Bookmark and Share: Party for the Planet April 28 Focuses on L.I. Sound Restoration

Sacred Heart University will host Party for the Planet, a shoreline cleanup, restoration and environmental awareness event Sunday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Stratford Point in Stratford.

Stratford Point

Party for the Planet will take place rain or shine, and activities are free and open to the public. Participants will join SHU BiologyProfessor Jennifer Mattei, her associates and volunteers from area schools to remove plastic and garbage from the shoreline and dig out invasive plants and replace them with native species. This preparation is just in time for the annual shorebird migration, horseshoe crab, fish and shellfish spawning season.

The event will support ongoing work to restore Long Island Sound’s coastal habitats and the wildlife they sustain by increasing marsh and upland areas while decreasing erosion, Mattei says. “Coastal areas of Long Island Sound and the wide variety of species that live at the interface of sea and land are experiencing significant environmental and habitat challenges due to erosion, pollution and human development,” Mattei explains. “Coastal habitats, particularly fresh and saltwater marshes, intercept runoff from farms, lawns, industry and waste-water treatment plants and actually clean the water before it runs into the Sound. While coastal habitat restoration benefits many species, we benefit the most from nature-based shorelines for protection from storm events and by enjoying clean water, air and the beauty of nature.”

The salt marshes and recently installed dunes may someday provide species like the endangered piping plover and least tern with new nesting grounds, Mattei adds. Spawning horseshoe crabs, now protected from harvest on Stratford beaches, already have been using the restored areas, which have accumulated more than 12 inches of sediment, to bury their eggs.

Mattei stresses that before the crabs and other spawning creatures who rely on the marsh, beach and dune habitats can safely spawn, the areas must be cleaned of plastic bags, straws, fishing line and other garbage that accumulated over the winter along the shorelines of the Sound and its tributaries, such as the Housatonic River.

The preservation efforts at Stratford Point have been ongoing since 2010. Projects include the installation of an artificial oyster reef, where oysters have started to colonize; the planting of low marsh grasses, high marsh grasses, dune grasses and wildflowers; and a mosaic of upland coastal trees and shrubs. The long-term strategy, according to Mattei, is to restore the synergy and interactions among coastal habitats and establish a coastal education and research center.  

Mattei and her colleagues at SHU also have been the drivers of an ongoing effort called Project Limulus to study and conserve the horseshoe crab population in Long Island Sound, which has been found to be declining. Teams of students, faculty and citizen scientists join to count and tag horseshoe crabs in late May and June. In connection with that, a free lecture entitled “Project Limulus: A Community Research Program will begin at noon on May 2 in SHU’s University Commons auditorium. More information on Project Limulus is available at www.projectlimulus.org, and information on continuing efforts to preserve Connecticut’s shoreline can be found at www.sacredheart.edu/livingshorelines.

Sponsors of Party for the Planet include the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, The Maritime Aquarium and Audubon CT at the Stratford Point Living Shoreline, with support from the town of Stratford and the Stratford Rotary Club. Refreshments will be served. Stratford Point is accessible from 1207 Prospect Drive, Stratford.