Suffolk County Eelgrass Restoration Project

Project Field Notes and Observations
(click thumbnails to view larger images; n/a = not available)

2009
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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.

Gidds Bay seedlingsBrown Pt seedlingsBrown Pt seedlings

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.
diver conducting rock plantings 2008 plantingsnew 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.
scouting new seeding areanew seeding prototypenew potential flower collection site
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.

shallow plantingmiddle station burlap bag plantingfree-planting

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.

new plantings at mid-bluff sitedeep station at Ft Terrymid station at Ft Terry

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.
Cartwright shoals potential site
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.

shallow station duck pond ptstation 4 duck pond ptfree planting duck pond pt

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.

Ft Terry- deep plantingFt Terry - mid station plantingMid-Bluff site planting

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.

broadcast seeding in experimental plotbroadcast seeding in experimental plotbroken down burlap anchor from biodegradable seeding unit

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.

Ft. Terry plantingFt. Terry plantingFt. Terry planting

20Nov09
Greenport Harbor (Jetty
Scouting of Greenport Harbor (Jetty) site.
n/a

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