Preparing for a New Oyster Reef

PenderWatch and Conservancy is a local organization that takes good, positive action toward keeping a healthy environment in the ares in which I live, Hampstead, NC, USA.

The people you see in this scene are filling bags with oyster shells that will be placed into the Intracoastal Waterway to help save our shores while also helping sustain a healthy oyster population.

It is fascinating to watch the procedure by these 20 or so men, women and children:

1. collecting the oyster shells from several drop-off points in our county
2. building huge piles of oyster shells behind an abandoned county-owned building
3. cutting of the bags from a spool (the bags are actually tubes at this point)
4. tying off one end of the bag to actually give it a "bottom"
5. placing a plactic form with a handle inside the bag forimg a container
6. assembling the tube into sets that will not fall over as they are being filled
7. filling the tubes with a payloader (about 24 at a time)
8. clearing excess oyster sheels
9. removing the tube leaving the bag filled with oyster shells
10. twisting, then crimping the top of the bag so the shells can fall out
11. placing the heavy bags into very large "tote bags".
12. moving the filled tote bags to a place where they will remain until they will be transferred to the water for the construction of the reef.