Our restoration efforts along the Delaware Bay began immediately following Superstorm Sandy. The storm caused the loss of nearly 70% of horseshoe crab habitat on the New Jersey side of Delaware Bay. In 2013, a team led by the American Littoral Society and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jerseyrestored just over a mile of damaged horseshoe crab habitat successfully, thus avoiding a natural catastrophe for northbound migrating shorebirds that depend on building weight from horseshoe crab eggs.
This work has continued to this day. So far we have restored portions of or completed stretches at eight beaches along New Jersey's Delaware Bayshore.
Pierce's Point, Cape May County, NJ (2013, 2014) Much of the debris removal on Pierce's Point centered on destroyed bulkheads and old pilings. Once removed we brought in sand and graded the beach to create a suitable habitat for horseshoe crabs and migratory shorebirds. The following year we returned to the restored beach to place additional sand. Project funded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Department of the Interior through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013
Kimble's Beach, Cape May County, NJ(2013, 2014) Following the the removal of rubble and debis we trucked in sand from local sand mines and added it to the beach with a grade and depth suitable for horseshoe crab spawning and migratory shorebird foraging. The following year we returned to the restored beach to place additional sand. Project funded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Department of the Interior through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013
Cook's Beach, Cape May County, NJ (2013, 2014) In 2013, we cleared the beach of rubble and debris left behind and exposed by Superstorm Sandy. Following the clean up, we trucked in sand from local sand mines and added it to the beach with a grade and depth suitable for horseshoe crab spawning and migratory shorebird foraging. The following year we returned to the beach to place additional sand. Project funded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Department of the Interior through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013
Photo by Tim Boyle / ACOE
South Reeds Beach, Cape May County, NJ (2013, 2014) Work on South Reeds beach began in 2013 and included rubble and debris removal and the addition of new sand graded to an appropriate profile. We also experimented with using oyster aquaculture equipment to see if it could successfully act as a mechanism to attenuate wave action on the beach. (It didn't work out great.) This beach will also be the location of our second attempt at wave attenuation using intertidal oyster reefs. Project funded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Department of the Interior through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013
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Moore's Beach, Cumberland County, NJ (2013, 2014) Before work could begin on Moore's Beach we first had to fix the road leading to the beach. We crushed concrete which had been removed from the beach and utilized it to fix the road. Following the repairs we trucked in sand from local sand mines and added it to the beach with a grade and depth suitable for horseshoe crab spawning and migratory shorebird foraging. The following year we returned to the restored beach to place additional sand. Project funded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Department of the Interior through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013
Thompsons Beach, Cumberland County, NJ (2015) To restore Thompsons Beach, our team removed debris from the beach, removed rubble from the road leading to the beach, and placed over 40,000 cubic yards of sand (weighing over 9 million pounds) onto the beach. We were filled with pride when we saw sanderlings and ruddy turnstones feeding this August on horseshoe crab larvae on our newly restored beach.
South End Beach, Fortescue, Cumberland County, NJ (2015) This project began in early 2015 and involved adding sand to the beach and grading it to create appropriate wildlife habitat. We worked with seasoned, local companies, H4 and Ricci Brothers to put the sand on the beach. Downe Township has recently been working on the removal of concrete rubble from the beach.
Dyer's Cove, Cumberland County, NJ (2016) Dyer's Cove is located between Fortescue and Gandy's Beach in Downe Township. We will be placing up to 20,000 cubic yards of sand along an approximately 0.37 mile stretch of beach.