Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration to Help Restore Important Waterway
Whitney Laboratory along with partners are working to restore clam populations in the Indian River Lagoon. Your support of this project will help bring clams to the IRL with the goal of improving water quality and restoring healthy seagrasses to this important estuary in need of our help.
Areas to Support
Adult Clam Repatriation Project |
Gifts can be made to the Whitney Laboratory Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration Fund. | MAKE A GIFT |
Drone Clam Seeding (The Billion Clam Project) |
Gifts should be made to Coastal Conservation Florida (CCA Florida). |
The Whitney Laboratory secured $2.2 million in funding for clam restoration in 2022 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) and Indian River Lagoon (IRL) National Estuaries Program to restore super clams to the IRL until summer of 2026.
As this project wraps up, new opportunities with Brevard County, the Coastal Conservation Association, Duke Energy, and Starbrite Inc. have come to the table with continued funding for clam restoration in the Indian River Lagoon. Dr. Todd Osborne and his lab are working with project partners Premium Seafood (Mike Sullivan), Orchid Island Shellfish (Ed Mangano) and others to produce the 39 million clams needed for this restoration project.
These efforts employ five staff members in the Osborne Lab and is a tremendous undertaking. Multiple students study the processes of population enhancement and ecosystem services provided by growing clam populations in the IRL. Seagrass restoration has been coupled with this project so that “co-restoration” efforts can hasten ecosystem recovery.
IRL Clam Restoration Videos
Clam Update May 2024
Another Clam update, things are moving along. We're up to 40 Million Clams back in the river, and Blair & Todd are here to fill you in on the details.
Project Update Blair Wiggins
Capt Blair Wiggins gives us a water conservation update on the progress of the Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration Project with Whitney Labs, University of Florida, CCA Florida and FWC.
Dr. Todd Osborne Ph.D.
Dr. Todd Osborne Ph.D. is an assistant professor of biogeochemistry at the Whitney Lab at the University of Florida. He is responsible for collecting, studying, spawning and releasing clams in the IRL Clam Restoration Project.
First Generation is Born
Capt Blair Wiggins shows us the different stages of growth of the first generation of clams for the IRL Clam Restoration Project.
Brood Stock Super Clams
Capt Blair Wiggins travels to the Whitney to introduce us the clam caretaker, Jose Nunez. His job is to collect the brood stock from the IRL, spawn them and create the next generation of super clams to help clean up the water quality of the IRL.
IRL Clam Restoration Project
Florida native and Addictive Fishing TV host, Capt Blair Wiggins, tells about his experiences growing up on Florida's Space Coast and making a living on the Indian River as a charter captain. What he saw over the years is heartbreaking.
Hard Clam Restoration
This video describes the ongoing hard clam restoration initiative in the Indian River Lagoon. The goal is to restore clam populations and improve water quality in this estuary.
How Clams Filter Feed
This short time lapse shows how hard clams burrow, filter-feed and clear up the water.
Support Clam Restoration
We are accepting donations to continue this important initiative. For more information about the Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration Initiative, contact Dr. Todd Osborne at osbornet@ufl.edu.