Over 400 years ago, when Gowanus was a salt marsh and intertidal creek, Atlantic ribbed mussels nestled among the grasses. Mussels improve water quality in salt marshes and estuaries and reduce shoreline erosion.

As part of the Superfund cleanup, older wooden bulkheads are being replaced with steel. While steel bulkheads will stabilize the shoreline, they do not provide good habitat for mussels like the wooden ones did.

These constructed habitats are a partnership between The Gowanus Dredgers, Gowanus Canal Conservancy, and Brooklyn Collaborative Studies to recreate mussel habitat. Local students support the research, creation and monitoring of constructed habitats to encourage mussel growth along the Canal.