Science Serving Maryland's Coasts

On the Bay

Mussels get ready to overwinter in Kenilworth Gardens. They will return to the Anacostia in the spring.​ Credit: Gregg Trilling

A Mussel’s Muscles: Can another bivalve help save the bay?

Alexandra Grayson • January 10, 2019
You may have heard people say oysters were once able to filter the whole Chesapeake Bay in three days. Though that is merely a figure of speech, oysters have long been known to filter bodies of water. But there is another type of bivalve mollusk that is known to provide the same service, and is gaining in popularity in fresher water. The mussel is that particular mollusk.  Read more . . .
 
One of J.D. Blackwell's oyster leases in St. Mary's County, Md. Oysters filter the water and provide habitat, but they can cause friction with neighbors who would rather not see buoys or floats. Photo credit: Rona Kobell

Rainy Year in Maryland Doesn’t Dampen State Oyster Aquaculture Forecast

Rona Kobell • November 13, 2018
Maryland’s oyster aquaculture harvest so far this year has already exceeded last year’s, despite a deluge of fresh water from storms that scientists and managers worried would stymie growth.
So far, the Maryland harvest for 2018 is just over 80,000 bushels of farm-raised oysters; in 2017, it was 75,000. In 2016, it was 65,000 bushels, and that was a 1,000 percent increase since 2012.  Read more . . .
 
Birders line up on the southern edge of Poplar Island is scout for bird species.

Birds Dig Dredge

Taryn Sudol • October 5, 2018
I’m on the edge of a bench with my life vest zipped and buckled. I have a small red point-and-shoot camera and a pair of petite binoculars that I think looks pretty stylish — for the birding set. Twenty-four of my fellow voyagers carry cameras with ginormous lenses, binoculars twice the size of mine, and spotting scopes on tripods.  Read more . . .
 
Keryn Gedan lowers the pins to the marsh’s surface. 

SET Up for the Future

Taryn Sudol • July 5, 2018
Phillips Creek Marsh lies on the final seaside stretch of the Delmarva Peninsula in Virginia. It is a swath of wetland grasses with patches of reeds and warped remnants of a boardwalk. Pines fringe the uplands, and a flock of seabirds socialize on a distant mudflat to the southeast. The sky on a Thursday in mid-May was an overcast milky blue.  Read more . . .
 
Juan Alvarez examines water in Puerto Rico's bays. Photograph courtesy of Juan Alvarez

Did You Know…What’s That Glow?

Rona Kobell • May 4, 2018
Maryland Sea Grant and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science are working with researchers in Puerto Rico to determine what is causing the coastal lagoons to glow.
It’s a fascinating project, and the devastation of Hurricane Maria has made the work all the more challenging.  Read more . . .
 

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