Biology/Art Series for the NBCBH 

1. Biology/Art Series at NBCBH
Oysters in the NY Harbor
Mary Lopez

2. Who we are! Biology/Art Series at NBCBH
• NBCBH-a non profit organization that promotes human power
boating in North Brooklyn that also educates the community about
the environment and marine line surrounding NY-NJ estuaries.
• 4 Biology/Art series:
1. Painting plankton: oil pastels, watercolors, pens
2. Sketching sea squirts: colored pencils
3. Oysters: watercolors
4. Salt water marshes: flip book

3. Ernst HaeckelOysters (Eastern Oyster)
Taxonomy
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Mollusca
• Class: Bivalvia
• Order: Ostreida
• Family: Ostreidae
• Genus: Crassostrea
• Species: Crassostrea Virginica

4. Oyster Facts
• Length: 8-12 inches
• Colors: tan, white, orange
• Shape: cupped, oval, tear
drop, fluted
• Shell is made of calcium
carbonate
• Known as bivalve
Taishonambu

5. Oyster Facts Continue
• Resides on shells,
rocks, and piers
• Food: phytoplankton
• Predators: crabs,
lobsters, fish,
parasites, and humans
• Filters water

6. Oyster Facts Continue
• Some produce pearls
• Aphrodisiac myth
• Used as food all
around the world
• Source of vitamins
and minerals

7. Why oysters are beneficial
• Filters water and improves
water quality (1 gallon/hour)
• Oyster shells create a
habitat for other species
• Oyster reefs provide storm
protection softening the blow
of large waves, reduce
flooding, and prevent erosion
along the shorelines

8. Oyster History of NY Harbor
• Early 1600s-350 square miles of
oyster beds
• 1972 Clean Water
• Over harvested by 1910 and also
raw sewage, industrial pollution,
and large-scale dredging in the
harbor contributed to the decline of
oyster habitats
Oyster houses in NYC

9. Oysters of New York Harbor
• So far-28 million oysters
• Teach students/volunteers
to grow oysters, build
oyster reef structures,
operate boats, and perform
marine biology research.
• 75 Restaurants contribute
oyster shells to BOP
• Billion Oyster Project

10. • Restaurants store empty oyster shells after serving
• BOP pick up shells and transports them to a depot at an ExxonMobil facility
• Shells are transported to a curing site where they are prepared
• Once cured, shells are placed in oyster reefs or seeded with larvae
• New oysters are transferred to oyster nurseries or restoration sites around NY harbor
• In NY harbor, hopefully oysters grow, reproduce and become self-sustaining

11. Oysters and Climate Change
• Decrease in pH-decrease
growth rate in shells
• Increase in extreme
events-lost of habitat
and erosion
• Increase in temp-increase
in algae blooms
• Solution: Reduce
carbon footprint

12. • Increase carbon dioxide
emissions + sea water turns into
carbonic acid: H20+C02=H2C03
Oysters and Ocean Acidification
• Oysters, scallops, and clams
struggle to build or maintain their
shells due to less carbonate.
• Less plankton which is a
major food source.
• Solution: Reduce carbon footprint

13. Art Illustration Section
• Let’s pivot from science
and learn about art and its
significance in learning

14. Art/Illustration has been around for a long time:
Biological, Medical, Botanical, Zoological Illustration
• Chauvet Cave Paintings-horses, deer,
bison, lions (35,000 Years Before
Present)
• Leonardo DaVinci-Botany, birds,
Human Dissection (1452-1519)
• Andreas Vesalius's On the Fabric of
the Human Body in 7 volumes
Medical Illustration (1543)
• Ernst Haeckel-Art forms in nature
Thousands of species (1899-1904)

15. Types of Biological, Medical, Botanical,
and Zoological Illustration
• Microscope (1590) and
Photography (1839)
• Biological Illustration uses
colored pencils, watercolors, pen
and ink, Bristol board (1839)
• Digital-2D & 3D illustration, 2D & 3D
animation, graphic design, sculpture
• Textbooks, Posters, Cards, Books

16. Art Illustration Summary
Purposes
Dr. Johannes Sobotta
• To communicate specific details,
structures, and functions
• To demonstrate interactions from
a microscopic level to a whole
living organism
• To teach difficult concepts visually
making them easy to understand

17. Oyster Anatomy

18. Oyster Anatomy
• Water/food goes in over their gills
through the beating of cilia
• Suspended plankton and
particles are trapped in the
mucus of the gills
• Transported to mouth where
they are eaten, digested, and
expelled as waste
• Have both reproductive organs

19. Art Project
• You can create your own art work or try one of
the guided projects
• Before beginning the painting you can join the 20
minute intro to watercolors which includes materials,
using brushes and paints, and color mixing
• Or create your own project