Welcome Mats For Oysters

These past weeks, I have attended class “on” The Indian River Lagoon.

Twisting and winding through mangrove islets, its brackish waters extend and run parallel with this area of Atlantic shoreline for 156 miles. It houses some of the most  unique and diverse biological ecosystems that merged together with Mosquito and Banana Lagoons forms one of the largest estuaries in North America.

Over the last 100 years, human impact has put great stress on this delicate environment.

A particular area of concern has been the degradation of the Lagoon’s water quality.

Thankfully, conservation efforts and projects aimed at wetland restoration, sea grass mapping, as well as capturing storm water sediment have led the way in the saving of this extraordinarily vital Floridian habitat.

Another such effort to preserve these nutrient rich waters that continues to support thousands of species of plants, fish, shell fish, birds, as well as hundreds of dolphins and manatees is Oyster Reef Restoration.

For thousands of years the Oyster has filtered and purified these waters, battling pollution. Fortresses built of layers upon layers of shell deposit create a reef system that helps to bolster and stabilize the Lagoon’s coastline against erosive boat traffic and commercial over harvest.

The Marine Discovery Center partners with many proactive conservation organizations in area counties including The Nature Conservancy

Using eco friendly mesh materials, Oyster shells are tied to “mats” that are anchored down in the shallow estuary waters. In about a year’s time, floating Oyster larvae that is “welcomed” home- forms sturdy foundations for new reefs.