An Oyster Decline

Recent multimedia work on the decline of oysters in San Antonio Bay, Texas:

Houston Chronicle: Half Moon Reef

Coastal Restoration Coordinator for The Nature Conservancy Julie Sullivan holds oyster shells at the mouth of Oyster Lake on the Intercoastal Waterway near Matagorda, Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. With their Half Moon Reef Restoration project, The Nature Conservancy is hoping to revitalize a once bustling natural reef system in Matagorda Bay. (Ian Terry/For the Chronicle)

Old oyster shells pile up along the Intercoastal Waterway near Matagorda, Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. With its proximity to the fresh water of the Colorado River, the Half Moon Reef Restoration Project will be well suited to provide the mixture of salt and fresh water that oysters need to thrive. (Ian Terry/For the Chronicle)

Workers plant poles into the water to mark out areas for proposed reef rows at the Half Moon Reef Restoration site off the coast of Matagorda, Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. With an average water depth of approximately 5 feet, the project site is well suited for an oyster habitat. (Ian Terry/For the Chronicle)

Associate Director of Coastal Restoration at The Nature Conservancy Mark Dumesnil (left) looks over blueprints at the Half Moon Reef Restoration site off the coast of Matagorda, Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. The Nature Conservancy's project will provide new habitats for oysters in Matagorda Bay. (Ian Terry/For the Chronicle)

Associate Director of Coastal Restoration at The Nature Conservancy Mark Dumesnil looks through blueprints of proposed reef structures at the Half Moon Reef Restoration site in Matagorda, Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. The project, which is scheduled for completion in mid-December, will place nearly 50 acres of new limestone reef into Matagorda Bay. (Ian Terry/For the Chronicle)

Coastal Restoration Coordinator for The Nature Conservancy Julie Sullivan looks through old oyster shells along the Intercoastal Waterway near Matagorda, Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. The Nature Conservancy's Half Moon Reef Restoration project in Matagorda Bay will be completed in 2 phases. (Ian Terry/For the Chronicle)

Associate Director of Coastal Restoration at The Nature Conservancy Mark Dumesnil drives his boat through Matagorda Bay near the Half Moon Reef Restoration site off the coast of Matagorda, Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. (Ian Terry/For the Chronicle)

Located in a northern lobe of the Gulf Coast's Matagorda Bay, the Half Moon Reef Restoration site, which will provide nearly 50 acres of new limestone reef habitat for oysters and other organisms, is scheduled for completion in mid-December of 2013. (Ian Terry/For the Chronicle)

The Houston Chronicle | November 3, 2013

Preparing for the Whooping Cranes

On a recent Saturday, I spent the day tromping around the swamplands off the coast of Rockport, Texas with a group of volunteers who came out to prepare the land for the arrival of the whooping crane.

Click here to read my article on the day and to see more photos.