Oyster Shell Bar Projects

This event is no longer on sale.

Thursday July 11

9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

In partnership with the City of St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay Watch is recruiting volunteers to create a living shoreline at Maximo Park, Sunshine Skyway Ln. S. & Pinellas Point Dr. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33711.

The project will involve the installation of oyster shell bars and oyster reef balls. A total of 40-60 volunteers are needed to complete the project on each of the three days (July 9, 10, & 11). The goal is 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 living shorelines.

Oyster shell bar installation involves shoveling fossilized shell into mesh bags and transporting them via dollies to be installed on the shoreline to create a series of oyster bars. Volunteers are encouraged to work in pairs to take turns shoveling and tying the mesh bags. In addition to shoveling, volunteers are needed to wade in the water on the shoreline to pass the bags for the installation. The shell bags weigh approximately 30 lbs. each. Lighter duty activities involve cutting the plastic mesh into bags, stretching the mesh, and tying the bags.

Reef ball installation is a heavy project as reef balls weigh 200 pounds each. Two people share the weight of each reef ball at a time to install it on the shoreline.

The minimum age to volunteer is 15 years old.

If you have any questions or if would like to volunteer with a group, please contact Rachel Arndt directly at rarndt@tampabaywatch.org.