Check Out My Oyster Restoration Station!

So about 2 months ago I partnered with The Billion Oyster Project (http://billionoysterproject.org/) to build a restoration station that keeps oyster alive and safe. Then we collect data on how well our oysters are growing and reproducing so that the BOP can start to plan where they will start seeding large scale oyster reefs in the Hudson.

This whole endeavor is really exciting because for the first time in 100 years the Hudson River is clean enough to actually support oyster life. This is a new thing! Plus oysters filter gallons and gallons of water a day, so as we seed more oysters we start to clean the river in an exponential way.

As the founder of the Hoboken chapter of The Climate Mobilization (http://www.theclimatemobilization.org/), I wanted to find other groups to support, and other projects to build coalitions with. A lot of people on some level know that our planet is in danger, and there are thousands of groups dedicated to fighting the evils of greed/pollution, but so many of them just ask for your email and some donations. I wanted to make sure that our chapter was on the front lines doing actual work in our community that benefits us today (alongside tackling the harder issues of getting legislation through that will protect our future).

Anyway let me give you a mini tour of our ORS!

There was a lot more sediment on the cage after 1 month in the water than I expected, I may need to have it rest higher in the water...

Found an Isopod! (Photo below) As time goes on we will be logging more and more organisms that have taken up residence within the cage. It has 2 levels, one for the oysters, and one for the mobile organisms like this one.

A big part of the project comes down to collecting data. How many of our oysters have survived, have they grown?

These guys are doing really well. They were born in 2015 and have grown a lot, we're lucky to have some fully grown oysters in our station, they'll help seed more oysters all around us.

We also collect data on the water temperature, dissolved oxygen levels, salinity, and Ph to help the BOP have a better understanding of the Hudson water quality.

We've got 50 oysters alive currently, here's to hoping that when we check in next month they're all alive and have grown!