SanCap Shell Club Awards Grants To Support SCCF Restoration, Education, Research

provided to The Santiva Chronicle

The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club has awarded $15,000 in grants to the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation to support oyster restoration, youth environmental education, and marine research in Southwest Florida. The funding includes three $5,000 grants benefiting SCCF’s Coastal Watch, Sanibel Sea School, and Marine Laboratory.

The SCSC awards grants annually to support projects that advance the study of mollusks and their role in Southwest Florida’s marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. Funded work is often related to water quality and public education efforts in the Gulf.

The SCCF grants will support Coastal Watch’s oyster restoration efforts, Sanibel Sea School’s “A Week in the Field” camp that teaches high schoolers what’s it’s like to be an environmental scientist, and a new study at the Marine Lab analyzing a sea slug’s ability to forage on the macroalgae Caulerpa fastigiata, which has been increasing in Matlacha Pass and is potentially associated with seagrass decline.

Coastal Watch
SCCF’s Coastal Watch team will use the $5,000 grant to support a volunteer-driven oyster restoration project in Tarpon Bay, with funds covering the cost of fossilized oyster shell and transportation to restoration sites.

Four-inch, washed fossil shells sourced from central Florida will be placed in pre-designated areas to build reef elevation and provide substrate for oyster spat to settle and grow. The multi-year project began this year and will continue through 2027.

Community members play a central role in the effort, with SCCF facilitating weekly, hands-on volunteer restoration events that allow residents and visitors to directly contribute to oyster reef recovery.

“This project serves as a powerful outreach tool, increasing public awareness of the ecological value and ecosystem services provided by oyster reefs, including shoreline stabilization, water filtration, and habitat provision for estuarine species,” said SCCF Coastal Watch Director Kealy Pfau.

Sanibel Sea School
The $5,000 grant awarded to SCCF’s Sanibel Sea School will support “A Week in the Field,” a free camp that introduces high school students to hands-on environmental research. Funds will help cover teaching and instruction, transportation, field sampling equipment, and lab supplies.

During the camp, students will engage in multiple experiments focused on mollusk health in the Gulf, including collecting water samples and testing how shell dissolution changes with varying acidity, demonstrating the impact of ocean acidification on mollusks.

“The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club grant will help create lasting connections between young scientists and the conservation of the very ecosystems — and mollusk populations — that the Club works so passionately to protect,” said Youth Education Director Shannon Rivard.

Marine Laboratory
The $5,000 grant awarded to SCCF’s Marine Laboratory will support a new study examining whether the sea slug Oxynoe antillarum, a marine mollusk, can help curb the spread of the nuisance macroalgae Caulerpa fastigiata. This algal species has been increasing in Southwest Florida and is potentially associated with seagrass decline.

“In recent years, scientists at SCCF have noticed an increase in Caulerpa present in Matlacha Pass and a subsequent decline in underlying seagrass beds,” said Marine Lab Research Assistant Rachel Wynn. “Seagrass monitoring through transects has been a research focus at the Marine Laboratory since 2004, and the causes of seagrass decline are complex. The role of macroalgae is under investigation, but it is thought to have a role in competition for available space and light.”

Because the Oxynoe slug feeds almost exclusively on Caulerpa, our researchers will measure how much algae individual sea slugs consume to better understand their consumption rate relative to other macroalgae–consuming invertebrates. The grant funds will cover the cost of tanks, equipment, boat time, and isotopic analysis.

“A report will then be written detailing results and shared, hopefully, to inform an algal mitigation approach in Matlacha Pass,” Wynn said.

About SCCF
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) is dedicated to the coastal ecosystems that make Southwest Florida so special. The nonprofit protects wildlife, preserves our lands, restores our waters, educates our community, and advocates for a future where wildlife and natural habitats can flourish in harmony with people. Since its founding as a land trust nearly 60 years ago, SCCF has worked with the City of Sanibel and the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge to preserve more than 70% of Sanibel in perpetuity.