Mussel May

The Anacostia River's freshwater mussels are thriving thanks to the efforts of the Anacostia Watershed Society and our supporters and volunteers, and it's time to celebrate! All through the month of May 2023, we will be holding events to share the magic of mussels with watershed residents.  Our calendar is chock full of mussel activities like mussel surveys, workdays on the riverbottom mussel nurseries, mussel releases, and more.  

We're just mad about mussels here at the Anacostia Watershed Society, and you can learn more about our restoration efforts at this storymap.

Events

All month long: Follow along the fun online and help us while you are doing your own explorations with our Mussel May Mapping project on iNaturalist! 

Meet the Mussels Open House - Saturday, May 6, 2-5pm
Buzzard Point, 2121 First St SW, Washington, DC 20024 (Best address for meeting point)
Join us for this fun event to meet the Anacostia River's mussels and learn what they do to help the river.  Stay to watch area scuba divers as they help us estimate just how many mussels may be living in this thriving bed.
Read the write up and see pictures of the event by clicking here.

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER - we will release mussels at our 5/21 Meet the Mussels event instead from 10 am - 11 am - Freshwater Mussel Release at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens - Saturday, May 13, 1-3pm
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, 1550 Anacostia Ave NE, Washington, DC 20019
Help us release adult mussels at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens where their excellent filtering is sure to help the summer lotus and lily blooms.

TO BE RESCHEDULED - CANCELLED FOR 5/15 - RESCHEDULED FOR 5/31 (link here) - Freshwater Mussel Survey at East & West Kingman Lake - Monday, May 15, 11am-2pm  (registration required)
Meet at Langston Golf Course Driving Range Parking Lot, 2556 Benning Rd NE  Washington, DC
Volunteer event where folks will wade into the Anacostia River at Kingman Lake and perform a survey of the mussel population. Registration is required for this event.
Click here to register.

Freshwater Mussel Restoration Workday at Kingman Lake - Friday, May 19, 1-3:30pm (registration required; up to 10 participants)
Meet at: Langston Golf Course Driving Range Parking Lot, 3047 Benning Rd NE, Washington, DC 20002
Let's throw on some waders and take advantage of low tide on the river to maintain the riverbottom nurseries for juveniles mussels before they mature and we can release them into the Anacostia River.
Click here to register.

Freshwater Mussel Restoration Workday, Saturday, May 20, 1:30-3:30pm (registration required; up to 10 participants)
Kingman and Heritage Islands Park, 575 Oklahoma Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 (Map)
It's time to pull those waders back on and help the Anacostia River's freshwater mussels at this workday and release.
Click here to register.

Meet the Mussels at the Anacostia River Festival, Saturday, May 20, 1-4pm
Anacostia Park, Good Hope Road SE & Anacostia Drive SE
We are delighted to be part of the Anacostia River Festival, the closing event of the 2023 National Cherry Blosson Festival!  Come to your Anacostia River for boat tours, paddling, music, and MUSSELS!  We'll have our freshwater mussels as our special guests at this event. 

Meet the Mussels at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens WELL-derness, Sunday, May 21, 10am-12pm
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, 1550 Anacostia Ave NE, Washington, DC 20019
Rounding out this weekend of mussels, AWS Master Naturalists will be on-hand for the Aquatic Garden's special WELL-derness event with our filtering friends! We will do a freshwater mussel release during the 1st hour! 

See the latest update about the month on Facebook by clicking here.

Watershed Wednesday Happy Hour, May 31, 5:30-7:30pm
Streetcar 82 Brewery, 4824 Rhode Island Ave, Hyattsville, MD 20781
Get the latest updates about the Anacostia River's freshwater mussels, plus freshwater mussel recovery across the Chesapeake Bay!  AWS's Jorge Bogantes is joined by John Pfeiffer from the Smithsonian to tell us more.  The event will have an ASL interpreter.
Click here to RSVP.