Reefs of the Chesapeake … Past … Present … Future

Reefs of the Chesapeake … Past … Present … Future. . , 1608: Early Exploration , Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay were so abundant that reefs (oyster bars) would be exposed at low tides and even presented a potential navigational hazard, leading John Smith to observe that they "lay as thick as stones.", Native Americans and American Colonists both depended on oysters for food., Some oysters harvested in the 1600s grew to 13 inches long., The Oyster Reef: Foundation of a Food Web , Early explorers were astounded by the water clarity in the Chesapeake Bay and described being able to see down 3 fathoms or 18 feet., This exceptional water clarity was due largely to the filter feeding of oysters. Acting like miniature water treatment plants, a single oyster is able to filter about 50 gallons per day. Historically, the entire water volume of the Bay was filtered about every seven days., The Chesapeake Bay has long been one of the richest and most productive estuaries in the world. Oyster reefs provided important habitat for many aquatic organisms from worms and crabs to the larger fish that found food and shelter among the shells.,

"Of fish we were best acquainted with sturgeon, grampus, porpoise, seals, stingrays whose tails are very dangerous, brits, mullets, white salmon, trouts, soles, plaice, herring, conyafish, rockfish, eels, lampreys, catfish, shad, perch of three sorts, crabs, shrimps, crevises, oysters, cockles, and mussels." , , Captain John Smith, 1612

, The Oyster Boom , At the peak of oyster harvesting in the late 1800s some 20 million bushels were taken from the Bay each year. The underwater mountains of empty shells that were the foundation of the reefs and supported the oyster population were also dredged away. What had taken thousands of years and thousands of generations of oysters to accumulate was depleted in less than 100 years. These ancient shells were used as a filler in roads, crushed into mortar, burned as a flux in iron furnaces, ground into fertilizer, and powdered into whitewash., [Caption:] , Skipjack dredging for oysters ca. 1880: At the turn of the 20th century 2,000 skipjacks plied the waters of the Chesapeake Bay for oysters, Overharvesting and Decline , With billions of oysters taken from the Bay, populations began to decline in the early 1900s as harvesting outpaced their rate of reproduction. The loss of shell reefs left spat (baby oysters) without surfaces on which to grow., Disease and Pollution , By the 1960s, two introduced diseases MSX and Dermo, to which the Eastern Oyster has no resistance caused up to 90% mortality in some areas. Without shell reefs, heavy sediment loads deposited by increasingly severe storms blanketed oysters on the Bay bottom, suffocating them., Oysters Today , The oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay today stands at an estimated 1% of historical levels. This decline has led to a decrease in water quality including lower clarity and a loss of biodiversity in the Bay. The filtration that oysters once accomplished in about seven days now takes about a year., Reef Ball Construction , The Chesapeake Bay Foundation places newly constructed reef balls, adding more habitat with each deployment, Mold of desired shape and size, Balloons and floats are placed to create hollow spaces in the ball Reef Ball Restoration , Today, there are a number of reef restoration sites in the Bay but the first reef balls were placed on the Memorial Stadium Reef site at Gales Lump in the Upper Chesapeake Bay in 2002., Bill Huppert and other members of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association have overseen the construction of more than 1500 reef balls. Thousands of volunteers from local Boy Scout Troops, public and private schools, community associations, and other concerned citizens have since participated in the project., Recolonizing the Reef , Once placed, the reef balls provided a substitute surface for oyster spat to attach and habitat for fish, crabs, and other aquatic organisms., 2212: The Future Reef , With an estimated lifespan of 500 years, the reef balls placed today will hopefully become the foundation for revitalized reefs in the future. While the pristine conditions of the Bay in the 1600s are likely gone forever, meaningful recovery is possible. Responsible care and stewardship today has the potential to lead to a significant increase in Bay health and biodiversity in the future., Find the Reef Balls , The drawing above shows what a restored reef might look like 200 years in the future. Look for the heavily colonized reef balls that support a Bay ecosystem nearly as diverse and healthy as it was in the 1600s., In conjunction with other Bay restoration projects and measures, rebuilding oyster reefs can help to ensure that the "Great Shellfish Bay" remains one of the world's most productive estuaries for future generations. To find out more about how you can help the Bay, inquire inside the Nature Center.