The World is Our Oyster1 The History of the Oyster Decline

TysonMeganSophieJohn

William

2 The Oyster Anatomy for SurvivalAlison

MatthewAidanMaxRose

4 The Implications of Oyster Restoration

EmmaJohn Mark

ErikaKachelle

Alec

3 The Oyster EcosystemAlex

RyderAudrey

Ruby AnnCamryn

What does an oyster need to survive?

Aidan, Max, Matthew, Rose, and Alison

What is an oyster?An oyster is a crustacean. It lives at the bottom of the water at a depth of 8 – 25 feet. Oysters need to live in brackish water, which means it is part fresh and part salt water.

What is an oyster?

Oysters need warm water. They do not like freezing temperatures. That is why they mainly live in southern waters. They eat algae called phytoplankton.

Unique anatomy!

Baby oysters grow a foot so they can cement themselves to something that doesn’t move. It needs to be a hard substrate. The oyster population also depends on many environmental conditions. The Lynnhaven River has perfect environmental conditions for oysters to live in.

Oysters are important because….

• They filter the water• They are homes for other animals• They are food for other animals• They support the shorelines

Chesapeake Bay Oyster Ecosystem

Ruby Ann, Camryn, Ryder, Audrey

Oysters provide many things for the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. An oyster the size of your hand can filter 50 gallons of water a day. At one time, all the oysters in the Chesapeake bay could filter all the water in the bay in one week.

These are pictures of oysters filtering the water. Cool, huh?

An Oyster Food Chain

Oysters are food for animals. They eat phytoplankton and bacteria. Small fish like bay anchovies eat the phytoplankton. Bigger fish like striped bass eat the anchovies. Larger fish eat the striped bass. Humans catch fish to eat and also harvest the oysters for the meat inside them.

They provide nooks and crannies from the pile they make where they live. A community is an oyster reefs that is like an underwater island made out of oyster shells. This makes a home for little critters such as a red beard sponge, mud crabs, blue crabs, feather blenny, and a naked goby. There are lots more too.

The History of the Oyster Decline

Tyson, Megan, Sophie, John, William

Human Impact on Oysters

How did the oyster population go down to 1% of what it once was?

OverharvestingWhen people ate the oysters , they didn’t put shells back in the water and the oysters didn’t have anything to attach to it so the oyster spats died.

How did the oyster population go down to 1% of what it once was?

DiseaseThere were disease such as MSX and the dermo-parasite.

How did the oyster population go down to 1% of what it once was?

Dredging In the 1920s, dredging for oysters had removed ¾ of the filtering reefs.

The Implications of Oyster Restoration

Emma, John Mark, Kachelle, Alec, Erika

Who is working on restoring oyster population?

Many organizations are supporting oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. They are national, state, city groups as well as ordinary citizens, scientists, and biologists, including students like the third grade at ODC.

What are the advantages of oysters?

Socially • Oysters have been a treat

to eat since Native Americans lived here. What we need to remember to day is to recycled the shells back to the bay so that the oyster spat have a place to hold on to and grow.

What are the advantages of oysters?

Economically• Building new reefs can create new “green” jobs.• Building reefs increases the oyster population

so that the oyster industry can continue to grow.

What are the advantages of oysters?

Environmental• New dredging techniques

are restoring damaged oyster reefs.

• Permanent oyster sanctuaries are now being created to protect the population.

• When oyster reefs grow, they stabilize the shoreline.

What has been tried that has been successful?

Artificial oyster reefs made from materials such as • limestone• oyster shells• concrete rings• floating cages• rope• oyster castle

What still has to be overcome?• Some of the natural threats to

oyster reefs are storm damage, a muddy bottom caused by years of pollution, disease, and invasive species.

• Building oyster reefs is an incredibly costly task, so funding is always needed.

• Politically, supporters need to influence lawmakers to continue to fund and protect restoration.