The Delaware Estuary: An Environmental Gem

(Above)Jecy Klinkam, PDE’s Assistant Restoration Coordinator, drives the organization’s research boat, Tkuweyo, through the waters of the Delaware Estuary.

By Joshua Grier, Sustainability Program Manager, Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit

Some of the most important environments for saltwater ecosystems are the estuaries and bays that serve as filters for water as it flows out to the sea from inland rivers. These finger-like channels of coastal grasses and mud flats also act as sheltered spawning havens for all kinds of marine life that would struggle making it to adulthood in the wider water column. On the Atlantic coast, there are few havens more important than the Delaware Estuary. Understanding the role the Delaware River, Bay, and Estuary play in the greater coastal ecosystem is important to the health of coastal environments.

Yamaha Rightwaters™, Yamaha Marine’s sustainability and conservation initiative, proudly supports Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and the academic marine research the organization pursues. The work that PDE does in the areas of habitat improvement and freshwater mussel and oyster restoration is key to preserving this unique environment. Without the Estuary, migratory birds that make the annual trip up and down the Atlantic coast would struggle to find food, major fisheries would have incredibly reduced reproductive activity, and marine life all along the coast would suffer.

Understanding water quality, impacts of climate change and sea level rise, and other environmental challenges facing the Delaware River and Bay’s ecosystems sheds light on issues affecting coastal habitats across the world.

Without these key habitats, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and mammals could not continue to exist as they do in the world today. Safeguarding the health of places like the Delaware Estuary will ensure that the millions of people, wildlife, and plants that depend on it will continue to thrive for generations to come.

Last summer, PDE obtained a research boat with assistance from Yamaha Rightwaters, Aqua, an Essential Utilities Company, and the Environmental Protection Agency under an Assistance Agreement funded by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

HEALTHY HABITATS: H1.1/H1.2/H1.3