Oysters have been a New York City culinary staple for centuries. Hundreds of years ago, when the Indigenous Lenape people lived in the region prior to European colonization, the harbor teemed with shellfish. But by the early 20th century, pollution, urban development and overharvesting erased nearly 350 square miles of oyster beds.

Fast forward to the present, and a nonprofit is now working to revive the once-mighty bivalve. The Billion Oyster Project started seeding the harbor with oysters in 2010 to improve water quality, increase marine biodiversity and boost shoreline protection. Its efforts have been successful: The group is on track to meet its one-billion oyster goal by 2035.

In October, Timmy Broderick spent an afternoon measuring oysters with other New Yorkers to learn more about the project and the harbor’s marine life.

Restoring New York Harbor with a billion oysters

Prescription drugs seep from Manhattan into the Hudson River, where they can wreak havoc on unsuspecting fish. A recent study found drugs at several points along the river, providing one more piece of evidence in a trend found across the nation. Dan Shapley, one of the study’s authors, explains how the drugs made their way into the river, and Jim Meador, an aquatic toxicologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, describes the potential consequences for fish.

PODCAST: The Hudson River is flowing with pharmaceutical drugs

The Scienceline podcast is produced by the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. For more information, e-mail us at scienceline@gmail.com.

Restoring New York Harbor with a billion oysters

Scienceline

Related tracks