 Littoral Society staff have been digging on beaches along Raritan Bay and Shark River for horseshoe crab egg density surveys. Recently, American Littoral Society staff have been crawling on beaches along the Raritan Bay and the Shark River.
Why have we been on our hands and knees, pawing through sand at these places? To count tiny eggs - little bigger than the grains of sand in which they are buried - which have been left by living fossils. These egg density surveys can provide crucial information toward the effort to protect horseshoe crabs, a species that is crucial to the health of our bays and has survived unchanged for more than 300 million years. Such surveys have been conducted for years along Delaware Bay beaches. But thanks to new funding, the Littoral Society has partnered with the NJ Delaware Bay Shorebird and Horseshoe Crab Project and Susan Linder, a field scientist with the Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition and Wildlife Restoration Partnerships (HCRC/WRP), to expand these vital surveys into Raritan Bay and Jamaica Bay.
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 We're getting ready to make some waves! Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated fish tagging members, the American Littoral Society Fish Tagging Program is about to reach a truly incredible milestone!
For 60 years, our diligent volunteer taggers have been passionately tagging saltwater fish along the Eastern Seaboard. Now, the countdown is officially ON: we're just a few thousand tags away from hitting our astonishing one millionth tagged fish! We're so close to hitting this incredible number we can almost taste it, like a striper on a grill. But we need your help to get there! We're seeking to raise $2,500 to directly support our Fish Tagging Program, which brings together seasoned anglers, citizen scientists and researchers to better understand the remarkable species inhabiting our coastal waters.  Each summer, the American Littoral Society provides young people aged 16-25 with a paid opportunity for employment and learning through our Restoration Corps (R-Corps) program.
R-Corps is more than just a summer job; it's a hands-on green jobs training and service program that equips participants with real-world skills in conservation, habitat restoration, and environmental education. In the past, these jobs were based out of our offices in Millville (Cumberland County, NJ) and in the heart of Jamaica Bay, Queens, in NYC. This summer, we're thrilled to expand the program to include positions at our headquarters on Sandy Hook (Monmouth County, NJ). The expansion of the program to Sandy Hook was funded by a generous donor. Our dedicated R-Corps teams don't just sit in classrooms; they get their hands dirty through hands-on work on our projects in local communities. How the Endangered Species Act Brought Wildlife Back to NY & NJ And Why It Needs Our Help5/20/2025  A bald eagle soaring, a whale breaching just off the beach, and seals sunning on sandbars are a thrilling and fairly common sight along the coast of New York and New Jersey.
If you've joined us for a Littoral Society walk on Sandy Hook or a Seastreak Seal and Bird Ecology cruise, you've likely seen these majestic creatures and more. During our Seastreak outings this year we were excited by the rare sight of a grey seal chilling like a boss on the rocks near the West Bank Lighthouse (they are far less common in these parts than their harbor seal cousins). We also got to witness a spectacular Gannet feeding frenzy, with hundreds of birds diving into the sea at speeds up to 70 mph to catch fish. But not too long ago they were seldom seen in this area. As a result of pollution, pesticides, human development and hunting, those and other wildlife had virtually disappeared. In 1974, Osprey were listed as endangered in New Jersey, with only a few dozen nesting pairs remaining. In that same time frame, only one Bald Eagle nest could be found in the state. Whales and seals disappeared for nearly a century, returning around 2010. That return wasn't just happenstance. These amazing animals are living testaments to the power of dedicated conservation; a success story in which the Endangered Species Act (ESA) played a pivotal role. Yet despite that evident success, the ESA is currently facing significant challenges.  As we approach the American Littoral Society's 40th anniversary of our New York State Beach Cleanup (NYSBC) program in 2026, we’re proud to reflect on another year of extraordinary impact made possible by our dedicated volunteers.
