10. Oysters Clean–ed
the Bay
Oyster REEFS
provided a
natural filtering
system and
protected many
juvenile species
85% of the reefs
are gone
11. Think about it!
1 adult oyster filters
about 50 gallons of
water in 24 hours
19 trillion gallons of
water in one week
use to be filtered
12. What Happened?
By the 2nd half of the
By the 1920s,
20th century, the
dredging removed
remaining reefs
¾ of our oyster
were destroyed
reefs
by disease,
overharvesting
and pollution
13. So Why Collect Shells?
SPATS (Babies)
Baby oysters grow
on existing oyster
shells!
Existing oyster
shells are not easy
to get and are not
free
14. Oyster Growth in a ‘Shell’
Spats are grown in Now they grow into adult
various research labs oysters and if lucky,
(VIMS) or by non- reproduce with other
profits existing adult oysters
Vilegers (swimming
stage of the oyster)
‘sense’ a protein that
allows them to
recognize an existing
shell
Once they receive a
signal, they begin
their voyage towards
it and attach for life
16. Oyster Restoration
Students participate in
Oyster Restoration by
monitoring the growth
of SPATS
CBF helps programs
find transfer spots for
the adult oysters
Students end their
project by transferring
the oysters to a
protected reef
17. Without Shells
Without shells,
programs to grow
Without shells, our
oysters will not Bay will not survive
continue Without shells
Without shells, oyster millions of other
reefs will continue to species that rely on
disappear oysters will die
