Divers discover bouquets of bivalves in the Hudson!
/Descending into the murky waters of New York Harbor is no task for the faint of heart. Strong currents pose a major challenge, and with no more than 1-2 feet of visibility, trained divers must temper their expectations for what might be discovered.
On Tuesday, October 11, the visibility in the Hudson River was worse than usual.
Billion Oyster Project diver Zoë Greenberg recalled knowing that New York Harbor School alumnus and dive teacher Joe Jimenez was diving right beside her, but only being able to see his bright yellow snorkel.
“This was our first underwater monitoring at this site,” explained Greenberg. ”I imagined that we were going to be counting teeny, tiny oysters.”
JUST FOUR MONTHS after the installation of 20 million oysters, seeded to hundreds of gabions and reef balls, off Hudson River Park’s Gansevoort Peninsula, this reef ball — teeming with large oysters — came into view!
“It’s uncommon to see so many live oysters at such a high density,” said Jennifer Zhu, Billion Oyster Project’s Marine Habitat Resource Specialist who provided surface support with NYHS diving alumni that day. “Oyster settlement can be hit or miss with reef balls, before you consider different water conditions, so we were all surprised when we saw the footage.”
Hudson River Park’s Gansevoort Peninsula Project is a 5.5-acre site being transformed into a green oasis for New Yorkers. Billion Oyster Project is a proud partner of the project – tasked with fabricating reef structures (with the help of volunteers), seeding them with oyster larvae at Red Hook Terminals, and delivering them to Hudson River Park’s sanctuary waters. Between the Tribeca Habitat Enhancement Project (2021) and Gansevoort Peninsula Project (2022), 31 million oysters have been introduced to Hudson River Park!
“Hudson River Park Trust lent us a custom Clearwater Box for the October monitoring dive” adds Greenberg. ”Without this plexiglass housing surrounding a GoPro, the footage of this reef ball would have been impossible.”
As Hudson River Park’s Vice President of Estuary and Education, Carrie Roble, pointed out in a New York Times article in August, “we’re pleased [the oysters are] growing. Now we’re looking to see if they reproduce.”
Just like planting perennial flowers, the goal of oyster reef installations — like the Gansevoort Peninsula Project — is giving nature a foothold to survive on its own. Just a few hundred years ago, 220,000 acres of reefs made up of billions of oysters thrived in the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary. Eastern oysters are a keystone species, meaning that their sustainable return to our waterways would drastically change the environment and support a diverse abundance of species — like crabs, shrimp, fish and even large mammals.
“Knowing that the structures installed at Gansevoort are off to a strong start, I hope that this Peninsula Project gives New Yorkers the opportunity to interact with these structures, coexist with oysters, and enjoy the biodiversity they add to our Harbor,” said Zhu. “The underwater assessment we did at this site also has me excited to evolve Billion Oyster Project’s oyster monitoring practices to minimize disruption.”