On Wednesday, November 6th at 7pm, the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program is hosting a showing of the documentary "Turning Brown Tides Blue: A Restoration Success Story in Shinnecock Bay" with Dr. Christopher Gobler, Dr. Ellen Pikitch, Mike Doall, Dr. Bradley Peterson, and Christine Santora, from Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
This lecture will take place in Chancellor's Hall in the Duke Lecture Hall on the SBU Southampton campus.
The abstract appears below. We hope to see you there!
Water quality impairment is unfortunately all too common in coastal environments. Excess nitrogen, harmful algae blooms, and lack of natural filtration from shellfish are the result of unchecked human activity over years and decades. This was the situation in Shinnecock Bay in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, where brown tides were intense annual events. In 2011, professors at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences came together out of desire to remedy this problem. The idea was to create an “in the water” solution that could address deteriorated water quality and reverse the trajectory in an immediate way. The Gobler, Pikitch, and Peterson labs successfully raised funds and implemented a plan to restore natural filtration within the bay by replenishing hard clam populations on a large scale. What makes the ShiRP program unique is that it is about more than just hard clams. It is an ecosystem-level approach, where the estuary is considered as a whole, functioning system, and the restoration is supported by strong scientific understanding. The results in Shinnecock Bay have been remarkable. A documentary made by filmmaker Zak Ettlinger and ShiRP staff tells this inspiring story. Join us for a screening of this short film, followed by a panel Q&A with the project’s scientists addressing the work that has been done, and the cutting edge work that is planned for the future.
