Save those Oyster Shells for Restoration!

Having an Oyster Roast or Clam Bake? Save those Shells!

Save Oyster Shells (S.O.S.) for the Lynnhaven. If your organization (or you personally) have an oyster roast coming up, give us a call! We will pick up the oyster shell following your roast, and they will be cured and later used on a sanctuary oyster reef! Call 962-5398 or email.

In the Summer of 2006, Lynnhaven River NOW launched a pilot program with 8 Virginia Beach restaurants as well as public donations to gather and recycle oyster and clam shells which were used to build our LRNow/Athey Island Oyster Reef in the Spring of 2008. The pilot program was so successful, it is now an ongoing program in partnership with the City of Virginia Beach.

Look for the blue trash cans labeled "Shell Only" at these Public Drop-off Sites for your Oyster and Clam shells:

• Lynnhaven River NOW office, Brock Environmental Center, 3663 Marlin Bay Dr, Virginia Beach, VA 23455 (near the parking lot entrance from Marlin Bay Dr, set atop a wooden platform)
• Lynnhaven River NOW satellite office, 1608 Pleasure House Road, Suite 108. 
• VA Aquarium in the Satellite Parking Lot, 717 General Booth Blvd. (This is the parking lot ACROSS General Booth Blvd. from the main Aquarium building.) 
• Welton's Seafood, 940 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach
• Virginia Beach Landfill, 1989 Jake Sears Road, ask for directions at the gate.

Check out a video of how we collect our shell here:

Here is our own version of the Virginia Beach Oyster (shellfish) Trail! These VB Restaurants are saving their oyster & clam shells for us, and we hope you will patronize them and thank them for their participation:

• 21^st Street Seafood Company, 2106 Pacific Avenue
• Abbey Road Restaurant, 203 22nd Street
• Blue Seafood and Spirits, 2181 Upton Drive, Suite 420
• Bubba's, 3323 Shore Drive
• Captain George's, 1956 Laskin Road
• Chick's Oyster Bar, 2143 Vista Circle
• Coastal Grill, 1427 N. Great Neck Road, #104
• CP Shuckers, 1400 Atlantic Avenue
• CP Shuckers, 3232 Shore Drive
• Croakers, 3629 Shore Drive
• Croc's 19^th Street Bistro, 620 19th Street
• Dockside, 3311 Shore Drive
• Five 01 City Grill, 501 North Birdneck Road
• Harpoon Larry's, 216 24th Street
• Lucky Oyster, 2165 General Booth Boulevard
• Metropolitan Oyster Exchange, 972 Laskin Road
• Ocean Eddie's, 1506 Atlantic Avenue
• Rockafeller's, 308 Mediterranean Avenue
• Salt, 1716 Pleasure House Road, #101
• Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel,3501 Atlantic Avenue
• Steinhilber's, 653 Thalia Road
• Swan Terrace, 5641 Indian River Road
• Tautog's, 205 23rd Street
• Yukai Seafood Buffet, 1952 Laskin Road

Plastic Wasteland

Last week, an endangered 45-foot sei whale made the local news. Unfortunately, it was not good news. Several days after the New York Times had published an article titled, "Choking the Oceans with Plastic," this sei whale was discovered to have a 3"x5" broken plastic DVD case lodged in its stomach (find that article here). 

(photo credit: Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center)

The female sei whale was thin and there was no food found in her stomach. To think that a 45-foot behemoth beauty such as this could be brought down by such a small bit of plastic! It is no stretch of the imagination to think of the detriment to other species in an ocean plagued by plastic covering 40% of its surface, or 25% of the entire earth.

(photo credit: strangesounds.org)

As of yet, there is no viable solution to clearing these giant plastic garbage gyres covering our oceans. The best solution still remains prevention. People must understand that their garbage and trash must go somewhere, and too often, that somewhere is into the water, through their storm drain (either blowing there or washing there by water), by blowing or washing directly to roadside waterways, or from beaches. (I remain amazed by the number of solo cups and cigarette butts I routinely find scattered on my morning beach walks!) 

(photo credit: motherjones.com)

Unfortunately, some of the trash we find strewn about may be entirely unintentional, escaping from tipped trash cans, overflowing trash trucks, and unsealed garbage bags. Therefore, the most important form of prevention is avoiding all this waste in the first place. "Refuse" is rapidly gaining acceptance as the "4th R"-- "Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle." Do not accept excess disposable materials in the first place by using reusable bags (for produce and bulk food as well as bagging your groceries), bottles, and containers. (Most restaurants will even use your container for leftovers, if you bring one, avoiding styrofoam and plastic waste!). Get creative, and you'd be amazed how much extra trash you can prevent from ever entering the system. 