During the 2024 beach cleanup season, our statewide efforts rallied over 800 volunteers who removed more than 6,000 pounds of trash from shorelines across New York — from upstate lakes to Long Island’s coastline. This annual effort, led by our Northeast Chapter since 1985, is part of the International Coastal Cleanup and highlights the power of grassroots action. This year’s Coastal Cleanup Day is Saturday, September 20, and we invite volunteers of all ages and backgrounds to join us again in protecting our shores.  Nearly a dozen volunteers braved chilly temps and misty skies on Saturday, April 12 to lend a hand with a planting event at the living shoreline project on Shark River Island in Neptune, NJ. The work will help reduce erosion and protect a vital marsh.
The American Littoral Society is coordinated the volunteer event as part of a resiliency project funded by Neptune City and the Seaview Condo Association of Shark River. The overall project combines natural solutions - such as the living shoreline - with hard barriers, like concrete mattresses. "This area has suffered heavy erosion that not only impacts the condo owners but also the ecological community," said Capt. Al Modjeski, Habitat Restoration Program Director for the Littoral Society, who was on hand April 12 to help plant dozens of saltmarsh cordgrass plugs.  While Earth Day is Tuesday, April 22, the American Littoral Society will mark the occasion with a week of events that promise a range of opportunities for individuals to get involved and make a positive difference for the planet and the coast.
Our Earth Day festivities will include sprucing up our Slade Dale living shoreline project, a nature walk for kids ages 5-12, and a "Birds, Blooms, and Biodiversity" walk on Sandy Hook. More events may be added, so keep an eye on our website calendar. Earth Day Explorers Activities will kick off on Earth Day itself with an Earth Day Explorers walk on Sandy Hook. This fun and interactive nature walk will take children ages 5-12 on an exploration of the wonders of spring that can be found on Sandy Hook! Together, we’ll search for budding plants, returning birds, and buzzing insects   From the classroom to the field, students from New Jersey's Cumberland Regional High School (CRHS) didn't just learn about the vital role of habitat in a changing world – they became active agents of conservation and restoration. Their inspiring environmental stewardship journey was recently highlighted at the 2025 National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) conference in Philadelphia, PA.
The collaborative project, "Helping Pollinators Help Us: Creating Habitat for Climate Change Resilience," was a joint effort between Michelle Rebilas, Director of Education at the American Littoral Society, and Nicole Smith, the dedicated Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources teacher at CRHS. This initiative was made possible through the NOAA Planet Stewards funding opportunity, which empowers educators to lead hands-on, action-based projects that address environmental challenges within their communities and natural resources. The American Littoral Society has partnered with Cumberland Regional High School in Bridgeton, NJ for many years to implement various “green infrastructure” projects on the school campus. The NOAA Planet Stewards funding made it possible to build upon this partnership and embark on the 2-year effort to engage students in an environmental stewardship project that would increase pollinator habitat at their school and in the community.  While the old saying is that all streams run to the sea, what isn't mentioned is what they pick up and carry to that destination, which can include trash, fertilizers, and all sorts of pollution that can harm both the streams and the sea - as well as everything living in them.
In a previous post, we explored the Littoral Society's work with Loper Run, a Cumberland County, NJ stream where student science and long-term monitoring revealed a concerning decline in water quality. As part of the same larger project, funded by the William Penn Foundation, the American Littoral Society has been diligently collecting data from several other freshwater streams within the Cohansey and Maurice River Watersheds. These waterways, like Loper Run, ultimately feed into the vital Delaware Bay, reinforcing the understanding that the health of our bay is intrinsically linked to the well-being of these smaller tributaries. In this post, we'll take a closer look at another of these fascinating sites: Barrett's Run.  Get ready to take your fish tagging to the next level!
The American Littoral Society's Fish Tagging Program is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Fish-Trak, a free and innovative fish tagging and tracking app. This collaboration will revolutionize how our members record and track their tagged fish, bringing cutting-edge technology to our decades of conservation expertise. "The Littoral Society has long been a leader in marine conservation, with nearly 1 million fish tagged through its program since 1965," said Emily McGuckin, Fish Tagging Program Director. "This partnership marks a significant leap forward in combining decades of conservation expertise with cutting-edge technology." |
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