The second image that shows the construction phase of placing the new culvert at Sachuest Marsh. The new 36 "culverts were installed where the road crosses the main creek. In this image the site is being prepared to receive the culvert.

The fourth image in this series shows the size of the culvert after it was placed where the main creek intersects the road. The new culvert will help to improve salt water exchange at Sachuest Marsh.

Another view of the new culvert after it was placed at the intersection of the main creek and the road at Sachuest Point Marsh.

The crane lifts the culvert and places it in the area that was prepared to hold the new culvert.

A distant view of the specialized ditch digger at work.

A series of images show the placement of the new culvert at Sachuest Marsh.

A series of images show the placement of the new culvert at Sachuest Marsh.

A series of images show the placement of the new culvert at Sachuest Marsh.

A series of images show the placement of the new culvert at Sachuest Marsh.

A series of images show the placement of the new culvert at Sachuest Marsh.

Sachuest Marsh is a significant mosquito breeding area, restoration work at the marsh also included open water management techniques to control mosquitos.

Widening the marsh channels at Sachuest Point Marsh.

A US Fish and Wildlife volunteer assists with the lift nets. Lift nets were used before and after the restoration to sample resident fish populations to determine changes in productivity to the marsh, before and after restoration and to monitor restoration benefits.

M.J. James-Pirri, a former NOAA scientist, checks the lift nets.

Sampling the lift nets

M.J. Pirri and a US Fish and Wildlife volunteer monitor the lift nets and their catch at Sachuest Point Marsh.

M.J. Pirri and a US Fish and Wildlife volunteer monitor the lift nets and their catch at Sachuest Point Marsh.

One of the secondary channels at Sachuest Marsh during a summer high course tide. Several months after the restoration, the marsh fully recovered. The newly dug channels in the restored marsh provide passage for small fish and allow better exchange of saline waters in the hinterland regions of the marsh.

Mary Jane Pirri, a former NOAA scientist, monitors a lift net at the Sachuest Point Marsh. The marsh, in full summer, is lush and green. There is no evidence of the restoration work that took place just months earlier.

A slide describing the purpose of the eelgrass restoration and its partners. In June 1996 NOAA scientists transplanted 7000 eelgrass plants from Charlestown Pond to ten locations in Narragansett Bay. The project team returned the following September and found mixed results. In June 1997, the team expanded two of the successful sites and employed a new technique by transplanting turf.

A schematic showing the plot layout for the transplant process.

A single blade of Zostera marina, eelgrass, seen from underwater.

A plug of Zostera marina just before transplanting.

An underwater view of the transplant process.

A plug of Zostera marina, shown after transplant into one of the the ten locations in Narragansett Bay, RI.

A plug of eelgrass, Zostera marina, shown just before it is transplanted. Note the u shaped "staple" that is used to secure it to the bottom.

NOAA scientists at one of the transplant sites.

The first in a series of three images that illustrate the process of collecting donor eelgrass plants for transplant.

The second in a series of three images that illustrate the process of collecting donor eelgrass plants for transplant.

The third in a series of three images that illustrate the process of collecting donor eelgrass plants for transplant.

The first in a series of images showing NOAA scientists at the 1997 transplant site just before transplanting the eelgrass turf. Scientists worked in dry suits in the cold Bay waters and used surface air supplies at the mostly shallow sites. Zostera marina requires a specific set of physical conditions to thrive. The plants need light, nutrients and protection from excessive wave energy.

The second in a series of images showing NOAA scientists at the 1997 transplant site just before transplanting the eelgrass turf.

The third in a series of images showing NOAA scientists at the 1997 transplant site just before transplanting the eelgrass turf.

The fourth in a series of images showing NOAA scientists at the 1997 transplant site just before transplanting the eelgrass turf.

The fifth in a series of images showing NOAA scientists at the 1997 transplant site just before transplanting the eelgrass turf.

The sixth in a series of images showing NOAA scientists at the 1997 transplant site just before transplanting the eelgrass turf.

The last in a series of images showing NOAA scientists at the 1997 transplant site just before transplanting the eelgrass turf.

John Catena of NOAA watches the transplant process after handing trays of eelgrass turf to the scientists for transplanting.

NOAA scientists prepare to receive trays of eelgrass turf for transplanting at one of the sites.

John Catena hands a tray of eelgrass turf over the side of the boat to the scientists in the water.

A RI EPA vessel was donated for the 1997 transplant operation. The staging area was off Prudence Island.

Mark Fonseca, a NOAA scientist Beaufort Lab, takes a break after transplanting eelgrass at one of the transplant sites.

A tray of eelgrass turf and plugs ready for transplant. Eelgrass, Zostera marina contributes substantially to the health of coastal ecosystems. Eelgrass meadows provide shelter and spawning habitat for fish and shellfish and the living blades or leaves provide food for waterfowl like brant and Canada Geese. And eelgrass is a critical element of the Bay's detrital food web.

Mark Fonseca demonstrates the transplant process to reporters in the first of a series of images that illustrate the underwater process from a beach off Prudence Island, RI.

Mark Fonseca demonstrates the transplant process to reporters in the second of a series of images that illustrate the underwater process from a beach off Prudence Island, RI.

Mark Fonseca demonstrates the transplant process to reporters in the third of a series of images that illustrate the underwater process from a beach off Prudence Island, RI.

Mark Fonseca demonstrates the transplant process to reporters in the last of a series of images that illustrate the underwater process from a beach off Prudence Island, RI.

Judd Kenworthy, NOAA scientist Beaufort Lab, shows the cages that were designed to protect the newly transplanted eelgrass plants from predation by small crabs.

The transplant team on the EPA boat after the transplant process.

John Torgan of Save the Bay RI volunteered services to the transplant team and to reporters and the NOAA film crew during the 1997 transplants.