The Resilience of Oyster Gardens After Hurricane Matthew

Here is an amazing story about the survival of an oyster garden after Hurricane Matthew from one of our dedicated volunteer oyster gardeners, Mary.

After Hurricane Matthew, it was so amazing to find one of my gardens and retrieve it during low tide. It was in pretty close to perfect condition. There are so many baby oysters growing. My dad found my second garden wedged under debris down Salt Run. That garden is damaged, but there are still oysters growing in it. Tons of barnacles were growing on those oysters, but I’ve cleaned them off. Although my dock is pretty destroyed, I still have dock to the edge of the reeds. There are oysters naturally growing there, so I hung the gardens there. Honestly, I’m devastated about my dock, but the oysters continue to bring me great joy. They are resilient and amazing. I’m so thankful to continue this project.

Thank you, Mary, for your dedication to the Whitney Lab Oyster Restoration Initiative!