Deadmans Island Restoration

Hi everyone!
Wow! Despite the weather, St Francis and St Ann volunteered to have the event indoors making the quadrats needed to monitor the oysters before the proposed oil spill impacts Pensacola Bay.

Saturday was such a productive day! The team created monitoring quadrats AND planting shoreline vegetation! This event was followed by a wonderful lunch hosted at the home of Robert and Sara Lee Menzer, whose home overlooks the beautiful Deadman’s Island.

The community of St Ann and St Francis ROCKED! I will be planning a monitoring event most likely this Saturday or sooner (when the water calms down) if you are available please let me know. I have no idea how the oil spill will affect our Bays or this event. I am hoping it wont get here or possibly be contained beforehand. However, the quadrats you all made are extremely important to this project and the especially important in helping with the pre-monitoring of the oysters before any possible spill contamination.

You can view your pictures by clicking on the link for the May 1 2010 Event                    http://www.flickr.com/photos/49394100@N05/
Jessica Brosofsky
Meredith Brosofsky
James O’brien
Fr. Paul Lambert
Jodi Kenworthy!
Mike O’brien
Matthew Kenuoawy
Matthew Levi
Kevin Elswick
Krista Reed
Emily Brosofsky
Leslie Brosofsky
Marilee Martin
Jimmy Martin

Anamarie Wright

If I have misspelled your name or overlooked someone, please let me know! Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed having a part in helping to preserve Deadman’s Island!
Thank you very much!

Hi Friends of Deadman’s Island,
For everyone’s safety, the Project on Saturday has been canceled. Unfortunately, the weather forecast shows Thunderstorms from Friday to Tuesday. If you have any questions please call Heather Reed 346-2073

Good Morning Friends of Deadman’s Island!

I wanted to thank everyone all your hard work and dedication to the Shoreline Stabilization project on Saturday. This project could not have happened without you! Saturday was such a productive day and has jump started this year’s stabilization efforts! Everyone worked extremely hard and Donna DeSeno has proof! Donna did a fantastic job taking pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49394100@N05/

Here are some highlights of Saturday- everything was performed at high tide and in the water!

A total of 48 Volunteers-

200ft of coir logs created and placed along the shoreline for plant protection

1000 plants were not just planted, but two layers of geo material were cut into, dirt was placed in these holes and then the vegetation was planted!

500 ft of turbidity curtain was moved, repositioned and re-anchored using what was already present

Very heavy remnants of the curtain that were ripped off and hanging from the old curtain, were brought back on shore

There was an “Island wide” trash cleanup afterwards–compliments of Troop 10 boyscouts and James Neyman

Other groups:

UWF students rocked! Gary Ghioto Class!

Chain Reaction was fantastic!

A special thanks to our boat drivers and those who donated their boats and time to the project the day before and the day of to transport volunteers.

The Deseno Family for the pictures

The Pardonner Family

I did not have Jennifer Dragoo or Micheal Hobbs email so if someone knows them and can pass this email, that would be greatly appreciated!

I doubt I will ever have work as hard as Saturday’s efforts, since YOU have set the foundation for this summer’s stabilization efforts.

The rest of the events will be easy and I would love to have you back! May 1st will be our next event.

We may be creating more of the Ecodiscs!

If you would like to come out to snorkel and monitor (count fish, oysters, crabs, drills) next month (this month is too cold and will be just myself) please send me an email if you are interested.

Shoreline vegetation planting-Note:Our future plantings will not consist of cutting through the Geo fabric and will consist of just digging sand and planting

Hello Friends of Deadman’s Island!  Everyone is welcome to help plant vegetation and set up coir logs saturday from 9am-2pm.  If your kids need any type of volunteer hours, please have them bring their form on that day and I can sign off on their time. The tide will be high so we can determine if upland plants are suitable so bring your waders or wetsuits if you want.  There will be a few waders available.  We will be building Coir log stabilizers and planting shoreline vegetation.  If anyone has access to a pontoon boat to load light weight supplies, please let me know.  It would be extremely helpful to transport materials Friday afternoon.  I am also looking for anyone who can volunteer the use of their recreational boat to transport people from the Three-mile Bridge City Boat Ramp to Deadman’s Island (1/4 mile).  If you can help in anyway, please email or call me on my cell phone.  Drinks and sandwiches will be provided by sponsors so please RSVP.  If you have gloves and a shovel, please bring them!  If you have a kayak and prefer to kayak over, you may launch at the boat ramp.    The only thing mandatory is Sunscreen!  Hope to see you there!   Contact Heather Reed: 850-416-7008, 850-346-2073 (cell preferred)

Spring is coming! 2010 will be a busy year for the City of Gulf Breeze’s Deadman’s Island Restoration Project and schools and volunteers are needed!

