Oyster Restoration in the Bronx

Today I got to start off my morning by donning hip-high waders and walking waist-deep into the Soundview Bay. The early morning sun cast ripples of light all across the water. Behind me is the shoreline and the wooded patches of Soundview Park. 

Katie and I in our fashionable hip-waders.

This scene is everything but rural; ahead of me the skyscrapers and buildings of Manhattan are reflected in the calm waters. To the right, trucks move in and out of warehouses, and overhead planes cross the sky from nearby LaGuardia Airport. In spite of all these signs of development, this spot is inherently beautiful. Since I moved to New York City I have found that my old definition of “beautiful” is constantly being challenged and expanded. Prior to my move, “beautiful” meant natural and undisturbed; yet on my daily runs through Central Park I am constantly overwhelmed by the beauty of man’s creations mixing with the natural world. Here at Soundview, the bay is anything but natural and undisturbed, but it still possesses a raw, natural beauty.

Can you imagine getting to start your day out with this view?

While I admire the scenery, Katie, another seasonal research assistant, lowers the water probe into the water. Oysters, once abundant in New York and throughout the Mid-Atlantic have largely been depleted by over-harvesting and habitat depletion. As part of this project Katie has been helping to build reefs and seed them with “spat”. This is in hopes that native oysters will also attach to these reefs as well. Katie explains to me that recruitment is one of the more threatening issues that oyster populations in this region face. When an oyster attaches to a reef they attach on top of each other and over time this builds up the reef. 

As we wade through the muck Katie also points out a spider crab and moon snail. It is amazing to think that amidst the chaos and development of Soundview there is a whole ecosystem of organisms that we can’t even see under the water! With our work at Soundview finished, Katie and I haul our waders back to the truck and head back to the office.  

Soundview wildlife, spider crab (top) and moon snail (bottom). Photos from: http://naturalsciences.org/microsites/education/treks/coastal/pages/Spider-Crab.htm and ://www.seashells.org/sharkeye.htm