(photo credit: sustainableisgood.com)

When having items shipped, or purchasing new items from the store, provide feedback to the shipper or manufacturer regarding their packaging. Following public outcry regarding excessive shipping waste (example above), Amazon.com now requests packaging feedback.

Of course, for the trash that does escape or end up in our waterways, Lynnhaven River Now conducts monthly river cleanups (2nd Saturday of most months) at various locations in the watershed. Find more information about getting involved in an upcoming cleanup on our website-- lrnow.org or hold your own cleanup!

Please share your ideas for reducing waste in the comments!

Posted by Trista Imrich

Scoop the Poop!

You've heard us harp on this again and again, but with the recent beach closures, we feel it's not a topic that can be understated. All poo can be a source of bacteria for our waterways, particularly when we have a large storm event.

In the city of Virginia Beach, there are more than 40,000 registered dogs (it's estimated that there are closer to 400,000 dogs total in Virginia Beach). Even with that low estimate, with the average dog pooping .75 lbs, that means 30,000 lbs of poo deposited into our watershed every day. As I'm sure you can imagine, if all of that feces is not collected, that is a LOT of bacteria. Add to that the estimated 130,503 Canadian Geese (http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/) that reside along coastal Virginia, each producing 1 lb for 130,501 lbs/day (see previous blog entry for more on keeping them off your property), an unknown number of feral cats and wildlife, and you've got a whole lotta poo and bacteria on your hands (or at least your lawn).

Every time there is water (stormwater, car wash water, pressure washing water, pool emptying, watering plants or the yard, etc), the bacteria from any feces on the ground is going to wash away, either directly into the water, if it is on a beach or shoreline, or into a storm drain, where it will make its way into the river or the bay. Only 20% of the over 1,000 storm drains in our watershed are treated. The remaining 80% are draining directly into the river or bay.



At Lynnhaven River Now, we encourage all pet owners (especially dog owners) to sign the Scoop the Poop pledge, pick up a scarf (like Calvin is modelling above) to show others their commitment, and place a sticker on their city trash cans to remind others to scoop the poop as well. 

If your neighborhood or complex does not yet have a poop bag dispenser, we encourage you to apply for one through the askHRgreen Pet Waste Station Grant. You can find the application here. You must commit to installing the station, ensuring that it stays stocked with bags, and that the trash bag gets emptied, but the station itself is free of charge!

Of course, we'd be remiss to not mention the issue of boater discharge as well, which certainly contributes to the problem. We hope that all boaters remember that the Lynnhaven River is a NO DISCHARGE ZONE, which means no dumping, even if it treated sewage.


Bacteria in our water is a serious issue that deserves our attention and our action. On the economic side, dirty water can affect our tourism (which is largely based on our waterways). On a more personal level, it can affect our health, and our ability to enjoy the beautiful waters of Hampton Roads safely. Please, Scoop the Poop, and encourage others to do the same. It doesn't matter where you live, it's all going to the same place.

Written by Trista Imrich

No Butts About it... Cigarettes are Bad News for the River!

Keep Your Butts Out of the Lynnhaven!

How many times have you seen a curb, parking lot, or beach littered with cigarettes? Many people don't see cigarettes as pollution or trash. They believe that they are biodegradable, and will eventually disappear into the environment. However, even though cigarette filters, or "butts," may look like cotton, they are made of something called cellulose acetate, a type of plastic!  

On average, it takes anywhere from 18 months to 10 years for a cigarette filter to biodegrade, depending on environmentals. 

  

Environmental impact

In addition to plastic materials, cigarette filters release the toxic chemicals they are designed to collect from cigarette smoke into the environment.  These chemicals get washed into nearby waterways and can impact macroinvertebrate populations, which ultimately disrupt entire food webs.  These filters are also eaten by larger organisms like fish and birds that mistake them for food.  Additionally, littered cigarette filters can start wildfires and cause massive ecological and economic damage.   

What can we do to solve this problem?

