CHILDREN VISIT IBSP UPWELLER

On Monday June 28, the IBSP upweller was visited by a group of enthusiastic and interested children. The group, led by teachers Patti Perrini and Kate Caffee, were part of the Ocean County Parks and Recreation Department’s Cattus Island Park sponsored “Days on the Bay” summer camp. The children were shown how the upweller works as a nursery for baby clams and oysters. They were shown the variety of shellfish in the upwellers and how they grow from the tiny seed clams to those that were one year old and older. Volunteers explained the value of shellfish to the ecology of the Bay and how the children could do their part to help keep the Bay healthy.

On Saturday, June 12th, ReClam The Bay participated in the first LBI Fest on Long Beach Island. Fourteen RCTB volunteers supported the event at our education booth and the RCTB Raw Bar in the food tent.

In a thank you to Mayor Mancini, Councilman Bill Knarre of Long Beach Township and George Gahles President of the LBI Business Alliance: Rick said:

"As president of ReClam The Bay I would like to thank you for your generous financial contribution resulting from the proceeds of the first ever LBIFest. People always want to know where the money from these events goes and I’m happy to say that over $2,000 of it is going to improve the bay that we all love so much.

RCTB graciously accepts this but feels that it is really a contribution to the bay and RCTB is just a way to use the money in an effective manner. This will enable RCTB to buy thousands of clam and oyster seed, maintain the 5 shellfish nurseries on LBI and take summer environmental education to thousands of visitors. It is about perfect; business and municipal leaders come together, visitors and residents learn what to do, and the bay improves.

I might also add that conceiving, planning and producing such an event demonstrates a kind of dedication that is truly admirable. The vision of the event might have come from a few but the production of the event was the work of many; especially Stacey Fuessinger of Just Bead It and Don Brown of the Greenhouse Café (both are sponsors of Giant Clams) as well as the many, many others who handled the details.

Thank you from the bottom……of the Bay!"

Sedge Island Field Day

After a hearty buffet breakfast at the Beachfront in Waretown and an informative talk by two local clammers, about one dozen volunteers were transported to Sedge Island by boat. They spend the rest of the day acquainting themselves with the facilities and working on necessary chores that are needed to maintain our shellfish grow out. The following photos show some of us busily occupied with various activities.

REPAIRING NETS

SORTING OYSTERS

CLEANING THE TAYLOR FLOATS

Tiny Shrimp Found in Upweller

Volunteer Vic Palmieri retrieved specimens of tiny animals (grass shrimp?) from the IBSP upweller on Monday June 7. He e-mailed me these pics and how he was able to take them with his microscope. I have copied part of his e-mail below and thought I would share these interesting photos with you.

Those small shrimp like specimens I collected from the IBSP upweller were alive and well in the bottle when I got home. I did have a problem getting good images in the microscope because in microscope scale these little animals are thick. Also, they were thicker than the depth of the well slide so once the cover slip was placed on top of the water on the slide a water bubble formed. The bright edges you see are the edges of the bubble.

Visually or with the electronic eyepiece you could easily see the animals breathing and movement in the internal organs. The eyes were very interesting.

A LED light source was used. In the first image the microscope condenser was opened all the way to allow the most light. This was the best for showing the eye structure. I am not sure what that is to the right of the eye but it looks like it is connected to the digestive tract(?) Below the digestive tract is that linear feature that has alternate small and large nodes along its length. Anyone know what they are? The bright arc over the animal is the bubble's edge.

The next image was also taken under full light and shows the dark digestive tract(?) Tail appendages are also visible.

Frank

Press Visits IBSP Upweller

Members of the Asbury Park Press reporting staff paid a visit to the IBSP upweller on Monday, June 7th. Todd Bates the chief environmental reporter was accompanied by Tanya Breen, photographer, and Tom Spader, videographer. Manny’s usual crew was there at 12:30 p.m. in order to prepare for the visit and get the site looking good. Rick made the trip up from LBI to be the spokesman for the video and to answer many of Todd’s questions. Manny and Marty were also interviewed at length. Todd who is gathering information for an upcoming series featuring Barnegat Bay also spent a day at Sedge with Jim Merritt last week. We will be looking forward to the articles which will be published some time in July.

Waretown Field Day

I received this e-mail this morning from Marty and you should all be receiving it in a personal e-mail soon.

All RCTB members are invited to attend our field trip on Saturday, June 12. The day's events will begin with an optional Breakfast around 0830 at the Bayfront Marina and Grill which is located at the very end of Bryant Road in Waretown. (This is the eastern end of Rt 532 which has a Parkway exit). We encourage your support of this restaurant as the owner, Keith Boyce, is a friend and supporter of RCTB, and assists us with security of our lease site next to his property.

Official activities will begin at 10:00 at the Gazebo next door with an interesting and informative presentation by a lifetime Bayman, commercial clammer and aquaculturist arranged by Gef. Next Jeffrey and some volunteers will replace some of our predator screens out front on the lease site. This should last until approximately 1130.

At 1130 we will board the boats for the ride across the bay to beautiful Hensler Island, one of the sedges. This is the site of the Pete McClain House, also known as the Sedge House where NJ Fish and Wildlife's Natural Resource Education Center is located. It is also the site of our second clam lease. The island is unofficially governed by "King" Jim Merritt, who will greet us and give us a tour of the facilities on one of the neatest spots on the planet. We will have lunch (bring your own from home) then do some work with the oysters and clams. We'll be replacing a couple of predator screens and examining what gathers on them. The boats will return members to Waretown when activities are done, estimated to be around 4 PM.

Boat owners are encouraged to bring their boats to assist in the transport. So far, we expect Jeffrey with the RCTB boat and Marty and Wes with each of theirs. Hopefully more! If your boat draws too much water to get through the shallows to Sedge, no problem! You can anchor off in the Mud Channel or the Bahamas and we can shuttle you in. Call Jim, Marty or Jeffrey for guidance. Please call Marty 732-604-0734 if you will bring a boat. This is for planning purposes- not a firm commitment!

What to bring! Appropriate clothing for the weather. It has been warm, but if the wind is off the ocean which today is 54 degrees, it could be chilly! Bay water has been warm- mid 70s on the out-going tide. Bring Water Shoes if planning to go in the water as some shells are sharp. Bring your own lunch, beverages. and sunscreen. No alcohol is allowed on State property!

Info/ Questions? Call Jim 609-658 7965, Jeffrey 732-674-4034, or Marty 732-604-0734.

For your planning purposes, there will a screen cleaning at Sedge on Sat July 17th, and the RCTB Sedge Weekend is booked for Fri-Sun August 27-29. We must have a minimum of 10 people sign up for this 3-day/2-night event to cover costs.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday! There is no cost for this field trip except for paying for your own breakfast if desired, and a good time was had by all at this event in the past! In the event of inclement weather, the Sedge portion of the trip would likely cancel, but the Waretown portion could go on. Marty

Frank

Barnegat Bay Day

One of the largest environmental festivals of the year, the annual Barnegat Bay Day, took place on Sunday June 6th in Island Heights. Of course, Reclam the Bay was well represented with the following volunteers : Bob and Doreen Gleeson, Charlie Brandt, Bruce Beverage, Wes Dalzell, Marthy Sedlacko and me manning the table. The temperature was in the nineties and that may have had some affect on the turnout as the crowd size appeared to be somewhat smaller that last year. We did get to speak to quiet a few people and some indicated that they would like to volunteer and inquired about how they could help. We explained our levels of volunteers and how they could help at the upwellers without joining the classes. This was another successful fair and there will be many more to come this season so we urge you to join us at one or more in the future.

Count Clam

Frank