{"id":1976,"date":"2016-05-24T02:01:52","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T06:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/?p=1976"},"modified":"2016-05-24T02:01:52","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T06:01:52","slug":"clam-nurseries-interpretive-program-coming-to-island-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/2016\/05\/clam-nurseries-interpretive-program-coming-to-island-this-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Clam Nurseries, Interpretive Program Coming to Island This Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Volunteers<\/a>

Volunteers work at an existing upweller site. (Photo: ReClam the Bay)<\/p><\/div>\n

Shellfish serve as Barnegat Bay’s natural housekeepers, filtering water as they grow, well, “happy as a clam,” as the saying goes.<\/p>\n

Soon, Island Beach State Park and Brick’s Traders Cove Marina will become home to thousands of baby clams waiting to be released into the wild, all while providing residents and visitors with a hands-on education about the health of the waterway and the role these important creatures play in the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

ReClam the Bay, a nonprofit group which has deposited millions of clams into the bay as part of a years-long effort\u00a0to restore the estuary’s shellfish population, will soon launch an interpretive center and upweller at Traders Cove, the Brick Township municipal marina at the foot of the Mantoloking Bridge,\u00a0to both grow clams and serve as an educational tool. Another upweller will be launched at Island Beach State Park\u00a0at the site of the old Ship’s Wheel Marina.<\/p>\n

An upweller, group organizers say, is a device which keeps clam larvae and baby clams safe from predators while allowing them to have a supply of clean, salt water. Several upwellers are maintained by the group from Long Beach Island northward, and the two new sites\u00a0will play a central role in expanding ReClam the Bay’s mission to the northern barrier island.<\/p>\n

In addition to baby clams, the traders Cove nursery will have baby oyster and baby bay scallops.\u00a0The nursery will be available to the public all times that Traders Cove is open, and\u00a0ReClam The Bay Shellfish Gardeners will be available at the site on Wednesdays at 10 a.m.\u00a0each week starting mid-June until October, when the baby clams will be returned to the bay.\u00a0 <\/span>Visitors will be able to hold the clams, and learn from the members of ReClam The Bay why these tiny animals are so important to the bay’s survival.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ground has been broken on the Brick\u00a0site, with work having begun Monday with volunteers starting to set up the upweller and educational exhibit. The project will be officially opened July 5 with a public ceremony, said volunteer organizer Charles Brandt, who added the two\u00a0sites will provide a place where people can learn about shellfish and even volunteer to help maintain the upwellers.<\/p>\n

\"ReClam<\/a>

ReClam the Bay volunteers break ground at Traders Cove Marina in Brick. (Photo: ReClam the Bay)<\/p><\/div>\n

“Sixty\u00a0gallons of bay water will be pumped into the nursery tank every minute and with it will come the phytoplankton that the clams and oysters will feed upon as they grow rapidly during the summer months,” said Brandt.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Island Beach State Park site will represent the group’s push to the northern half of the bay, which was delayed by the impact of Superstorm Sandy.<\/p>\n

“We had, for several years, a nursery at the IBSP location, but it was destroyed during Sandy, and we finally have the infrastructure that will allow us to return,” said Brandt.<\/p>\n

To see working upwellers, handle clams and learn about shellfish this summer:<\/strong><\/p>\n