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The Great South Bay didn’t lose its sparkle overnight. It dimmed slowly. Brown tides, murky shallows, and empty shellfish beds accumulated year after year until the people who grew up on its shores finally said, Enough.

Save The Great South Bay, a passionate 501(c)(3), was born from that moment. Baymen, fishermen, surfers, boaters, scientists, and lifelong locals banded together in 2012 after witnessing their childhood waters slip into decline.

Today, more than 30,000 supporters move with one shared purpose: heal the bay, restore the culture, protect the future.

A Movement Rooted in Mud, Salt, and Science

This is not a “write a check and hope it helps” kind of nonprofit. This is boots-on-the-ground, hands-in-the-water, mud-on-your-jeans restoration. Here are their initiatives:

Creek Defenders: The Bay’s First Line of Defense

Fifty creeks feed the Great South Bay. When they choke, the bay chokes.

Local volunteers monitor and clean every one of them, from Lindenhurst to Mastic, pulling debris, tracking invasives, and restoring flow.

Schools, civics, scout troops, and families show up with gloves and grit.

👉🏼 Volunteer here »

The Great South Bay Oyster Project: Tiny Creatures, Huge Impact

One oyster filters 50 gallons of water a day. Eight hundred thousand oysters do far more than that.

Volunteers grow them, plant them, and rebuild the underwater neighborhoods oysters once created. Cleaner water, richer habitats, and stronger shorelines begin with one shell at a time.

Bay Friendly Yards: A Quiet Revolution, One Lawn at a Time

Swap chemical lawns for native plantings and suddenly you have built a wildlife sanctuary.

Neighbors across Long Island have restored 43 acres of pesticide-free, pollinator-friendly habitat, cutting down runoff and lifting up biodiversity.

Your yard can be part of the solution. No cape required.

Tackling the Big Problem: Nitrogen

More than 360,000 aging cesspools and septic tanks leak nitrogen into groundwater. This fuels the algal blooms that suffocate the bay. This program aims to improve water quality and restore the health of the bay with two options: connect homes to sewer systems or transition to upgraded systems.

Save The Great South Bay advocates for smarter wastewater policy, ensuring the billions of dollars that will be invested in wastewater treatment are put to good use.

It is not glamorous, but it is the heart of restoring clean water for the bay and for your tap.

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Education, Advocacy, and the Science that Guides It All

Forget politics. This work runs on data and common sense. Events such as the “State of the Bays” talks with experts including Dr. Christopher Gobler connect residents to the real science behind bay health. Green marina policies, living shorelines, and smarter development all guide the path to resilience.

Where You Come In: Be Part of the Turnaround

Whether you want to pull debris from a creek, plant oysters, transform your yard, attend the Oyster Ball, or simply show up to a cleanup with a cup of coffee and a can-do attitude, there is a place for you here.

It’s your bay. Your heritage. Your chance to make sure future generations can swim, sail, paddle, dig for clams, and fall in love with these waters the way Long Islanders always have.

👉 Join, volunteer, pledge, or donate at savethegreatsouthbay.org.

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