For thousands of years, these waters have been viewed as a sacred space by the Shinnecock Indian Nation.
Rebecca Genia, a Shinnecock kelp farmer, said, “we are attached to seaweed, we were born into it, our culture is from seaweed, surrounded by water you know that’s our culture is in the water.”
But thanks to some heavy development in the Hamptons community, the clear waters of Shinnecock Bay have turned murky.
“You have a place that’s one of the wealthiest places in the entire world that has no sewer infrastructure. It’s really actually a disgusting and filthy situation. the water’s not safe,” said Tela Troge, a Shinnecock kelp farmer.
It didn’t take a science degree for locals like Rebecca Genia to realize that trouble has been brewing in these waters.Genia said, “We have seen it going downhill and what my grandchildren, what my great grandchildren see when they’re out in the bay is way different than when we were kids.”
So a group of Shinnecock women decided to team up, creating a kelp farming collective in 2019. They hope to tackle the rising nitrogen levels in the water.
They enlisted the Sisters of St. Joseph who live right across the bay, and established a winter hatchery on the nuns’ seven acre property.
The sea plant pulls nitrogen out of the water, while also creating a thriving habitat for shellfish. The sisters say it is all part of their mission.
“We are one with the earth and we give to the earth and knowing that we never want to take anything more than what we need,” said Sister Kerry Handal of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
The work has only been going on for a few years, but they have seen the impact.
“The fish and the plant life, you can see an increase, they’re drawn to right here which before they weren’t,” said Handal.
The farmers and the sisters say they are determined to help, because they know the consequences of just standing by.
“It affects us all. You, me, us, every single person, every single living creature on this earth,” said Genia.