Savin Hill Cove Oysters
Site Visit 9/30/11
Site Observations: It was a warm sunny morning air temperature was 62ºF. Low tide was at 7:38am. First site, further into the cove was a small rocky area between two areas of salt marsh grasses. In this area you can see the ground water washing down the rocky shoreline pushing the silt sediment to either site, making a channel of clear water with a continuous flow. This is where we found 3 Native oysters (Crassostrea virginica ), and 21 European oysters (Ostrea edulis). The first oysters were found about 10 ft from the shoreline as we continued down the small channel it merged with the larger channel that cuts through the center of the Savin Hill Cove mud flat. In this main channel we found the bulk of site one’s oysters. We then walked along this main channel being careful not to step on the oysters.
In the second site we found some in the main channel, however the bulk of the oysters were found in a larger sub channel that ran off the rocky shore line and joined the main channel. In the second site we found 11 native oysters (Crassostrea virginica ), and 164 European oysters (Ostrea edulis), many of the oysters in this area where found with spats on them. The oysters where found all along this second channel from where the main channel merged up onto the rocky shore. These oysters were not as far from the shoreline as they were at site one. In both sites, we found small oysters a little bigger than a silver dollar and some much larger that fit in the palm of your hand. We thought the larger oysters maybe 5 – 6 years old, but until further analysis we are not positive on their age.
We attempted to use a YSI to take water quality measurements, but the probes were faulty.