Paynter Oyster Research Lab at the University of Maryland

12/16/2019

Paynter Oyster Research Lab at the University of Maryland updated their business hours.

Paynter Oyster Research Lab at the University of Maryland updated their business hours.

06/03/2019

We had a great time checking out the Severn River reefs in April. So happy to find that the plantings from last summer are doing great! Congrats to the members of SRA and the MGO growers supplying oysters to the Traces Hollow reef as well!

Divers Find Plenty Of Life On Budding Oyster Reefs

There is great news from the bottom of the Severn River! Your baby oysters are alive and well on the oyster reefs that are being restored between the Rt. 50 and USNA Bridges!

The good news comes from scuba diver Audrey McDowell with the University of Maryland’s Paynter Lab. When we needed a volunteer to take a look at our oysters, Audrey instantly raised her hand and recruited her pal Joshua Dykman to help out.

Based on this great news, SRA and Oyster Recovery Partnership are again asking for your help to plant 10 million more oysters on these very reefs as part of Operation Build-A-Reef, 2019. A $100 donation will plant a bushel of oyster spat-on-shell that contain thousands of baby oysters that will help filter and clean the Severn River.

More info: https://severnriver.org/programs/operation-build-a-reef/

09/06/2018

Rocking it in the Severn!! We’re gonna run out of buckets.....

09/05/2018

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Manokin River Selected for Large-Scale Oyster Restoration. Eastern Shore Tributary Provides Best Possibility for Success; State to Maximize Oyster Restoration in Anne Arundel County Tributaries.
http://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2018/09/05/manokin-river-selected-for-large-scale-oyster-restoration/

08/05/2018

It’s ! Oyster reefs play a crucial part in cleaning up the Bay’s water because a single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day. The Chesapeake Oyster Alliance has an ambitious goal of 10 billion new oysters by 2025 in Virginia and Maryland waters 💦

Each oyster sold at one of the participating restaurants in the DMV will fund the planting of 10 baby oysters onto sanctuary reefs in the Chesapeake Bay!

Learn more at nationaloysterday.org!

08/02/2018

Members of the University of Maryland’s Paynter Lab volunteered today with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to help clear out the storm debris from last weeks heavy rain and rainwater runoff at Sandy Point Beach. A big thank you to all the volunteers that we worked with and those who organized such a productive and rewarding operation!

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/dnr-volunteers-clear-sandy-point-state-park-of-storm-debris/22627199

Oyster Recovery Partnership
Maryland State Parks
Maryland Natural Resources Police
WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore

08/02/2018

DNR, volunteers clear Sandy Point State Park of storm debris

We had an awesome time clearing the beach! Thanks to DNR and the park service for organizing this cleanup. Can’t wait to get the beach back!

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/dnr-volunteers-clear-sandy-point-state-park-of-storm-debris/22627199

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and volunteers converged Thursday at Sandy Point State Park to clear storm debris.

08/01/2018

1430 WNAV

Breaking - the Maryland Department of Natural Resources/Maryland Parks will be conducting two, large-scale clean-ups with volunteers this week. Thursday, August 2nd & Saturday, August 4th starting at 9 am at Sandy Point State Park.

Volunteers can arrive whenever it's convenient for them. Volunteers are asked to wear solid shoes, bring bug spray, gloves will be provided and no small children as "the debris is a tangled mess of unknown."

They've asked volunteers to complete the volunteer form online prior to arriving: https://ec.samaritan.com/custom/1528/

07/02/2018

Intern Jake Schlenoff keeping watch for boaters on our day on the Severn. What would we do without him?

07/01/2018

We will be in the Severn River tomorrow checking out some 8 year old plantings by ORP.
We know it’s 4th of July week and no one expects divers in the Severn but WE ARE HERE WE ARE HERE WE ARE HERE.
If you see this flag on a boat or in the water PLEASE STAY CLEAR!!!!

