oysters

The ocean off the coast of New York once had a bivalve population of TRILLIONS that once protected the area from storm surges stabilized the shoreline from Washington to Boston.

The best place for oysters is in the margin between saltwater and freshwater, where the river meets the sea, and New York’s harbor area is filled with such places. Until the European arrived and started harvesting them, oysters themselves feasted on the huge algae blooms in that area. Layer after layers of oyster shells built up for more than 7,000 years, resulting in enormous underwater reefs around nearly every shoreline, forming a natural levee.
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