Conservationists have found a surprising partner in cleaning some of the most polluted harbours and bays.
Oysters!
No bigger than a computer mouse when full grown, Oysters can filter up to 12.5 gallons of dirty water in 24 hours. Biologists believe that when populations of oysters at Chesapeake Bay were at their peak, they could filter the Bay’s whole water column in less than a week. Efforts are underway to rebuild the world’s oyster population.
“Studies at one of the Oyster Recovery Partnership’s 350-acre reefs suggest its tiny superheroes are removing 20,000 pounds of nitrogen a year—that’s more than seven times the amount in oyster-less waters.”
See oysters do their magic in the video below…
Send our wee friends some love.