Oregon Sea Grant

With funding from Oregon Sea Grant, researchers from Oregon State University are placing bags of oysters on different amounts of empty shells to see if the shells help the oysters grow better. The empty shells dissolve and emit calcium and carbonate into the water, much like an antacid, potentially serving as a tool to fight ocean acidification. The scientists aim to determine the amount of shells that will achieve the desired growth for the lowest cost. They will also measure the uranium and calcium in the oyster shells to see if the empty shells under them reduced the acidity of the water. Researchers on the project are George Waldbusser, Alyssa Shiel and Adam Kent.