Virginia Sea Grant:
Marine Scientist Jennifer Stanhope, VASG Graduate Research Fellow Annie Murphy, and Mark Luckenbach take water samples from the cores over the course of the day to measure the nutrient concentrations in the water. ©Margaret Pizer/VASG
Virginia Sea Grant:
Four cores surround the central tubeÑtwo in the dark and two in natural light. The cores enclose clams, mud, and water for several hours so that the researchers can measure the change in nutrient concentrations over time as the clams filter water and excr
Virginia Sea Grant:
The corner of a clam net in Cherrystone Inlet. Clams are planted directly in the mud of the bay and covered by large nets to protect them from predators. The nets form a substrate for a thick growth of algae, which clam farmers must periodically remove fr
Virginia Sea Grant:
Iris Anderson and Shellfish Culture Specialist Paige Smith use a modified can crusher to push a water sample through a filter. The sample will be tested for nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients. ©Margaret Pizer/VASG.
Virginia Sea Grant:
VIMS Masters student Gar Sechrist filters water to measure its chlorophyll content. ©Margaret Pizer/VASG.
Virginia Sea Grant:
Plots of clams in Cherrystone Inlet show up as dark patches separated by lighter alleys, while the VIMS team samples data from several sets of cores. ©Margaret Pizer/VASG
Virginia Sea Grant:
The team also samples the algae that grow on nets covering clam beds, as these algae are an important component of the clam farm ecosystem. Here, Gar Sechrist weighs an algal sample. ©Margaret Pizer/VASG.
Virginia Sea Grant:
Mark Luckenbach plants a set of four cores in a clam bed while Jennifer Stanhope looks on. The tube shown here contains a stirrer that will keep water circulating within each of the cores that surround it. ©Margaret Pizer/VASG.
Virginia Sea Grant:
A group of workers ride a barge to their clam farm in Cherrystone Inlet on Virginia's Eastern Shore. ©Margaret Pizer/VASG
Virginia Sea Grant:
The hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria. ©Margaret Pizer/VASG