A Battle Fought on Land and Sea

In discussions of our rapidly changing climate, 71% of the earths surface, the ocean, is frequently left out of the picture. Although underrepresented in mainstream conversations, our oceanic and marine challenges are no less prevalent, and are often intertwined with nearly all other climatic challenges that we face. Dead zones caused by nutrient pollution and oxygen depletion, ocean acidification caused by increased carbon dioxide uptake, and rising temperatures and sea levels are just a handful of the problems that are causing harm to our world’s oceans and the people and life that depend on them. At Hump Island, we use a multi-front approach to fight these problems with two naturally occurring heroes: Oysters & Kelp.

Our goal is to filter 1 trillion gallons of water by 2030.

Oysters play a vital role as the kidneys of the ocean, filtering out pollutants and leaving behind clean water.

Oysters:

• Filter up to 50 gallons of water a day

• Regulate healthy levels of nitrogen and phosphorus

• Remove harmful pollutants from our waters, such as herbicides and pesticides

• Provide vital shelter and habitat for marine life like shrimp, crab, and herring, which in turn attracts more species to the area

Since 2011, Hump Island’s oysters have filtered approximately 500 billion gallons of water.

Kelp, the forests of the ocean, sequester up to 20x more carbon dioxide per acre than forests on land.