Find out about oyster and other shoreline restoration. Hands on presentation by Marine Discovery staff with educational slideshows. Opportunities are available to become involved in this important and enjoyable project. Locations: Port Orange library meeting room from 4 pm-5:30. on Tue Feb 7th. New Smyrna Beach library meeting room on Mon. 13 Feb. from 4-5:30 [...]

Volunteers needed to walk beach or kayak and count birds Feb. 3, 2012; 8-10 am. For information contact Coralie Gilson: coralie@marinediscoverycenter or gunnsatbeach@cfl.rr.com.

by Coralie Gilson The Shoreline Restoration Community Stewardship grant project has ended, but the work doesn’t stop here. Hopefully, work will continue in the local communities of the IRL and Hali-fax river and nearby areas, where I spent the last 12 months giving workshops, presentations, homeowner visits, school programs and attending community meetings and events. [...]

Citizens and visitors are encouraged to play a role in preserving Volusia County’s beaches by participating in the International Coastal Cleanup from 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17. This worldwide annual event, hosted by the Ocean Conservancy features many locations along the coast for people interested in helping clean up the beach.

With grant funding in place, an upcoming project could breathe new life into the shoreline along the Halifax River. The project, funded by the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is aimed at restoring aquatic habitats within the shoreline by repairing oyster reefs and planting native vegetation. Doing this conserves and protects living marine resources and reduces the erosion-causing force of wave action.

With more than a hundred volunteers lending a helping hand for what was billed as the Great Cuda Cleanup, the grounds of the old New Smyrna Beach High School got a major sprucing up last Saturday. Former graduates, city officials and volunteers from the Marine Discovery Center and Artists’ Workshop, collected hundreds of pounds of debris, weeds, dead shrubs, and litter from the property.

Is it the World’s Most Famous Beach or the world’s largest ashtray? In 2008, more than 28,000 cigarette butts and 6,000 bottle caps were removed during beach cleanups, said Jennifer Winters of Volusia County Environmental Management. Area residents will get their chance to improve the beach environment by taking part in the International Coastal Cleanup from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sept. 19. Last year, 633 volunteers participated in Volusia County beach cleanups removing 2,700 pounds of trash.

Early morning traffic on the South Causeway rumbled by as the dozen or so volunteers hopped off the pontoon boat and into the salty waters of the Indian River Lagoon last Wednesday. Fiddler crabs scattered into the oyster shell beds that line the shore of Chicken Island as volunteers unloaded their supplies for the day: PVC pipes, hammers and scores of mangrove trees. The volunteers were part of Volusia County’s Environmental Management and the Marine Discovery Center’s restoration of the island, located in the middle of the lagoon, easily visible from behind the Marine Discovery Center and the city’s Administrative Office Building.

They start out as tiny red berries but quickly grow into a huge, insidious plant that can decimate an entire shoreline habitat. Brazilian peppers are an invasive plant that has taken over the shoreline along the Indian River Lagoon. The berries, a tasty treat for squirrels and birds, are spread up and down the shoreline, slowly displacing the native plants that help maintain the delicate lagoon ecosystem.

Volunteers from various organizations create oyster mats at the Marine Discovery Center on Jan. 18. Each mat contains 36 oysters, which will be placed with in the Canaveral Seashore boundaries.