The simple solution is to start disposing of these filters properly.  While there are less ashtrays around these days, smokers can use a pocket ashtray.  You can get yours FREE HERE

There are also some new cigarette filter repurposing programs out there.  The Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company collects cigarette filters, and other cigarette material from the public to make various plastic products like ashtrays and shipping pallets.  You can find out more about this and sign yourself up here.  Another new and exciting potential use for these filters was discovered recently by scientists in South Korea.  They have converted the filter plastic into a material to be used in various electronic devises. You can read about this research here.

There is still time to turn this problem around.  Become part of the solution--no butts about it!   

Written by Clint Boaz, Edited by Trista Imrich

Tell Geese "Get Outta Here!" by Speaking their Language

Many who live in the Lynnhaven Watershed are all too familiar with the Canada goose. Waterfront homeowners have tried just about everything to keep them off of their lawn from string fences to fake alligators to pellet guns. Many of these attempts, unfortunately, fall short of removing these persistent birds from properties. So, try these new strategies that speak to the geese in their own instinctive language- predator versus prey:

Change their habitat

"Angry Goose", This Incredible World on Flickr.com

Geese are instinctively wary of tall grasses, brush, and forested areas where predators may be lurking. Talk to your neighbors who have marsh grasses growing along their shoreline and lots of shrubs and trees growing in their yards. They will tell you they see far fewer geese on their property than those with manicured lawns. Geese not only steer clear of shrubbery, but they seek out your lawn because they like to eat the tender, young grass shoots. Let the grasses within about 5 feet or more of your shoreline grow to a foot or more high. Geese view this as a barrier and won’t walk through it from the water. These grasses also create a buffer that keeps fertilizer and loose soil from flowing off of your yard and into the river during storm events. If the geese attempt to fly over your tall grasses, they will be even more deterred to stay on your property if shrubs and trees are planted throughout. A yard full of tall grasses, shrubs and trees signals to geese that it could be full of predators and lacking yummy grass shoots. They’ll fly away to find a nice, short, safe lawn full of food at your neighbor’s house.

Like the look of a manicured yard, rather than tall grasses? Replace lawn with planted beds.

If you aren’t so keen on the idea of unmowed grass, plant a marsh garden in areas that get flooded in storm events or at high tides. See our list of suggested “high marsh” plants in our Tidal Wetland Restoration Guide at http://www.lynnhavenrivernow.org/files/pages/Wetlands%20Pub%20for%20Website.pdf

On properties with riprap or bulkheads, plant a buffer garden at the edge of your shoreline. Many native shrubs and other plants can be planted in a beautiful mulched bed along your shoreline to keep geese out and pollutants like fertilizer and loose soil in.  

Search the Native Plants Database by state at http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ to find native plants that are best for your yard. Buffer gardens can also be planted upland of a marsh garden on natural shorelines. You can also get free trees for your yard from LRNow! See details at www.LRNow.org.

Buffer garden on Lyon property on the Lynnhaven River

Don't feed the geese. 

Feeding geese bread crumbs while you’re at Mount Trashmore might seem like something fun to do with the kids, but you are just telling the geese you want them to stick around and teaching your kids how to pollute the river. Like most animals, geese will always come back for a free meal! Why migrate south for the winter when they can just go to Lake Trashmore for bread? The University of California-Davis estimated one goose produces an average of about 5 pounds of poop per day, which contains a lot of bacteria, most of which is E. coli. When it rains, where does all that E. coli go? That’s right, into the river. So, remember- what goes in must come out! The less bread we feed the geese, the cleaner the river will be.

Humanely harass them.

Decoy dog and un-bothered geese, Frank Lundberg

If all else fails by altering their habitat and our habits, you can try a few more scare tactics that may rattle their gaggles. A quick internet search for special lasers and light-emitting devices used to scare geese will produce a line-up of lights that supposedly scare off geese settling down for the night if used properly at dusk. But, if you live near a sandy beach, please don’t use this tactic as it could create a dangerously confusing situation for baby sea turtles seeking the light of the moon to steer them towards the sea.

Motion-activated sprinklers are another high-tech strategy that could startle grazing geese. In combination with some well-placed predatory landscaping, this method could frighten geese enough to send them packing.

A myriad of chemical solutions are also recommended by various online sources, but we would advise against using these chemicals. Whatever you put on your lawn flows right into either a storm drain or your shoreline, both of which lead directly to the river. No one wants weird chemicals in their water.

All of these tactics can be useful, especially if combined and if done repeatedly. Remember, you are essentially training the geese to view your yard as unsafe and uncomfortable. Since they don’t speak English, we can only do our best to speak to them in their natural language. Take away their food and a safe habitat and your resident geese should decide to fly the coop!