06/05/2018

Oyster Recovery Partnership

Oyster Recovery Partnership

project forges compromise on achieving thriving fishery, ecosystem

06/04/2018

The Capital

http://digitaledition.capitalgazette.com/html5/mobile/production/default.aspx?pubid=8b1fea6b-b045-4d93-97a0-18b26dbb2c3b&edid=2570ebf4-cca8-46dd-8771-ea1b1ac2458d

Severn River to get 50 Million Oysters

The Capital - 06/01/2018

05/14/2018

Best of luck to you baby oysters. See you in 4-8 weeks!!!

04/24/2018

Oyster Recovery Partnership

A seasonal internship is available at ORP for a field technician position between mid-May and mid-August. The primary role of the intern is to document oyster-planting activities conducted by the planting vessel, the Robert Lee. The position will be based in Cambridge, MD, where ORP has a field office at our partner facility, University of Maryland Horn Point Laboratory. Applications due May 4. For more info: oysterrecovery.org/jobs/ (link in bio)

04/03/2018

A glimpse into a restored Chesapeake oyster reef | Chesapeake Bay Program

Thanks to Will Parson and the Chesapeake Bay Program for putting together this video about the Paynter Labs part in the amazing oyster restoration efforts happening on the Bay! We are so thrilled to share this with everyone!

https://www.chesapeakebay.net/news/blog/a_glimpse_into_a_restored_Chesapeake_oyster_reef

Researchers take a dive on Harris Creek three years after the last oysters settled

03/19/2018

Oyster Recovery Partnership

Oyster Recovery Partnership

Check out this underwater footage from the restored Harris Creek Oyster Sanctuary (completed in 2015) taken during an oyster check-in late last month. Divers found some great restored bottom and large clumps of oysters grown from spat on shell planted by the Oyster Recovery Partnership in collaboration with the Baltimore District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Horn Point Laboratory Oyster Hatchery.

As you can see, oysters naturally grow vertically to take full advantage of the oxygen and food sources that flow above the bay’s bottom.

Footage provided by Paynter Oyster Research Lab at the University of Maryland.

02/21/2018

We always enjoy having ORP members join us in the field. Hoping the weather will cooperate so she can join us this coming Friday for our first outing of 2018!

FIELD UPDATE: "In the fall and winter, my responsibilities as the Oyster Restoration Field Specialist for the Oyster Recovery Partnership shift from time aboard the Robert Lee planting vessel, to the research vessels CALLINECTES and CAPTAIN'S LADY, led by the University of Maryland’s Paynter Lab and local waterman Captain Ben Parks, respectively.

So for a few months, before the UMCES Horn Point Lab Oyster Hatchery ramps up the production of oyster larvae (baby oysters planted in the colder, stormy weather months have a low chance of survival), my duties change from planting oysters to monitoring those planted oysters through diving and patent tonging surveys. Monitoring includes post-planting observation, Dermo disease testing, surveying oyster size and abundance, and identifying the best areas for planting oysters.

CONTINUE READING: https://oysterrecovery.org/blog/field-update-megan/

07/31/2017

Dolphins spotted in the Bay between Tilghman and Poplar Island

Dolphins spotted in the Bay between Tilghman and Poplar Island last week off of the boat!

07/24/2017

Allison Potter helping an Eastern Box Turtle cross the road while on the way to a field day!
Scientific name Terrapine carolina carolina, the terrestrial reptile is found primarily in woodlands across the Chesapeake watershed when seen in Maryland.

07/15/2017

Happy PADI Women's Dive Day! A big shout out to our female divers who play an important role collecting our field data! Allison Potter, Anna Manyak Davis, Audrey Pleva, & Nellie Gold-Pastor

06/28/2017

Congrats to assistant lab manager Audrey Pleva for her first official lab dive!

06/19/2017

Dolphins in the Bay!

A pod of 30-40 dolphins greeted us on our commute to the Little Choptank River on Thursday!

