(Center) Rickey Brown of the Norfolk District Safety office administers a safety briefing to 17 Seatack Elementary School 4th graders, upon arrival at the district. Far right is: Jessica Grell, Seatack Elementary partner-teacher, Karin Dridge, Norfolk District Oyster Reef project manager, and Betty Grey Waring, chief of Norfolk District Operations Branch. The students were on a field trip to learn about their environment and participate in oyster spat data collection. The current native oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay is less than one percent of its original total when English Captain
(Center) Rickey Brown of the Norfolk District Safety office administers a safety briefing to 17 Seatack Elementary School 4th graders, upon arrival at the district. Far right is: Jessica Grell, Seatack Elementary partner-teacher, Karin Dridge, Norfolk District Oyster Reef project manager, and Betty Grey Waring, chief of Norfolk District Operations Branch. The students were on a field trip to learn about their environment and participate in oyster spat data collection. The current native oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay is less than one percent of its original total when English Captain John Smith arrived in Virginia in the early 17th century. He would later describe in his journal that the oysters were as “big as dinner plates.” In a continuing effort to restore the Bay’s oyster population, Norfolk District, US Army Corps of Engineers, has constructed about 400 acres of sanctuary oyster bars in Virginia waterways that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. Currently, Norfolk District employee-volunteers and partner Seatack Elementary School in Virginia Beach, Va., have constructed an oyster sanctuary reef along the Elizabeth River shoreline of the district’s waterfront property. Together the team is growing 14,000 new baby spat oysters, or garden oysters, to join the 10,000 maturing oysters placed on the reef from last year’s floats. (US Army photo/Gerald Rogers) 121101-A-HS496-001 by norfolkdistrict
Size: 1936px × 1291px
Photo credit: © Military Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: airforce, airmen, army, bay, chesapeake, conflict, education, environmental, forces, marine, military, native, navy, news, oyster, partnership, politics, protection, public, restoration, sailor, soldier, states, stewardship, united, war
