Unfiltered: The Truth About Oysters

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UNFILTERED: The Truth About Oysters is a documentary film that explores the oyster's role both in our world and its own. Ashore, oysters are a beloved delicacy, a commodity driving a robust market, and a way of life for generations of seafood workers. Below the waves, oysters have long been the silent protectors of the oceans. They are a keystone species that filter and clean vast volumes of water. Oysters also engineer the foundation for entire ecosystems in bays and estuaries across the world where thousands of species thrive, from plankton and seagrass to crustaceans and game fish. They are living water filtration systems, storm barriers, and an ancient source of protein. As climate change increasingly threatens our planet and way of life, we must combat its effects using our most cutting-edge technologies in conjunction with the natural powers inherent within our planet. Oysters may be our best ally to fight against red tide and toxic algal blooms, prevent shoreline erosion, and rebuild the marine ecosystems that support food supplies worldwide. Ninety percent of the world's ancient oyster reefs have collapsed in the last thirty years. Faced with the human pressures of coastal development, pollution, reduced freshwater flow, and overharvesting, the renowned oyster reefs in Florida's Apalachicola Bay are now slipping toward the same fate. The fate of oysters in Apalachicola Bay is not sealed. Fresh water management, artificial reefs, shell recycling, and other restoration strategies may be able to save the world's oyster populations from complete collapse. It's not too late.