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It's almost time for the arrival of spawning horseshoe crabs and hungry migrating shorebirds on Delaware Bay Beaches. You can help make sure that meeting is as trouble-free as possible by volunteering to be a Shorebird Steward.
During the month of May, shorebirds make an incredible trek from South America to the Canadian Arctic with one critical stop – the Delaware Bay. Shorebirds, including the federally-listed endangered red knot, will spend just a few short weeks feasting on horseshoe crab eggs that will give them enough energy to continue their migration. When the shorebirds arrive to the Delaware Bay, they are vulnerable to a wide range of threats including habitat loss, changing climates, and human disturbance. It is imperative that the birds spend the limited amount of time they have to feed on horseshoe crab eggs and meet the weight threshold that will sustain their journey to the Arctic breeding grounds. Providing this information to the public about how important these beaches and horseshoe crab eggs are to their survival and the Delaware Bay ecosystem as a whole, is a primary goal of the stewardship program.  Please join the American Littoral Society in welcoming Lindsay McNamara to our staff.
Lindsay, a born and raised Jersey Girl, has loved being at the beach for as long as she can remember. She thinks that everyone should get to experience finding a sand dollar fully intact, seeing a pod of dolphins swim across the current, and watching sandpipers scurry across the sand. Having first stepped foot in Building 18 back in 2012, Lindsay’s role at the Society has been a decade in the making. She enjoyed working on outreach efforts for our Delaware Bay habitat restoration work from 2014-2016 and is thrilled to join our great staff as the new Director of Development, Membership and Outreach. She comes to the Society with 10 years of experience working in conservation, development, and communications. Lindsay holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies and an M.A. in Public and Organizational Relations. In her spare time, you can find her photographing birds, reading, camping, or kayaking.  In this month of advocacy, the Society continues raising awareness about issues affecting our marine ecosystem faces specifically around shellfish, hurdles the organization faces to implement projects and grow programs, and action items to progress forward.
Shellfish are vital parts of the local economy as well as the ecosystem, as they serve to clean water, create habitat, and protect shorelines. Unfortunately, as the human populations grew along the coast, many shellfish species faced over-harvesting, disease, habitat loss, and ultimately mortality. In Barnegat Bay alone, oyster populations are less than 1% of their size 100 years ago. In an effort to reverse that decline, while also cleaning water and making the coast more resistant to storms, the American Littoral Society works to implement projects that involve living shorelines, oyster reefs, and shell recycling. Unlike beach replenishment, these projects address shoreline protection, habitat creation, water quality improvement, and oyster population growth. |
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