Our Oyster Sill

Oyster shelf as viewed from balcony.

When you’re looking at the beautiful sound from our top floor balcony, you may wonder what that shadow is in the water. If the tide is low, you may be able to see the whole thing. Well what is it? It’s an oyster sill! The Ocean Club has been participating in a project through the North Carolina Coastal Federation to re-introduce oysters into our water systems.

The NCCF has been working with universities across the state since the 1990s to restore oyster reefs in our water systems. The sound behind the Ocean Club has been given a small-scale patch reef to grow oysters (who keep our water clean!) and provide shoreline stabilization. The reef is built of shell and concrete and seeded with oysters, creating the perfect environment for the oysters to thrive.

In 2023, our patch reef was actually expanded to make it larger, but during this project we became aware of some damage the reef had incurred due to people walking on it or hitting it with small watercraft. Now that you know, if you see anyone walking on the oyster sill, be sure to share the message:

DON’T WALK ON THE OYSTER SILL!

For more information on the project, you can visit the North Carolina Coastal Federation website.