06/14/2017

Big thanks to Les Burke and the UMD Neutral Buoyancy Lab for helping assistant lab manager Audrey Pleva and intern Nellie Gold-Pastor get full face mask SCUBA training at the Space Systems Laboratory this morning! Not a bad start to hump day!

06/12/2017

Paynter Oyster Research Lab at the University of Maryland's cover photo

06/12/2017

Paynter Oyster Research Lab at the University of Maryland

04/25/2017

Seeding project near Key Bridge looks to give oysters ‘a second chance’ in the Patapsco

Seeding project near Key Bridge looks to give oysters ‘a second chance’ in the Patapsco

Chesapeake Bay advocates are testing a strategy to give oysters a second chance in the Patapsco.

12/19/2016

Oyster Recovery Partnership

In 2016 ORP's Shell Recycling Alliance (SRA) reclaimed 30,000 bushels of shell, contributing to our best ever collection year to date. We also celebrated a 100,000-bushel shell recycling milestone – meaning over the last seven years we've collected enough shell to provide substrate for up to 500 million oysters! The SRA network grew by 38 new restaurants this year, and we added additional public drop off sites, including Baltimore City's recycling center on Sisson Street.

11/15/2016

Here at the Paynter Lab we have way too much fun in the field!! Drew Needham Audrey Pleva Allison Potter

09/30/2016

Oyster season opens tomorrow! Paynter Lab is ready to protect and serve our Chesapeake Bay Oysters. Thank you to Oyster Recovery Partnership for the sweet shirts!

09/21/2016

Paynter Lab getting down and dirty with some dermo, y'all!

07/19/2016

Blue Crabs in the Bay!

We took some excellent footage of two blue crabs while diving in the bay!

11/11/2015

The Paynter Lab is looking for people to get involved in our work! If interested, please email [email protected] .

Feel free to share with anyone who might like to join us.

10/20/2015

Harris Creek diving in early October was incredible! 15 foot visibility, crabs, gobies, blennies, nudibranchs, sponge, ctenophores, sea nettles, and of course, lots of oysters were all around, including lots on the granite constructed sites. Stay tuned for more updates from the lab, and thanks to our partners in the Oyster Recovery Partnership, Army Corps of Engineers, Horn Point Laboratory, and others!

08/03/2015

To all waiting for news from the Paynter Lab, the time has arrived! With the plantings from Horn Point Laboratory Hatchery now exceeding 500 million for the year, we are now in the midst of post-plant monitoring of planted bars after a successful season of ground truthing on Harris Creek and Little Choptank River bottoms. Most sites have done quite well, with more than a hundred surviving spat per square meter at some sites! We could not have accomplished this without cooperation from Horn Point Hatchery, the Oyster Recovery Partnership, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, watermen such as Captains Ben Parks and Bobby Leonard, and many more, so we thank you all, and to all a photographic salute!

05/14/2015

Back in Maryland once more, the Paynter Lab has been running its first dives of the season! We've been ground truthing potential bars to make sure that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Horn Point Laboratory plant the best possible oyster bottom for survival. Thanks to the captains, watermen, and crew who are making it all possible; we've got some promising plots to go on already, so your work already bears fruit! Dry Suit City, although not for long...Next stop: Little Choptank River. Horn Point Laboratory Oyster Hatchery

03/31/2015

Greetings from Monterey, CA! The Paynter Lab was at the National Shellfisheries Association Conference from the 22nd to 26th of March, 2015. We presented findings from our restoration research and studies of differential oyster growth on different substrates conducted alongside the Oyster Recovery Partnership and US Army Corps of Engineers, among many others. We received tons of great questions and input from our colleagues! Congratulations to our Ph.D. Candidate Hillary Lane for winning the George R. Abbe student research grant for her talk on slowed growth of blue crabs by high carbon dioxide in the Patuxent River! In addition, Hillary and Faculty Research Assistant Matt Spitznagel took time out for a little public outreach...diving in Monterey Bay with Aquarius Dive Shop. Chilly at 50-55F, but a wonderful time with a great group and wildlife (and visibility) everywhere!