Marine Science Students Volunteer With ORCA: The Living Shoreline Project

Marine science students demonstrated their dedication to environmental stewardship within our community for Earth Day. Students worked together with ORCA scientists to place large 50-pound cement oyster reef balls at Riverside Park as part of their Living Shorelines Restoration Project to protect the shoreline from erosion, restore vital estuarine oyster habitat and improve water quality in the Indian River Lagoon estuary. We are proud of their hard work and dedication to improving our lagoon ecosystem!

How the Project Works and Helps the IRL:
The oyster reef balls offer a substrate for oyster growth, which in turn offers habitat for fishes, shrimps, crabs and birds who feed on these organisms. They improve water quality, because one oyster filters 50 gallons of water a day, and it reduces wave energy and turbidity in the water. The reduction in wave energy then reduces erosion of the land there, which occurs when the waves hit the shore. The eroded sediment from the land covers the seagrass beds, so reducing this sediment going into the water supports seagrass growth.

Click here to view highlights from the afternoon at Riverside Park, and be sure to join ORCA on April 30 to check out the new living shoreline.