Please call if you have any contacts for students (middle school to high school) and volunteers for the upcoming months :

March- help place fossilized and recycled oyster shells in oyster molds for the new structures

April- planting all sorts of vegetation from Mean high water to Dune plants

Summer- snorkelers and certified divers to help count fish, oysters, hermit crabs,oyster drills etc- they will learn important scientific monitoring techniques

I am building hurricane tolerant bird habitats- still in design- but I need people who are familar with birds and bird habitat whom can help with the best design for the types of birds encountered on Deadman’s Island. Deadman’s Island is considered a migratory drop zone for birds.

Please call Heather Reed at 346-2073

2010 Powerpoint Project Update is now available for download (about 7 Meg).

Westin DeMotts headed up a rather large Eagle Scout project focusing on erosion control or the shoreline of Deadman’s Island.  Due to the Ida storm his project had to be modified to reflect the current erosion.  Westin and his team placed bio-mesh to catch sand and build up about 500 linear feet of shoreline.  after the placement on Saturday, the following Monday the area collected sand in the places it was needed most to build up the isthmus.

Also the group also worked to secure a root system Ida had exposed.  The group used geo-fabric and boi-mesh to secure the area and allow further sand accumulation for a later planting project.

Thanks Westin!

Scouts and volunteers who attended.

• Nick Musmanksky
• Morgan Armstrong
• Matthew Kenworthy
• Kyle Dunning
• Christopher Brandon
• Tyler Fisher
• Jack Joyner
• Richard Burns
• Nick Flores
• Jack Tamburro
• Anne Marie Tamburro
• Mallory DeMotts
• Peter Hahn
• Eric Larsen
• Ryan Henderson
• Paxton Lyons
• Dan Flores
• Bruce DeMotts

The temperatures change each year and cause a spawning for the area Bay’s oysters. The breakwaters were placed just in time for this spawning. Within one week of deployment, barnacles were settling on the rebar and oysters shell. Today, I notice millions of oyster spat (>1/4″) were attached to the recycled oyster shell and fossilized oyster shell!

Education Tidbit!

The Eastern Oyster “juvenile” in the water column after fertilization is called trochophore larvae then goes into the water colunm which then it is called a veliger once the veliger places a “foot” on the settlement substrate it is called a pediveliger.  Once the pediveliger has settled it is called oyster spat.  What you see on docks and other areas after a spawn is called spat.  Two weeks later, it’s called an oyster!

I keep getting calls about how to continue to help out at Deadman’s Island. If you are snorkeling near the reef and see fish- please note the date, number tag on the structure found, number and type of fish (if known) and email to me at hreed@ecoconsultingservices.com. This is important data in which I can add to the current monitoring data. I can never have enough. Please contact me if you are interested in scheduling fish count days. 

Great job everyone for helping to create this reef structure to help protect Deadman’s Island!  The reef is doing it’s anticipated job of blocking the destructive underwater current.  This current has caused significant erosion to the north end of Deadman’s Island destroying 100 year sand oak trees and causing them to topple into the water.     ~Heather Reed

Pictures

Saturday August 29, 2009 22 divers and snorkelers showed up bright and early to help anchor the newly placed oyster structures at Deadman’s Island.  There is a total of 156 structures and all outside anchors were placed and 10 inside anchors were placed.  We have 146 more inside anchors to go!    If you would like to volunteer to place these anchors please call Project Manager, Heather Reed at 346-2073.  Diving can be during the week or on the weekend  depending on boat availabilty. Look forward to seeing you there!

Structures designed by Coastal Environments Inc, built by Georgestone Technical School and Escambia County Road Prison, placed by Coastal Reef builders, managed by Ecological Consulting Services Inc and propelled by volunteers and residents are now being set in place and not too early either. Deadman’s Island had faced even more erosion just this past month. Partial structures are in place and has slowed down the current that has been eating away at the north end of Deadman’s Island. Next summer a final structures will be placed to protect the west end.   This reef will not only add protection to Deadman’s Island but provide great fishing and snorkeling for the general public.  Thank you to all our partners and supporters.

Pictures

http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DP&Dato=20090820&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=908200806&Ref=PH

Deadmans Island Project Brochure (PDF) available here