Date |
Site |
Activity Details and Observations |
Photos |
24Apr09 |
Plum Island (South side) |
Scouting of sites identified by aerial photos / evaluation for potential restoration. |
n/a |
28Apr09 |
St. Thomas Pt |
Visited St Thomas Pt restoration site to evaluate expansion of planting areas. Although some erosion took place over the winter, overall coverage continues to increase. Seedlings were also observed (see third photo). |
|
27Apr09 |
Hallocks Bay |
First monitoring for seedlings from broadcast seeding that took place last fall (Nov 2008). Seeding took place at 2 locations, one in Gidds Bay (first northern branch just inside inlet) and the other within the main part of Hallocks near Browne Pt, along side of the channel. Seedlings looked great at both locations, although still small (~3-5cm). Those of Gidds bay appeared slightly larger, likely because of the highly organic sediment here. |
|
8May09 |
Plum Island (South side) |
Scouting of sites identified by aerial photos / evaluation for potential restoration. Placement of buoys at Ft Terry stations. |
n/a |
11May09 |
Plum Island (South side) |
Shoot collection at a natural eelgrass meadow. |
n/a |
12May09 |
Ram Island |
Monitored 2008 plantings. Looked great, although hard to find; algae covering rocks also hid plants. Flower shoots beginning to emerge. Planted 500 Plum Island shoots using rock plantings in a clearer area near 2008 plantings. |
|
1Jun09 |
Hallocks Bay |
Second monitoring visit for seedlings. At both locations, seedlings grew to 7-20 cm. Lots of drift algae was caught up in the seedling patches, but once gently brushed away, plants appeared very green and healthy. Densities ranged from 460 to 1000+ per square meter. |
|
2Jun09 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Located and delineated a 5-acre restoration area in the eastern flats for eelgrass seeding. Tested new seeding method prototypes. Scouted for new flower shoot collection areas. |
|
16Jun - 17Jun09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry) |
Collected >2000 Fisher's Island shoots. Planted at 4 stations, 500 shoots each, with rock plantings. Tested other anchoring methods with extra shoots. |
|
25Jun09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry) |
First monitoring visit since planting. Overall, plantings looked great; the majority of shoots were still there. There was sand movement, some erosion at the deeper stations and some accretion at the shallow station. |
|
25Jun09 |
Hallocks Bay |
Third monitoring visit of seedlings. Appeared to be some loss, likely due mostly to smothering by algae. The outer site (near Brown Pt) looked best, with the most shoots present and healthy. Seedlings in Gidds Bay had become more sparse and didn't appear to have put on any growth since last visit. Lots of drift algae was present and had to be moved in order to find seedlings at both locations. There was also evidence of disturbance, possibly clamming, at the Browne Pt site. |
|
1Jul- 2Jul09 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Collected eelgrass flowering shoots for experiment. Launched experimental tests of several methods of eelgrass seeding, with each treatment in a 4m X 4m area with 6 rows and 7 columns of treatments including controls. Experimental area is at the western edge of the 5 acre plot issued by the Southampton town trustees. |
|
6Jul09 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Collected 1000 eelgrass flowering shoots. Deployed 43 biodegradable seeding units, each with 2 bundles of 10 flower shoots. Bundles tied together with twine, and attached to a burlap bag filled with sand that served as an anchor. Burlap bags were assembled in days prior to this deployment. |
|
8Jul09 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Collected 1000 eelgrass flowering shoots. Deployed another 43 biodegradable seeding units. See above for details. |
|
10Jul09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry) |
Monitored plantings. Burial at shallow stations. Mid-station plantings showed signs of damage by sand-blasting and abrasion. Deepest station looked best. |
|
17July09 |
Duck Pond Pt |
Collected ~400 shoots from Mulford Pt. Planted at 5 stations, starting at 4ft depth, ending at 9 ft depth. Used rocks and burlap sand bags for anchors as well as free plantings. Strong current. |
|
24Jul09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry) |
Monitored plantings. Visibility very poor; stirred up due to storm. Lots of drift algae, especially around shallow station. Lots of sand movement again. Plants appear damaged. Difficult to completely assess damage. |
|
24July09 |
Little Ram Island |
Attempted to monitored plantings. Poor visability; unable to locate plantings. Drift algae and "flock". |
n/a |
29July09 |
Duck Pond Pt |
Monitored test plantings (planted July 17, 2009). Overall, plantings looked great. Very minimal loss, although showed some minor signs of wear-and-tear, probably from whipping in the current. Burlap bags and free-planting at station 4 looked best. |
