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 |