Tampa Bay Watch is recruiting volunteers to create an oyster reef on the shoreline of MacDill Air Force Base.
The deadline for volunteer registration is one week prior to the project to allow time for security clearance, so you'll be pre-approved for entry. Your driver's license information is required for MacDill to perform the clearance.
The project involves shoveling fossilized shell into mesh bags, transporting the bags via boat and placing them on the shoreline to create a series of oyster bars. This project is an effort to restore lost habitat systems to the bay, prevent further erosion of the shoreline and improve water quality through natural biological filtration. Click here to read more about the project and/or watch a video of a past oyster shell project. Where: Access the base via the Main Entrance (MacDill AFB Michael Moffitt Visitor Control Center, 6901 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33621). Detailed driving directions will be shared prior to the project date. What to wear: Volunteers should wear long sleeved shirts,clothing they don't mind getting wet or dirty, closed toe shoes or water shoes, hat, sunscreen, bugspray and bring a water bottle. We will provide a large jug of ice water to refill your bottle. Please bring your own work gloves if you have them, but we'll have used gloves on had if you don't.