Bayswater Point State Park in Far Rockaway becomes BOP's first community reef in Queens!

Monday, July 20, was a BIG day at Billion Oyster Project! The installation of 96 bags of shell, with nearly 29,000 oysters in the form of "spat", was completed by an all-women crew along the warm, but picturesque waterfront in Bayswater Point State Park.

"We have been working on this project for a long time and are happy to be putting these babies in the water to see how they can grow in this location."

Although we had pictured this day with local students, educators, and volunteers by our side, nearly 100 people joined us LIVE on Instagram to watch the action unfold!

"I'm really excited to be here today" said Tatiana Castro, Restoration Field Coordinator at Billion Oyster Project. "We have been working on this project for a long time and are happy to be putting these babies in the water to see how they can grow in this location."

Of the 96 bags installed, 16 were made of coconut fiber. We are experimenting with this alternative to plastic in hopes of moving towards the use of more sustainable materials across our reef sites.

This project would not have been possible without our partners Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy and New York State Parks, as well as support from Simons Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation.

We can't wait to monitor this spat on shell (pictured above) later this season. Then, when we return to monitor next summer, we hope to find that the oysters have become adults, spawned, and that the blank shells have new larvae settled on them.