Fall is here! For the Environmental Committee that means the end of our clean regatta season, installing and caring for “baby oysters” in our marina and the start of our fall/winter lecture series. We are also finalizing an action plan and calendar for 2023!
In September, we focused on oysters. We sponsored a field trip to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Horn Point Lab in conjunction with the EYC Cruise Committee’s Labor Day Cruise. This renowned coastal and marine research center also has the largest oyster hatchery in the world. All of the larvae for our EYC oyster efforts has come from this hatchery.
From oyster mating to larval production to the setting of spat and eventually the establishment of oyster reefs, it is quite a process It was truly a thrill to realize that many of the oyster shell bags we saw were going to end up in our EYC marina. In fact at the end of the month, we loaded oyster spat on shell into cages which will hang in the water from our EYC docks until early next summer. Putting the spat into the cages helps protect them from predators until they are big enough to be placed on a reef.

We kicked off our fall lecture series at the end of September with a presentation on the Chesapeake Bay and the importance of Citizen Science by Dr. William Dennison, Vice President, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). The center produces the official annual Chesapeake Bay Report which was recently released. Dr. Dennison is a strong proponent for citizen science and engagement like our oyster efforts at EYC! He even participated as a scientist diver in our recent installation of spat covered concrete triangles spat on our living oyster wave wall.

On October 26, the Environmental and Cruise Committees will jointly host a presentation by cartoonist Jim Toomey entitled “Cruising with a Cartoonist at Sea.” Jim produces the syndicated cartoon strip “Sherman’s Lagoon,“ which has an amiable shark as its main character. The award-winning comic strip is widely recognized for increasing public awareness of environmental and marine conservation issues.
Jim will share his experiences sailing on a 22-month family odyssey, visiting 32 countries, crossing an ocean and homeschooling two kids along the way. Be prepared to laugh out loud as he shares some engaging cruising stories with great photos and cartoons including some from Sherman the Shark’s perspective.
Please register for the presentation online and check out his new book “Family Afloat.”
This fall consider getting involved in our efforts to make EYC a good steward of the bay. Sign up to make “Party in the Port” on October 15 a Sailors for the Sea clean event! Help us take care of our baby oysters in the cages through the season. Join us for our meetings and lectures especially the upcoming presentation “Cartoonist at Sea” by Jim Toomey on O