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This Week at ORC
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7/20/2010
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It's almost mid-summer, water is warm and oysters are growing fast with abundant algae levels in the Bay. This is prime time to make oysters. ORC just finished making 49 reef balls last week with a three-day reef ball-making event, thanks to hearty volunteers and folks from our EPR office. Dansko shoes also came down from Pennsylvania to build a few. The reef balls will remain in the ORC parking area to cure for a few weeks before loading them in our oyster setting tanks. Speaking of setting tanks, currently the four tanks have 86 reef balls and 13 cages of spat that need a home, so this is the ORC schedule for this week. Tuesday, July 20th, 7:00 a.m.—Remove 86 reef balls from tanks #2, #3, #4 and load onboard the R/V Patricia Campbell. Loading should take about three hours and then depart for Cooks Point reef for deployment. We will need volunteers for loading reef balls onboard and there is some space for crew aboard for the deployment. This could be a 12-hour day. Wednesday, July 21st, 7:00 a.m.—Remove 13 cages of spat-on-shell from tanks #1 and #2, load onboard and seed the little SOS on Cooks Point reef. Thursday, July 22nd, 9:00 a.m.—Reload tanks #3 and #4 with shell cages and set with oyster larvae. Friday, July 23rd, 9:00 a.m.—Reload tanks #1 and #2 with shell cages and set with oyster larvae. Thanks to all for volunteering!
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Volunteers Needed June 21 to 24
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6/16/2010
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Oysters are growing fast this time of year! The water is warm, food is abundant and spawning is in the water that makes this time of year perfect for setting spat-on-shell and seeding millions of baby oysters in the Bay. The R/V Patricia Campbell will be departing this morning for Kitts Marsh Reef on the Patuxent River loaded with over three million spat-on-shell on deck. Next Monday and Tuesday we will be loading and deploying 136 reef balls with baby oysters (spat-on-reef ball) to Cooks Point Reef on the Choptank River. With all four tanks empty by Wednesday or Thursday next week, ORC will refill them with 86 reef balls and eight cages of shell.
To RSVP for volunteering next week call Dan at 703-585-3066 or e-mail DJahannes@cbf.org
Thanks!
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ORC Update
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5/10/2010
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We just received our first batch of larvae for 2010 last Wednesday and by last Friday had about 2,800,000 spat-on-shell in all four tanks! Reef ball construction later this week. See below for details.
Questions? Contact Meghan Hoffman.
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Reef Ball Construction and May 2010 calendar
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4/29/2010
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Help build marine habitat for oysters, fish and other critters with reef balls! What are reef balls? They are concrete spheres with holes that provide valuable marine habitat for critters—mostly OYSTERS! For more on reef balls check out www.reefball.org. This reef ball construction event is a four-day extravaganza (you don’t have to volunteer all days unless you have super energy). Dress for the weather this is an outdoor event. WHAT: Reef Ball Construction
WHEN: May 13,14,15,16; 9am till 2pm
WHERE: CBF's Oyster Restoration Center (ORC) at Discovery Village, 4800 Atwell Rd, Shady Side, MD 20764
Click here for directions
WHO: Volunteers—we could use ~18 people per day
What to expect: The weather is unpredictable this time of year so dress appropriately. We will provide snacks and drinks (bring a water bottle and lunch). The reef ball molds are fiberglass with connector pins and tether balls inside. After assembling, we pour concrete in the molds to form a reef ball, so if you have gloves, boots or foul weather pants bring them. We will also give everyone a tour of our Oyster Restoration Facility. I hope you can make it!
MAY 2010 calendar
May 4 – 6
VA ORC will be hosing its first reef ball construction event.
May ~7th
Spat-on-shell production starts at ORC.
May 13 – 16
Second Reef Ball Construction Extravaganza
May 19 – 20
ORC will be working with Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermans Association (MSSA) to load reef balls on board and deploying out in the northern Bay. We will need a few volunteers with good backs for loading on the 19th. Stay tuned for more details!
June - more shell shaking, growing spat-on-shell and Reef Ball Construction and you guessed it… Stay tuned for more details! Questions? Contact Meghan Hoffman.
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Blackwalnut Creek Event Cancelled
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4/13/2010
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The May 5 reef planting on Blackwalnut Creek has been cancelled.
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April/May/June Calendar
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3/12/2010
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CBF's MD Oyster Restoration Center (ORC) is putting away the snow shovels and pulling out the oyster shell shovels! VA Tech Hokies visited ORC this week and cleaned oyster shell for our setting tanks plus painted some shell shakers, next week University of MD will join us for more projects. ORC is gearing up for spring. That means reef ball construction plus shell shaking in the near future. First up next month, a four-day reef ball construction extravaganza April 21, 22, 23 and 24–check the posting from March 11th.Then May is packed full of adventure with details to follow. April 30 – May 3: ORC will host "Eternal Reefs"–loading and deploying reef balls in the Bay. For more on Eternal Reefs visit www.EternalReefs.com. May 5 (Cinco de Mayo): Blackwalnut Oyster Reef – There are about 300 shell bags leftover from last years oyster gardening and a new reef will benefit. We will need some volunteers for this event! More details to follow soon.
May 14 – 16: Second reef ball construction extravaganza! Times will be the same as April's event and we will need volunteers. Stay tuned for more details!
May 19 – 20: ORC will be working with Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermans Association (MSSA) to load reef balls onboard R/V Patricia Campbell and deploying out in the northern Bay. We will need a few volunteers with good backs for loading. tay tuned for more details!
June: More shell shaking, growing spat-on-shell and reef ball cnstruction and, you guessed it… Stay tuned for more details!
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See What Oyster Gardening is All About
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10/28/2009
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Have you ever wondered what oyster gardening is all about? Watch this video from nbcwashington.com. Learn about CBF's oyster gardening programs in Maryland and Virginia.
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And the Answer is...17 Million!
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10/19/2009
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This year Maryland's ORC produced over 17 million spat-on-shell plus over 150 spat-on-reef balls thanks to our volunteers. Each year, ORC produces more spat than last and this year is no different! The success is partially due to CBF and partners like Horn Point Lab honing skills, being more effective in oyster restoration, thus ramping up the oyster population in the Bay. Next year, ORC is projecting an even more productive spat year, plus we have a target of creating more than 240 reef balls this fall and spring. Thank you for being part of the team! Stay tuned for an update of up coming events! -Karl Willey
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Save Oyster Shell - Save the Bay
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6/24/2009
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 The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) needs your help – and your oyster shells – to restore native oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. Donate your empty shells to CBF so we can recycle them into more oyster reefs and repopulate the Bay with more oysters. Oyster shells are literally the foundation of our reef restoration efforts!
Oyster shells are becoming increasingly scarce. So through the Save Oyster Shell program, shells that would typically be thrown away are saved and used in a variety of oyster restoration projects.
 Your shells are used as homes for baby oysters (spat) like the shell in the photo. We place your recycled shells in tanks of water with millions of microscopic oyster larvae swimming and attaching to the shells. After a few days the spat-on-shell will be transported via the R/V Patricia Campbell to build a new oyster bar.
CBF has two convenient drop-off locations for your shells in Maryland, one at our Oyster Restoration Center in Shady Side and the second at the Philip Merrill Environmental Center in Annapolis.
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