BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Crews with Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Florida and Phillips Infrastructure Corp. deployed millions of seed clams into the Indian River Lagoon this week as part of the ongoing “Billion Clam Initiative,” a large-scale restoration effort aimed at improving water quality in the system.
Eyewitness News was there Wednesday morning in Port St. John as the clams were loaded onto a drone before being released into the lagoon.
The initiative is a partnership between CCA Florida, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, and Captain Blair Wiggins.
Officials say more than 3.5 million clams were released during this latest deployment, pushing the initiative past a major milestone of over 100 million clams placed in the lagoon.
The clams are often referred to as “super clams” because of their ability to survive in the lagoon’s challenging environmental conditions. Advocates say their filtration power plays a key role in improving water quality—similar to oysters.
Researchers and conservation leaders are seeing some positive signs after years of restoration efforts by a variety of efforts including the voter approved Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program.
New data from the St. Johns River Water Management District shows seagrass coverage in one monitored area has nearly doubled since 2023.
Captain Blair Wiggins says the health of the lagoon is critical for the entire region. “Everything depends on this river around here. If we don’t have clean water here, everything’s going to die out. If the river dies, everything is going to die.”
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