will be protected from harvesting.
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Angela DiCara, 16, of Edgewater and a Sea Scout, helps with the oyster resytoration project.
Oysters are an important part of the estuary waters because they are natural purifiers, and once full grown, will provide food for other animals. Scientists believe these reefs will also preserve shorelines of the lagoon.
Oysters are an important part of the estuary waters because they are natural purifiers, and once full grown, will provide food for other animals. Scientists believe these reefs will also preserve shorelines of the lagoon.
Marine Discovery Center officials are looking for more people to volunteer, and it can be a fun learning experience for the young ones in the family, too.
Oysters are an important part of the estuary waters because they are natural purifiers, and once full grown, will provide food for other animals. Scientists believe these reefs will also preserve shorelines of the lagoon.
If you go, meet at the original small building on the right as you head east across the causeway. For futher information, please contact the Marine Discovery Center at 386-428-4828, address: 162 North Causeway, New Smyrna Beach and on the web at www.marinediscoverycenter.org, see also: http://nbbd.com/godo/cns/Brochures/oyster_restoration.pdf http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/florida/volunteer/oyster-reef-restoration-project.xml
P.S.: Henry, I don't have a lot of other people because they were seemingly all planted there by three videographers from the News-Journal for a documentary due Oct. 4. They were telling people where to stand and walk and how to pose. I asked who was videotaping this event, a University? "No," they told me, they were from the News-Journal. I asked, "What is that, a newspaper?" My daugher hit me in the arm and we quietly had a good laugh on them. We already felt like outsiders from the group so I didn't mind the rub about newspapers.
Jeanette
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