The intertidal reef constructed with the help of volunteers on south Reed's Beach in early April is holding up well against the relentless pressures of the bay. The reef is an experiment designed to gauge the effectiveness of oyster reefs at holding sand in place on restored beaches. However, this reef will also become home to many of the animals living in the bay, including many juvenile fish. To understand who is calling the reef home we are beginning a series of biological monitoring efforts.    

Two of the Littoral Society's veteran interns were trained by Steven Hafner of Stockton University's Coastal Research Center conduct Littoral Environmental Observations (LEO), a program developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers to understand waves, currents, and beach characteristics. Veterans Nate and Bill are well underway taking these measurements daily for a 20-day interval along 10 Delaware Bay beaches. The data they gather will help inform a sediment transport study being conducted for the Bay. This study, when completed, should help us identify where sand moves within the complex beach systems.