Contact: Jenni Brockman
Telephone: 804-443-3357
Fax: 413-639-3999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students Transplant 6,500 Oysters to Great Wicomico Reef
Twenty St. Margaret's School and Aylett Country Day School students worked with staff members of The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) on Tuesday, May 2 to learn more about oysters and their importance to restoration efforts in the Bay. The two groups, each equipped with a cooler full of oysters grown in their classrooms, met in Reedville where they traveled onboard The Chesapeake, a CBF-owned 42-foot work boat, to a nearby reef located on the Great Wicomico River. Here the students transplanted over 6,5000 juvenile oysters into the ecosystem.
Aboard Chesapeake Bay Foundation education vessel, The Chesapeake, Great Wicomico River, Reedville, Va. - Twenty St. Margaret's and Aylett Country Day School students transplanted over 6,5000 juvenile oysters onto a CBF-built sanctuary reef located in the Great Wicomico.
For three decades CBF's education program has inspired students, teachers, and other citizens to become life-long stewards of the Chesapeake Bay. Today CBF continues to build upon its past success by conducting training and taking more than 35,000 students and teachers on award-winning educational field trips each year. St. Margaret's School has been an active participant in the CBF program for a number of years. At SMS this fall, environmental science and advanced biology students raised "seed" oysters in floats stored at Garrett's Marina in Bowler's Wharf. Since baby oysters called "spat" grow rapidly, typically doubling in size in seven months, students in each academic class are able to harvest a crop of "seed" oysters and transfer them to a suitable habitat in their natural environment.
"This project has not only helped our students learn how important oysters are to Bay ecology, but also enables each girl to realize that she plays a vital role - as an individual - in restoring the Chesapeake Bay," says SMS biology teacher, Andrea Robinson. "We are confident that our efforts raising the "spat" provide them [oysters] a much better chance to survive on the reef."
SMS students attending the field trip were: Environmental Science - Laura Caton of Earleysville, Catherine Farland of Millwood, Alston Moore of Jacksonville, NC, and Jacky Sydnor of Tappahannock; Advanced Biology - Katie Farmer of Millers Tavern, Ginny Moncure of Tappahannock, Truc Pham of Washington, D.C., Cameron Sgroi of Tappahannock, and Carver Weakley of Montross. The group was chaperoned by SMS environmental science teacher Milly Moncure of Tappahannock.
St. Margaret's School seniors Cameron Sgroi (l.) and Katie Farmer sit with Aylett Country Day School seventh grader Mathew Parker on the return trip from the osyter reef. Mathew's older sister, Mary Burke, is a sophomore at St. Margaret's.
Aylett Country Day School teachers Byrd Waring (fourth grade, math/science) and Judy Allen (seventh grade, science) served as chaperones for Mrs. Allen's life science class. ACDS students attending the field trip were: Cole Bull, Ben Eberline, Dresden Glover, Neillee and Spencer Katona, Nat Nelson, Yuichi Otsuka, Mathew Parker, Chris Smith, Talbott Smith, and Palmer Ware.
CBF staff in attendance were: Chesapeake Captain, Jackie "Captain Jack" McCrady; Oyster Restoration Project Manager, Tommy Leggitt; John Paige Williams, author of 2 books on the Chesapeake Bay; and educator, Greg Meuller. Mr. Williams' daughter, Kelly, is a 1992 graduate of St. Margaret's School.
With assistance from The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), CBF built the restoration reef in the Greater Wicomico River. The man-made reef was strategically positioned in an area of the river where a natural reef previously existed. "We didn't just plop a reef in the middle of the River and then sit and hope oysters would grow there," explained Tommy Leggett, CBF Oyster Restoration Project Manager. "Using VIMS provided data and navigational maps, we looked to see where reefs naturally sat millions of years ago. We then attempted to mimic those reefs and build our own. Oyster reefs grow where conditions are favorable, and we try to look for that."
In fact, CBF encouraged the students to find out whether or not the habitat conditions were favorable for oysters, rather than to merely accept being told that this was the case. CBF educator, Greg Mueller, taught the students how to conduct water quality tests in order to determine the turbidity (clarity), dissolved oxygen, nutrient content, PH and temperature levels at the reef location. Students were divided into groups and tasked to formulate their own conclusions about the suitability of the water for oyster habitat. The results proved that water conditions were overwhelmingly favorable to support the growth of oysters and other aquatic life.
Jacky Sydnor (l.) of Tappahannock and Catherine Farland of Millwood use a Sechi disk to test for water turbidity on Tuesday, May 2, in the Great Wicomico River.
The cornerstone of the CBF resource replenishment program is the restoration of the growth and population of underwater grasses and oysters within the bay and its watershed to past levels. CBF has established man-made sanctuary reefs in numerous locations in rivers throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed - which includes portions of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania. Replenishing the oyster population is important from a water quality perspective because oysters "filter" the water and remove impurities. Oyster restoration is one component of a larger multi-faceted CBF resource restoration effort called "Save the Bay." CBF is also actively engaged in restoring essential bay habitat to support the growth of aquatic grasses. It is important to note, however, that current levels of both oysters and aquatic grasses in the Bay today are far below previous levels as a result of damage caused by pollution, riparian development, and overharvesting.
Education is a principal part of the CBF resource protection and restoration effort. Citizens are taught to respect the natural environment. By teaching individuals to act responsibly and work cooperatively in their communities to restore habitat, educate others, and hold business and government accountable, CBF is able to produce demonstrable evidence of the success of its efforts to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay. The group's Bay education program operates year-round taking school groups on field trips aboard two CBF vessels - The Baywatcher and The Chesapeake. School-age children are taught about the impact that human actions have on both the land and water.
Additionally, CBF invites elected officials and other decision-makers into the field to help them gain a perspective relative to the environmental issues that they face in their work. To ensure that the CBF education program is well-rounded and reaches everyone residing within the watershed, not just those in rural communities, staff members painstakingly develop training materials and conduct workshops that focus on urban environmental issues and restoration efforts.
Truc Pham (l.) and Alston Moore (r.) watch as Laura Caton conducts a water quality test for the PH of the water near the CBF-built sanctuary reef in the Great Wicomico River.
"It doesn't take much to appreciate nature, and this area [Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula] affords us many opportunities to go out and explore," says SMS environmental science instructor Mrs. Moncure. "Walking through marshes, or paddling through creeks around the Rappahannock or Great Wicomoco - you're bound to learn something."
After all anyone can participate in CBF's educational programs. After taking part in these programs, today's generation will have a better understanding of the damage that has been incurred by the Bay and what needs to be done to reverse that damage. The CBF Education Program carries this simple motto:
To care for the environment, you must love it.
To love it, you must know it.
To know it, you must experience it.
If CBF's restoration efforts are successful, a generation from now, these St. Margaret's and Aylett students will recall their day on the deck of The Chesapeake, tossing their oysters onto the reef, and will be thankful that they were guided to experience nature and to help make a difference.
