The culvert is moving along as another forty feet of culvert has been installed and back-filled with sand leaving 90 feet remaining! As you can see in the photo below, the culvert sections are staged and ready to go for the next 30 foot section. The crew estimates that they will have the project completed by December 31 if weather permits.

Dredging of the remaining approximately 18,000 cubic yards of sand in Wreck Pond began again and will continue through December 31. 

The Wreck Pond Citizen Science Monitoring Program was kicked off this past weekend as well. See below for a copy of the handbook and to learn more about the program. If you are interested in getting involved, email Julie at julie@littoralsociety.org for more information.

While fish sampling continues in search of juvenile river herring, the County is gearing up to begin removing the remaining approximately 18,000 cubic yards of sand/sediment from the Pond. Dredging will continue until December 31.

Although, we haven't found any juvenile river herring since June, we did find Pope Francis at the Spring Lake Italian Festival!

Meanwhile at the inlet, the construction crew has begun driving piles in for the next 40 foot section of culvert.  The culvert should be installed in the next week or two, after which they will move on to the next 40 foot section.

Exciting things are happening at Black Creek. Sediment samples were collected last week by Monmouth University for analysis as part of a proposed fish passage project that will include removal of 10,000 cubic yards of sediment and a passageway at the weir at Ocean Road. Stay tuned for results and check back next week for another update.

October 12th was a beautiful day at Wreck Pond and the construction crew is taking advantage of it. They have been working overtime to finish the crane pad and almost completed the coffer dam that will surround the area where the box culvert will be placed. 

Black-back sea gulls hanging out on the beach on the gorgeous fall day with the coffer dam and crane in the background.

This week at Wreck Pond - Construction was halted for a few days due to excessive winds and stormy conditions in the ocean (see photos above!). It will begin again once conditions are suitable and crews will finish building the coffer dam around the work area. The crane pad is nearly complete. Another week of seining was completed as well with a new catch of a sea horse! No alewife were captured, but hundreds of bay anchovy were captured. In previous years, the migration of juvenile alewife has been correlated with the occurrence of bay anchovy in the Pond. We will try again next Friday, October 14th at 10 AM. Contact Zack Royle at zack@littoralsociety.org if you are interested in joining us for the survey. 

We will be holding our first training session for Wreck Pond Citizen Science Monitors on October 22nd from 10 AM - 1 PM! Join us for snacks and beverages and learn how you can participate in this exciting new program and help us gain valuable information and data on water level, temperature, salinity and the presence and abundance of wildlife. Contact Zack at zack@littoralsociety.org for more information or to sign up for the training event!

After a stormy week, construction continues at the inlet of Wreck Pond. The crews are working hard to finish a 100' crane pad before continuing to build the coffer dam around where the culvert will be installed. This should take about another week and a half at which point the crew will begin preparing for the installation of several more pieces of box culvert.

Despite the blustery winds and heavy rainfall, Littoral Society biologists attempted to conduct our weekly seining for juvenile river herring. They managed to pull the net through the Spring Lake side of the Pond before the rain became too heavy. The catch included Atlantic silversides, sheepshead minnows, mummichog, and Northern kingfish. Seining will continue this Wednesday, October 5 at the inlet.

Love science? Love being outdoors? We are looking for dedicated individuals to join our Wreck Pond Citizen Science Monitoring Program. As a Wreck Pond Citizen Science Monitor, you will help us gain valuable information on the effects of the new box culvert on Pond water level, salinity and temperature. Bird monitors will help track long-term use of the Pond and the surrounding areas by shorebirds including endangered Piping Plover and threatened Red Knots. The information collected in this program will ultimately assist us in determining the overall success of the project. 

All volunteers will be trained in the proper monitoring protocols and provided with necessary equipment. If you are interested in becoming a Wreck Pond Citizen Science Monitor or would like more information, please contact project biologist Zack Royle at zack@littoralsociety.org.