A group effort opens a channel

Hurricane Sandy casualty. Many of the flags along the main road were found crumpled, ripped and covered in dried mud.

Becky and Danko tackle the big stuff before the job of clearing organic matter (mostly dead reeds) to create a channel. This will encourage water flow and natural flooding.

Genie and Kim-Nora continue the ongoing effort to remove dead organic matter, which contains millions of plastic fragments.

Danko attends to the matter of trash removal from the marsh to the truck, not a thankless job.

High of 53 °F | Humidity (avg) 52% | Wind @ 15 mph (NW) | High Tide 5.5 ft. @ 9:05 AM | Moon 99% visible.

CUNY oceanography students learn by doing

Dr. K. Schnaars Uvino’s CUNY Oceanography students visit the Marsh to observe and record what they see in the wrack line along the shore. Then they get their hands dirty to help with the clean up effort, a project which will be ongoing for many years to come. I was heartened that the students noticed the huge amounts of plastic and polystyrene debris in the environment. Perhaps seeing the human refuse that clogs the planet's natural systems will lead to revised consumption habits...like trying to avoid [as much as possible] buying products that are packaged in one-use plastics.

All but the last four images are a photo essay created by Erin Rodriguez (third from the right).

Fredericka Dauvergne, Tyerence E. Brown, Ozana Gutierrez, Rachel Brander, Erin Rodriguez, Julia Marrone, and Rob Casimiro (left to right).

Kim-Nora explaining where to look for the wrack line and how to log observations of what’s found there.

 

Tyerence E. Brown doing a stellar clean up job in Rocky Point Marsh.

Rob Casimiro focuses on the small details of liberating the Marsh from human debris.

Fredericka Dauvergne…probably wondering which of the thousands of pieces of plastic to pick up first.

Fredericka Dauvergne, Tyerence E. Brown, and Rob Casimiro (left to right).

High of 47 °F | Humidity (avg) 48% | Wind @ 9 mph (NW) | High Tide 4.9 ft. @ 6:14 AM | Moon 88% visible.

Shervin visits Rocky Point Marsh to survey Sandy damage

First cleanup after Sandy

Looking west at the unwelcome gifts brought by Hurricane Sandy. Some of this debris, mostly plastics and lumber, was carefully arranged in large piles on the perimeter of the marsh. This causes a bit of a set back in terms of the tremendous progress that's been made over the past two years.

Looking west ... a closer look at what we will begin to tackle.

This is where I asked a group of CUNY oceanography students (who came out on a field trip) to help clean the area of plastic bags clinging to the trees.

The difference can been seen, after a couple hours of work.

Kathleen Schnaars-Uvino, Professor of Biology at the School of Professional Studies with her Oceanography students. They surveyed the beach habitat, as well as helped out with the cleanup effort to rid the marsh of post Hurricane Sandy debris.

High of 42 °F | Humidity (avg) 58% | Wind @ 15 mph (NW) | High Tide 4.9 ft. @ 11:44 AM | Moon 70% visible.