SeaTrees has partnered with Running Tide to restore degraded coastal habitat in Broad Cove, off the coast of Yarmouth, Maine. Running Tide is a global ocean health company that specializes in state-of-the-art ecosystem monitoring using various technologies, like environmental DNA (eDNA), remote underwater cameras, and real-time monitoring buoys that take hourly measurements of dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, pH, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity and transmit this information via satellite.

According to Friends of Casco Bay, the coastal ecosystem faces threats of increasing change caused by human activity including nitrogen pollution, ocean and coastal acidification, climate chaos, and stormwater pollution. These challenges are being driven by polluted runoff, boater sewage, and the threat of oil spills. Perhaps most daunting are the impacts of climate change and the changing chemistry of the Bay itself. 

By drawing in suspended particles from the water column and depositing them onto the seafloor, oysters enhance water clarity. Comparable to efficient pool pumps, a single oyster can filter up to 100 liters of water per day. When this filtration capacity is extrapolated to the millions of oysters within a reef, they emerge as the coast's equivalent of kidneys, effectively cleansing entire estuaries in a matter of days.

On a larger scale, oysters also exert a stabilizing influence on invertebrate communities, mitigating the impact of climate change across different latitudes, and providing intertidal species with a window of opportunity to adapt to the challenges of climate change.