Gardening for Pollinators

Pollinators may occasionally seem to be a bother, but please try to enjoy them and work with them--your plants (and our food crops) need them!

Pollinators come in all shapes and sizes.  The first pollinators that likely come to mind are bees. While they are great pollinators, they aren’t the only ones moving pollen around.  Other big contributors include: bats, hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths. 

Let's talk a second about what pollination is and how pollinators are moving the pollen around.

Pollination is simply the movement of pollen grains from a flower’s male part (the anther) to its female part (the stigma).  Most plants (over 75%!) depend on their relationship with pollinators to move pollen in order to make seeds and reproduce.  Since plants are the basis of most food chains, these relationships between plants and their pollinators are crucial for many life forms.  Even agriculture depends on pollinators.

The plant however, is not the only one benefiting from this relationship.  Plants produce nectar to attract pollinators which provides important nutrients and energy to pollinators.  While the pollinators are busy moving from flower to flower drinking up the plant's nectar, they are also bumping and shaking the pollen around and end up transporting pollen from flower to flower.  This is a great example of mutualism between plants and animals, a relationship where both organisms benefit.  Pollination that occurs between different plant species can create more genetic diversity and, thus can help plants to become more resistant to environmental pressures.

Native plants are critical to these pollinators! 

Planting native plants is always a good idea, but when it comes to gardening for pollinators, it is absolutely critical. Pollinators prefer native plants even though they will gather nectar from other plants as well. Native plants evolved to be pollinated by local pollinators and thrive through this relationship. In fact, many insect pollinators (like the monarch) are entirely reliant upon 1 specific host plant (milkweed, in their case).  If that specific plant is not available, the species will not survive.  This guide to "Selecting Plants for Pollinators," is a great place to find what plants are right for you: http://pollinator.org/PDFs/OuterCoastal.rx5.pdf. For instance, beetles prefer dull white or green, large bowl-like flowers that emit a fruity scent. Examples include the Pawpaw and the Magnolia.

Plants placed in large bunches rather than small clusters are more likely to attract a pollinator's eye. Also make sure to incorporate a good variety of plants, including ones that bloom at different times so as to encourage the greatest diversity of pollinators to visit your yard throughout the season. 

Another great resource for pollinator information can be found here:

http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/pdfs/PollinatorBookletFinalrevWeb.pdf

    Compiled by Clint Boaz, Intern; Edited by Trista Imrich, Pearl Homes Coordinator, LRNow

Diamondback Terrapins

Diamondback Terrapins are one of our favorite river critters! Named for the diamond-shaped growth rings on their top shell, they are the only U.S. turtles that only inhabit brackish water, like estuaries, tidal creeks, and salt marshes. These guys and gals are homebodies, spending most of their life in one area, and staying close to shore, with no long-distance migrations. These guys eat fish, snails, worms, clams, crabs and marsh plants. They hibernate during the winter by burrowing into the marsh mud, and they nest on sandy beaches. The terrapin's mating season is May through July (now!), and after a 60 day gestation period, they lay their clutch of around 8-12 eggs. Hatchlings emerge from August to October, and the egg remains can be seen across the beach at PHP throughout the late summer and fall. Here's a pic of a freshly hatched little one!

As their habitat quality and quantity decreases, their numbers do as well, and they are considered to be a "federal species of concern." Pleasure House Point (PHP) provides wonderful habitat to these turtles, making its continued care and enhancement even more significant.

Lynnhaven River Now is happy to be working with the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Department on way to protect the diamondback terrapin's nesting habit from human and pet traffic at PHP. We have created a Google map, where anyone can leave the location, date, time and details of a terrapin sighting. If you're out walking at PHP and see a Diamondback Terrapin or even an abandoned nest or eggs, add your sighting to the map here by:

• Signing in to your Google account
• Clicking on the red "Edit" button on the left side of the screen
• Selecting the balloon shaped symbol from the upper left corner
• Placing it on the map at the approximate location of your sighting

The more information you can give in the description box, the better!

Please remember when you are out in our city, state, and federal parks (or anywhere), that although these turtles might be awfully cute, these are wild animals, not pets! Terrapins have a special ecosystem that they require to be happy and healthy, and they are happiest left in the wild where they belong.

More Terrapin resources:

Chesapeake Bay Program

Diamondback Terrapin Working Group

The Wetlands Institute

Virginia Institute of Marine Science