|
29July09 |
St. Thomas Pt |
Monitored expansion of St. Thomas Pt restoration site. Found areas to potentially continue restoration to increase coverage further in cove and in deeper water. Eelgrass is thriving; continued expansion and occurence of numerous fish and invertebrates. |
|
30Jul09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry) |
Return trip to monitor plantings due to poor viz last visit. All stations suffered some loss, most noticeably the 2 mid-stations. This is likely where waves were breaking. Deep station showed some loss but overall looked best. Shallow station suffered the most loss but plants that remained looked healthy and had put on significant growth. |
|
30Jul09 |
Gardener's Island |
Scouted for existing eelgrass for sources of propagules and for new planting sites. |
n/a |
3Aug09 |
Hallocks Bay |
Fourth monitoring visit for seedlings. There was very poor visibility. Clamming activity occuring nearby. No seedlings were located. No photos taken. |
n/a |
4Aug09 |
Plum Island (other) |
Scouted for new planting sites along various Plum Island locations. Looking for ideal rock sizes,sediment, and depth among other parameters. Located good site west of Ft. Terry off of bluff. |
|
6Aug09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry & Mid-Bluff) |
Collected 600 plants from S. Dumpling, Fisher's Island. Planted at "Mid-Bluff" site west of Ft. Terry. Also monitored Ft. Terry site. Deep plantings remained the healthiest. Mid stations have several shoots left, but visibly tattered. Very few shoots left at shallow station. |
|
7Aug09 |
Gardener's Island |
Evaluated potential restoration sites along the east side of Cartwright Shoals. Located a suitable site with great visibility and flat, sandy bottom. |
|
10Aug09 |
Duck Pond Pt |
Monitored test plantings (planted July 17, 2009). Overall, plantings looked great. Lost some shoots on the side with the prevailing current. Shallow stations had some damage, possibly from crabs. Deep stations (4 and 5) looked the healthiest and had the least loss. Burlap bags looked especially great with minimal loss. Free-planting also looked great. |
|
11Aug09 |
Gardener's Island (Cartwright Shoals) |
Planted 10 burlap sand bags using S. Dumpling (Fisher's Island) shoots. Burlap bags were buried to minimize erosion. Also planted a free-planting of 100 shoots as a control. |
|
17Aug09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry & Mid-Bluff) |
Monitored plantings at both sites. Plantings continued to deminish and look stressed. |
n/a |
31Aug09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry & Mid-Bluff) |
Monitored plantings at both sites. Although deepest plantings looked best at Ft Terry, all stations showed signs of heavy physical stress including breakage and burial. This was even more evident at the mid-bluff site. |
|
31Aug09 |
Duck Pond Pt |
Second monitoring visit since planted (July 17, 2009). Burlap bags and free-planting looked best. Some loss occurred, as well as some damage, but many green, healthy shoots still remained. |
|
21Sep09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry & Mid-Bluff) |
Monitored plantings at both sites. Very few shoots still existed; mostly reminents of plantings remained. |
n/a |
30Sept09 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Retrieved blocks and buoys from seeding experiment in July. Scouted for seed recruitment but visibility was poor; the tide was extremely low with 1 ft waves. Flower shoots from biodegradable seeding units had decomposed and washed away as expected. |
n/a |
1Oct09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry) |
Collected 2000 shoots from S. Dumpling. Planted at Ft. Terry site at deep station. |
|
9Oct09 |
Plum Island South (Mid Bluff) |
Collected 1000 shoots from S. Dumpling. Planted at Mid-Bluff site. |
n/a |
20Oct09 |
St. Thomas Pt |
Collected 500 shoots from Mulford Point. Planted at St. Thomas Pt. in unvegetated areas continuing further inside the cove (South East) and in along side existing grass in deeper water. Also monitored eelgrass coverage. The meadow continues to expand and fill in with fine sand. |
n/a |
21Oct09 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Broadcast 1700 seeds into the designated "broadcast" locations for the seeding experiment (10 plots/170 seeds each). Another 25,000 seeds were broadcast into a triangular plot in the NE corner of our 5-acre plot. |
|
16Nov09 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry & Mid-Bluff) |
Monitored plantings at both sites. Unfortunately, another storm event took place, and the new plantings at both sites were severely impacted. Many were lost, and those that remained were buried and largely broken. |
|
20Nov09 |
Greenport Harbor (Jetty |
Scouting of Greenport Harbor (Jetty) site. |
n/a |
Date |
Site |
Activity Details and Observations |
Photos |
