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Fisheries Conservation
  • Woman holding PVC camera rig with two GoPro cameras attached at the base over the edge of a small boat in the water.

    Camera rig used for capturing images of oyster reefs

  • An underwater picture of an oyster reef with an abundance of oysters and bryozoans covering the seafloor.

    Restored oyster reef in Harris Creek, Maryland

  • An underwater picture of a barren oyster reef with lots of exposed mud and few oysters on the seafloor.

    Harvested oyster reef in Broad Creek, Maryland

Welcome to Oyster Cam

Help scientists and communities monitor the success of oyster restoration efforts

The Oyster Cam project connects scientists with communities interested in monitoring oyster reef restorations, giving volunteers the tools to see what's going on beneath the water's surface. 

The Oyster Cam methodology is simple: attach cameras to a PVC frame and toss it in the water. The footage captured gives us a snapshot of the oyster reef that we can use to understand how well oyster restoration is working at that site. Four river stewardship organizations around the Chesapeake Bay have already started testing this method out and the data we are getting back is awesome! 

Once we have the footage, screenshots are taken from the videos and uploaded to an interactive online platform called Zooniverse. On Zooniverse, students and volunteers are able to analyze images from each site so we can determine restoration success. 

Ultimately, scientists will use this data to assess reef health in order to report back to communities about the status of their restored reefs. 

Want to help us analyze the images of the oyster restoration sites? Stay tuned! We’re in the pilot phase and hope to launch in 2025.

Oyster Cam is made possible by funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, Smithsonian Life on a Sustainable Planet, and donations from people like you! 

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