Even on a celebratory boat ride, Patti Child asked her students to do some quick math.
“Someone look it up, what’s 70,295 times 50?”
“3,514,750!” One student yelled.
They were calculating how many gallons of water the class has helped clean through oyster restoration over the past 10 years. A single adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day.
Throughout the decade, students from the Baltimore Lab School have grown approximately 70,295 oysters in Baltimore Harbor. That number included over 11,500 oysters the kids were planting that very day.
“Millions of gallons filtered, all because of our oysters!” Ms. Child exclaimed.
Patti Child is the outdoor education coordinator at Baltimore Lab School. She and her students have been oyster gardening with CBF for over 10 years.
Valerie DiMarzio/CBF Staff
Despite the rain on this early May trip, excitement from Ms. Child and her students was palpable. Most of them had been out on CBF’s Baltimore Harbor education boat, the Snow Goose, before. For some, dozens of times. But that day, there was something special in the air. Maybe it was the culmination of Ms. Child’s 10 years of changemaking, or the kids’ subconscious countdown to summer break.
Or perhaps it was because last year, this annual outing was not in the cards. In fact, it had been over a year since CBF’s oyster team has planted new oysters out in the Harbor.
For the first time since the tragic Key Bridge collapse last March, our staff is officially resuming oyster restoration work at the Fort Carroll sanctuary reef in the Patapsco River.
“We’re very excited to be planting these oysters out at Fort Carroll today,” said CBF’s Maryland Oyster Restoration Coordinator, Kellie Fiala. “These students and the local community have been working hard to grow these oysters, and they should get to reap the water quality benefits they’ll provide here.”
The young oysters that Baltimore Lab School planted were developed through “oyster gardening”—a process of growing oysters in cages to help them survive their first year of life. This is when they are at their most vulnerable, and the cages keep them elevated from sinking into the Bay’s muddy bottom.
Lab School students have been growing 20 cages of oysters at Lighthouse Point Marina.
Valerie DiMarzio/CBF Staff
Now that these oysters are about one year old, it was time for them to head to their new forever home: Fort Carroll.
Above water, Fort Carroll looks like a floating concrete hexagon often swarming with migratory birds. But below the water, this former military fort is even more unique than meets the eye.
All around the bottom of the structure is a large oyster-sanctuary reef, where CBF and partners have been planting oysters for decades. The oysters there will never be harvested and are protected for their water quality benefits and to provide habitat for other aquatic species.
“People used to say you couldn’t grow oysters in the Baltimore Harbor,” said Fiala. “Maybe because of the low salinity or poor water quality. But either way, we’ve proven them wrong.”
Today, oyster restoration is a critical part of our efforts to clean the Harbor and Chesapeake Bay. Oysters are natural filter feeders—whether they are hanging in a cage or part of a large sanctuary reef. There are currently millions of oysters thriving around Baltimore Harbor, cleaning the water.
These young oysters are about one year old and were grown on recycled oyster shells.
Valerie DiMarzio/CBF Staff
“The oysters that we grow here in the Harbor through oyster gardening, we like to keep in the Harbor,” Fiala added.
We do this so that the volunteers can experience the power of oysters in their own community. Unfortunately, last year that goal could not be achieved.
As every Marylander knows all too well, the horrific Key Bridge collapse was felt across every aspect of our lives. The Port of Baltimore’s closure made it impossible for us to access the Fort Carroll sanctuary. Because of this, we decided to relocate the Harbor oysters to a similar ecosystem—the Magothy River.
We also couldn’t see if the oysters already living at Fort Carroll had survived. Given how close the reef lies to the bridge site, it was very possible that the reef had endured disturbances. For example, the initial collapse could have caused a turbidity bloom underwater, which could have smothered the oysters in sediment.
Thankfully, that was not the case.
The remaining Key Bridge structure can be seen behind the Fort Carroll military fort, which is home to a large oyster reef below the surface.
Valerie DiMarzio/CBF Staff
After several months of uncertainty, we surveyed the reef with underwater video footage after the Port reopened in June 2024. The oysters appeared to be healthy and thriving.
Like so much of nature, oysters are extremely resilient.
The Fort Carroll reef will continue to be expanded for restoration this year. CBF plans to plant roughly 500,000 oysters there throughout the summer, together with the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore.
Oyster restoration has been one of the Bay’s biggest success stories, in huge part to dedicated volunteers like Ms. Child and her students.
Lab School students, Michael and Sammy, hold up their growing oysters before planting them out on the Fort Carroll sanctuary reef.
Valerie DiMarzio/CBF Staff
Bittersweetly, this was Ms. Child’s last time planting oysters with her students. In just a few short weeks, she’ll be celebrating her retirement.
If you’re interested in helping carry on Ms. Child’s legacy by supporting this work or becoming a Baltimore oyster gardener, find out how with CBF's Maryland oyster gardening program.
Maryland Communications & Media Relations Manager, CBF
[email protected]
443-482-2023
Issues in this Post
Chesapeake Wildlife Chesapeake Wildlife Eastern Oysters Education CBF in Maryland