1Apr10 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Monitoring of 2009 seeding experiment, seeding plot, and biodegradable seeding plot. Very few seedlings observed. May be too early to tell, as most seedlings observed were still very small (2-4cm) and covered in a diatom film, so not visible until wiped clean. Will return for further examination. |
|
21Apr10 |
Plum Island South (Fort Terry & Mid-Bluff) |
Attempted to monitor on 14Apr10 but too many seals were present and close to boat. Only a small number of shoots remained, and they were buried beyond sheaths. Large sand waves indicated strong waves occured over winter. Both sites have been removed from potential site list. These sites appear to have too much exposure, and the area seems to be a sink for silt and drift algae for many days following a storm event, limiting light to the deeper stations that held up best to hydrodynamic forces. |
|
21May10 |
Duck Pond Pt |
The buoy marking the site was located, however ~2ft of sand had engulfed the block holding the buoy, indicating significant sand accretion to the area. No shoots were located. |
n/a |
21May10 |
St. Thomas Pt |
Visited St Thomas Pt restoration site to evaluate expansion of planting areas and observe new plantings from last fall. Meadow continues to expand and migrate into unvegetated areas. Flowering (reproductive) shoots were numerous. |
|
2Jun10 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Monitoring of 2009 seeding experiment, seeding plot, and biodegradable seeding plot. Very few seedlings observed. May be due to high current carrying seeds outside of designated areas. Planted test planting of new method using sand bags and "tortillas". 10 units, each with 12 shoots. |
|
4June10 |
Gardener's Island (Cartwright Shoals II) |
Collected 400 shoots from a natural Gardeners Island meadow. Planted at new location...Set up three different plots of 10 sand bags each; one with bags spaced 1.0 meters on center, one0.5 meters on center, and one withas tight of spacing as possible. This was to test the optimal spacing here to avoid erosion around bags due to high current. |
|
7Jun10 |
Greenport Harbor ( jetty) |
Collected 550 shoots from Long Beach, Orient. We used our newest method using "tortillas" and sand bags. Planted 44 "units" (12 shoots each) on the west side of the Greenport Jetty north of existing eelgrass patch. "Tortillas" are circular cut-outs of burlap in which holes are punched out and 12 eelgrass shoots are sewn into. Sand bags are placed on top as anchors. Bags were laid out in a grid pattern 1 meter on center. |
|
15Jun10 |
Gardener's Island (Cartwright Shoals II) |
Attempted to monitor plantings, but inclement weather prevented ability to visit site. |
n/a |
17-18Jun10 |
Greenport Harbor ( jetty) |
Deployed sand bags on 17June. Collected 1200 shoots from Long Beach, Orient. 100 sand bags were spaced and planted, continuing the grid pattern north (towards Stirling Harbor) and west (deeper). |
|
1July10 |
Gardener's Island (Cartwright Shoals II) |
Monitored sandbag plantings. Deployed temperature logger in Tobaccolot Bay. |
|
7Jul10 |
St. Thomas Pt |
Visited St Thomas Pt restoration sites to evaluate expansion of planting areas. Visibility was poor, put plants looked healthy. |
n/a |
28July10 |
Nickols Pt (Shelter Island) |
Collected 300 shoots from Cedar Pt Preserve (East Hampton), and did test plantings at Nickols Pt, Shelter Island. We tested our newest method using "tortillas" and sand bags, and planted at three depths, the shallowest being near where the natural eelgrass exists at this site. 7 units (12 shoots per unit) were planted at each depth in a grid pattern, spaced 1m apart. |
n/a |
30July10 |
Greenport Harbor ( jetty) |
Monitored plantings. Some loss had occurred, mostly due to what appeared to be bioturbation, but remaining shoots looked very healthy. Lots of epiphyte growth, typical for this time of year. Lots of bay scallop spat were observed on the plantings. |
|
30Aug10 |
Nickols Pt (Shelter Island) |
First monitoring visit since planted. Unfortunately plantings did not look good, only a few shoots remained, and those were damaged/broken. Appears to be due to a combination of sand blasting and bioturbation. Plants remaining were bright green, indicating all stations likely recieved plenty of light. Need to re-visit site, look for deeper or more protected area. |
|
1Sept10 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Monitoring of test plantings. Plantings looked great; lots of growth. Some shoots were missing, but most remaining shoots had 3-6 laterals making up for any loss. Drift algae was covering the plantings, but once removed, healthy green shoots were below. Future plantings should remain widely spaced here to avoid mats of drift algae from getting caught. |
|
15Nov10 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Shoot collection (600 shoots) for planting later in week. |
n/a |
18Nov10 |
Shinnecock Bay (Eastern Flats) |
Planted out 50 tortillas (10 shoots per unit) without sand bags in the SE corner of the experimental plot. a hole was excavated, tortilla placed within, and sand was filled in 2-3 cm over-top. Plantings were placed ~6ft apart. |
n/a |