Oyster History and Mystery
by Martin C. Fry

Strength & Stability

When born, baby oysters, drift until they attach themselves, usually to an established oyster, a rock, or other hard surface. If not attached to something stable, they’ll likely perish. Since oysters cannot swim, they have no choice as to where they will live, so they grow where and if they land, and that usually depends upon ocean tides and currents beyond their control. The elder oysters are the foundation of the community. They themselves are firmly grounded, and help provide support for the rest of the colony. The oysters produce strong calcium cement to bond with their neighbors. Great oyster reef communities flourish when family members and neighbors stick together. To a number of creatures of the land and of the sea, oysters are a very important food source, if their tough shells can be pried open first. Oysters cannot swim away to escape their predators, but merely shut their ‘trap-door’, and so, very few creatures can manage to get at them. Reef-bound oysters cemented together are even more difficult for their predators to feed on. Mostly the younger, the unattached oysters, or the drifting larvae called spat are preyed upon. If they are not ‘grounded’ they will not survive and will easily fall prey to hungry creatures of the sea. Oyster survival depends upon their stability. Their community ‘membership’ is their strength as each oyster supports its neighbor.

Community Responsibility

An immense oyster reef colony contains nooks and crannies that become habitat or homes for small fish, crabs, and other creatures. Shifting tides wash decaying matter into the reef structure, providing food and sustenance for these other organisms. Oftentimes, when fleeing their predators, these and other creatures will find shelter amongst the oyster reef. So, by their very nature as a community structure, the oysters provide homes for homeless organisms, protect helpless creatures, and they provide food for the hungry. The oyster is not a predatory organism and cannot move from place to place. It leads a quiet, humble life and contributes to its community, the needy creatures that live amongst them, and their local environment.

Environmental Responsibility

The bivalve oyster feeds by opening its shell and filtering plankton and algae-rich seawater that flows in the sea tides and currents. In so doing, they help clean their environment, which in turn provides more oxygen and sunlight for aquatic plant life and brooding sealife. Constant wave and tidal action tends to erode bay shores, and a well-established oyster reef community slows these erosion processes down. By its very nature, the oyster promotes the health of the entire ecosystem.

Oysters produce the only gems of the sea
by Martin C. Fry

Graceful Beauty & Grace

Pearls are formed when a small foreign object such as a grain of sand lodges inside an oyster’s shell. The oyster produces layer upon layer of smooth and strong, calcium nacre which covers the tiny, irritating grain, and protects the oyster’s soft flesh. Pearls are hidden underneath the fleshy interior of the oyster. Pearls take quite a bit of time to form. The nacre coating soothes the oyster suffering the uncomfortable foreign object, resulting in a beautiful and precious pearl that continues to grow with the oyster! Pearls need no cutting or further polishing to enhance their beauty and value, as do many earth-produced gems. Pearls are beautiful, precious and are considered gemstones just as they are found. Older oysters are usually closer to the sandy bottom, and so, are more likely to produce pearls. They often contain the largest pearls which are also considered the most valuable.

The Oyster Legacy

When an individual oyster passes on, their effect upon the community stays intact. They leave a legacy that does not die. The strength of their shell remains, and continues to act as support for the growing colony. Their empty shell may still help homeless and helpless creatures, and, if they produced a lovely pearl, its beauty does not fade away. That pearl may inspire and bring joy to one that discovers it. The pearl is meant for them, to provide comfort for the pain of that uncomfortable grain that they endured. Its pearl is meant for us, to teach us to appreciate God’s grace during our own suffering in life, of the comfort that is forming the beauty that is now, and will be, forever. That pearl is also for others to enjoy and behold in awesome wonder of the marvelous and beautiful gifts that God has bestowed upon us. Besides the fact that a well-formed natural pearl is somewhat rare, that attitude of gratitude is what also makes the pearl so valuable and precious a gem because it gives more than it takes to make!

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