A group of environmentalists are monitoring the Oyster population at Soundview Park in the Bronx.

Allison Fitzgerald, of the environmental group Baykeeper of New York and New Jersey, says there are a lot of wild oysters living along the Bronx shoreline.

She says her team examines the oysters for their research to gain a better understanding of how to restore the oyster population for ecology purposes.

Although the Bronx is home to many seafood restaurants, Fitzgerald says these oysters are not for eating because they would make you sick. The team takes some of the oysters tests them and then throws them back to obtain data about city water.

Although they found that the city's water isn't perfect, they say conditions are improving for oysters.

"We know that the water, even though we have a long way to go, are clean enough for them to survive," said Meredith Comi, director of the oyster program. "So they're an indicator that things are starting to improve."

Fitzgerald says the oysters are known as an indicator species and they filter a high volume of water to help clean the Bronx River.