Planting Day (Part 1) and Final Sessions

The oysters from the private locations (Hempstead Harbour and Sea Cliff Yacht Clubs) were planted in the conservation management area (CMA) on September 14. Both clubs had oysters measuring over 5 cm, with the largest measuring 6.3 cm! A massive thank you to all volunteers who helped out with this planting!

Slideshow above includes: oyster clusters, CSHH volunteers measuring and cleaning cages, oysters in buckets to be planted, the largest oyster measurement, and CSHH staff and volunteers during the private-location planting day (photos by Michelle Lapinel McAllister, Debra Dumas, Teri Moschetta on 9/14/26)

Sessions at the private sites concluded on September 11, and sessions at the publicly-located sites (North Hempstead Beach Park and Tappen Marina) concluded on September 18. The oysters at the public sites hit a growth spurt toward the final stretch; the largest oyster measured among the two public locations was 6 cm, measured at Tappen Marina!

During our last sessions among all locations, many shrimp were found near and inside the cages, as well as sea squirts and other small fish, like mummichogs and silversides. We also noticed a transparent-looking oyster in one of the Tappen Marina cages; it seems that it was a jingle shell (Anomia simplex)!

Conopeum tenuissimum was seen on some of the oysters during the last sessions as well (see second photo below). This is a type of encrusting bryozoan that lives in brackish waters, and typically forms crusts on hard surfaces like docks and shells.

Slideshow above includes: oyster clusters, bryozoan on an oyster shell, volunteers at Tappen during the last session, a jingle shell growing on an old oyster shell, volunteers moving cages at the Hempstead Harbour Club, sea squirts covering a cage at the Sea Cliff Yacht Club (photos by Ella Siasoco and Sarah Stromski)