Savin Hill Cove
For the future: click here for a proposal for biomimicry-based restoration and LivingLab at this site!
NEW - Boston Water and Sewer Commission Water Quality Monitoring at Morrissey Blvd. Drainage Conduit Project (Executive summary)
GHP students and GHP founder Dr. Anamarija Frankic have been working with students from Newton High School and Outward Bound from Thompson Island on salt marsh restoration in Savin Hill cove, adjacent to the UMass Boston campus. On Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 at low tide (about 3 pm), the group came to the site to measure basic water quality related to salt marsh restoration - and found dozens of oysters at two locations.
The oysters were both European oysters (Ostrea edulis) and native Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica). (See Flikr slide shows at right.) From their sizes, we estimate the oysters range from 6 months to 5-6 years old. Finding young specimens attached to stones and blue mussels suggests these oysters were here for at least last year's spawning. The oysters were found in an area where ground water is seeping out into the cove and where salt marsh is not growing. The pH and salinity are closer to fresh/brackish waters. The substrate (bottom) is firmer and without silt and mud, as it is washed out by the underground seeping.
This discovery is exciting because the presence of oysters here was so unexpected. It also may provide opportunities for better understanding the relationships among salt marsh and shellfish habitats.
Please check back here often for more information about these oysters!
Please note that this area is contaminated and closed to shellfishing. All shellfishing is prohibited.
For background information on the cove, view student capstone projects: Savin Hill restoration and Savin Hill dredging.
Click here for water quality data from the MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority) (Savin Hill Cove is Station 39).
Visit the Savin Hill Yacht Club
