03/31/2025
Tremendous day - We were building a protective reef off a beach we restored shortly after Hurricane Sandy hit. These beaches are favored by horseshoe crabs and migrating shorebirds - which are intertwined because the crabs will lay millions of tiny eggs on beaches such as this in the next 2-3 months, which coincides with the arrival of shorebirds needing to refuel while heading for arctic nesting grounds. Some of those birds travel thousands of miles from South America and have lost more than half their body weight by the time they arrive. Crab eggs are a perfect food to help them bulk back up before they start the final leg of their journey.
However, the crabs need sand on the beach in order to lay eggs. Sandy stripped the sand off many of the bayshore beaches, so we came in to replace the sand. Then we started building reefs to help keep it in place.
More than a century ago, most of these beaches were naturally protected by oyster reefs. But over-harvesting, pollution and disease virtually wiped out the bay's oyster population by the early part of the 20th century. Along with the loss of oyster commerce, which had a devastating effect on local economies, oysters also helped clean water (a single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day).
So, in addition to providing some protection for the beaches, these reefs also aim to re-establish some of the wildlife habitat that was provided by oyster reefs. Habitat that is used by also sorts of wildlife including juvenile fish and all sorts of aquatic invertebrates.
We are also working to re-establish natural oyster populations in the Delaware Bay and other NJ estuaries, which would help clean the water.
You can learn more about our conservation work on our website: https://www.littoralsociety.org/conservation.html
