Oysters return to Northen Ireland's Belfast Lough w/o human intervention

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Native oysters have unexpectedly returned to the shores of Belfast Lough after more than 100 years, researchers have discovered – though scientists are still unsure how they got there.

Ostrea edulis, the European flat oyster, is listed as threatened and/or declining by the Ospar conservation scheme and is the focus of numerous biodiversity projects around Europe. But now it has impressed scientists by establishing itself in Belfast Lough without the aid of a reintroduction programme.

 

A WhatsApp photo of an oyster, found by an old friend who had taken a loughside walk, was what first alerted David Smyth at Bangor University in Wales to the recurrence of the species.

“I nearly fell off my chair,” he said. That was two years ago and, on a visit to scour the coast, he failed to find any himself. But after receiving another report, Smyth conducted a systematic survey in May and June this year, and discovered 41 live oysters scattered around the coast.

Smyth and his colleagues published details of the discovery in the Regional Studies in Marine Science journal. They reveal that some of the oysters, based on estimates of their age, might have been living in the lough for a decade.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/26/oysters-return-belfast-lough

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Never thought I’d be reading this on Gagadaily. But here we are. As most European oysters are farmed on artificial underwater rocks nowadays, this news is indeed intriguing. Makes you wonder how indeed did they get there? Mussels are mysterious creatures. Smart and cunning. Ever since I saw this video about the Lampsilis mussel, I’ve been fascinated with their “sense of self” and unexpected mimicry.

 

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I'm the pearl to your oyster, I'm a babe

[Kadikaado 4,302]

That's so cool! Maybe some ships were in places where there's oysters, some local oysters reproduced while the ship was there and their larvae attached to the ship, gew on the ship's "shell" (??) the ship went to Belfast and they reproduced there. Lots of bivalves spread this way. Or maybe larvae were taken there through sea current.

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The thought of oysters literally migrating back is sending me