Photos by Patrick Olivero
MIDDLETOWN – Members of the NY/NJ Baykeeper Restoration Program and diving team introduced approximately 1 million juvenile oysters to the Living Shoreline at Naval Weapons Station Earle. These oysters were cultivated for six weeks in tanks from a culture provided by the Rutgers Haskins Shellfish Research Lab. Volunteers packed 60 concrete oyster castles, where the oyster larvae have attached, onto the Baykeeper’s patrol boat so divers could install them in protected waters free of risk of poaching. Two trips were required to place all 120 oyster castles, a feat performed by three members of the NY/NJ Baykeeper’s dive team.
