Local conservation organizations, volunteers and partners from around Mobile gathered March 8 at the southernmost point of Bayou La Batre to help nurture an important component of the Gulf Coast marine ecosystem: oyster reefs.
The project focused on helping salvage and repurpose an older artificial oyster reef in Mobile Bay, constructed by the nonprofit Alabama chapter of the Nature Conservancy, ahead of a larger-scale restoration project slated for fall along the Dauphin Island Causeway.
Teamwork aids oyster reefs on Alabama shoreline from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.
What was expected to take two days was completed in just half a day, thanks to dedicated teamwork and volunteers from local companies, including Alabama Power, nonprofit organizations, as well as University of South Alabama undergraduate and graduate students.
“Back in 2011 The Nature Conservancy, in collaboration with Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Alabama Marine Resources Division, put a couple of different experimental reef structures out along Alabama Port,” an unincorporated community, said Katie Baltzer, a specialist with The Nature Conservancy. The cage-like structures, known as “Reefblks,” are made up of oyster shells, geogrid material and rebar, and are designed to slow down shoreline erosion from the impact of waves, as well as provide habitats for oysters, Baltzer said.
The three-phase project involved: removing the ReefBlks from the water at Alabama Port; moving them to Bayou La Batre, where volunteers dismantled the structures to harvest the living oysters and reusable oyster shells; and working with partners from Dauphin Island Sea Lab who took the oysters and “rehomed” them at Lightning Point’s breakwaters alongside other oyster settlements.
Members of the Mobile Chapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) were among volunteers helping with the project.
“We are taking live oysters, harvesting what can be salvaged, putting them into blue bins and,eventually, once we fill the blue bins, we will take them out and replace the oysters into a different part of the bay where they can thrive,” said Andy Alford, vice president of the Mobile APSO chapter.
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
An initiative led by The Nature Conservancy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources helped establish oyster reefs at Lightning Point. The University of South Alabama and Alabama Power Service Organization were among the volunteers who helped accomplish the work faster than expected. (Allanah Taylor / Alabama News Center)
Lee Smee, chairman of University Programs at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, coordinated the group of experts and volunteers who took the salvaged oysters from the dismantled ReefBlks and placed them in water at the Lightning Point marsh restoration project.
Smee said a new wetland and oyster reef will be built along the Dauphin Island Causeway, which is part of the ongoing effort to protect and strengthen coastal marine habitat in and around Mobile Bay.
To learn more about the volunteer efforts of Alabama Power employees and retirees, visit powerofgood.com and click on “Volunteers.”
