New York volunteers spent seven years preparing six 175-pound reef balls for Eastchester Bay

(Image credit: Sally Connolly/ Bronx Times) Volunteer efforts and years of research aimed at restoring the oyster population in the waters of Eastchester Bay have, after seven years, come to fruition. On October 9, 2026, volunteers with City Island Oyster Reef carried six concrete reef balls into the bay, near Delmour's Point, marking the organisation's first installation of permanent reef structures. According to the Bronx Times, through sustained research and planning near City Island, volunteers have now begun installing permanent artificial reef structures to encourage the return of native oyster populations.Each structure weighed approximately 175 pounds, or 79 kilograms, making the installation a huge undertaking for the volunteers and their families, who waded into the water to place them. The installation of the reef balls was therefore a memorial ceremony in itself.The organisation, which was founded in 2019, has spent much of this time studying the conditions around City Island to understand whether native oysters could survive and eventually establish a self-sustaining reef. Volunteers and researchers had been involved in monitoring water quality in the face of challenge...