By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
Babies are on board — oyster babies lulled by a lullaby and the gentle sway of boats taking them to their new home in the Barnegat Bay.
“I feel like a doting dad in a way because I’m sending my kids off to kindergarten. Here goes the babies. They don’t need their parents any more. They’re on their own,” said Capt. Alek Modjeski.
A parade of boats joined the American Littoral Society for the final phase of their oyster restoration project. Staff and other supporters helped empty bags of oyster shell, placing them on their reef in the Barneget Bay.
“The Barnegat Bay is dying of pollution from over-development of the watershed and this project is part of an effort to restore the Bay’s health by putting oysters back into it. They filter water in the Bay and take out pollution help get it back on its feet,” said Tim Dillingham.
Last month the Society poured a pitcher of 1.5 million microscopic oyster larvae into a spat tank — a nursery of sorts — filled with dozens of whelk shells.
“They start stinking and have an appendage called a foot that allows them to feel if it’s a good place for them to settle or not,” said Christine Thompson.
About 21,000 of the oyster babies survived. They nestled into their new homes. As many as 43 were found on one shell.
“If you think of each shell as being an apartment for oysters, sometimes you can have families of five or a single person living there so it’s the same thing for oysters,” Thompson said.
In April, the Society created an oyster reef near Good Luck Point in Berkley Township using 120 cubic yards of whelk shell. It’s where these oysters were brought to today. This morning Modjeski sampled the reef and proudly found what he thinks may be a natural set.
“Natural set being wild oysters in the Bay actually set on the reef we created,” he said.
What do these oysters need to thrive in the Barnegat Bay?
“Well water quality’s gonna be important. I would think the biggest part is gonna be salinity, dissolved oxygen,” Modjeski said.
American Littoral Society recently started an oyster shell recycling program with Stockton University. Right now they’re working with two restaurants in Ocean County, they’re collecting the hand shucked oyster shells from customer’s plates. The shells are placed outside and they’ll be there for the next six months. Then they’ll be taken out to a reef site. The American Littoral Society hopes to add another 50 restaurants to the program.
The Society will begin monitoring the oysters in their home. Modjeski thinks the babies have the right attitude.
“These oysters are Jersey tough and it’s gonna make it,” he said.