Thank you to everyone who participated in this important project at Florida Oceanographic!

It began with renowned Florida-resident Eco-artist Xavier Cortada putting together an installation of red mangrove seedlings, displayed in clear cups along a large wall at the Martin County Administration Building. The Reclamation Project is a participatory art project about existing in our natural world.

On Thursday, October 8 th, South Fork High School students and their teacher, Chad Stringer, along with Vincent Encomio, PhD, Florida Oceanographic Research Scientist, removed the seedlings and prepared them for their final destination; Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center's shoreline on the Indian River Lagoon.

Wonderful volunteers joined in on Saturday, October 10th to help replant the mangrove seedlings. Replanting the mangrove seedlings will restore the native plants to the shoreline. Mangrove roots help prevent shoreline erosion, and provide habitat for small fish and crabs.

Florida Oceanographic would like to thank Mark McGee of FL DEP SE Aquatic Preserves for his technical assistance in mangrove plantings and Jamie Powell of the Marine Resources Council for providing bamboo material and technical assistance. We would also like to thank partners Jennifer Whiting of Keep Martin Beautiful, Baret Barry and Kim Roden of Martin County Engineering, and Chad Stringer and his students from South Fork High School. We would also like to especially thank Meg Whitmer, Coordinator for the Reclamation Project on the Treasure Coast , for making this important project happen

For more information about Florida Oceanographic or its research projects, visit our website: www.fos-cc.org. Contact information for Vincent Encomio: vencomio@fos-cc.org, 772-225-0505 ext. 112.