Not too many people would make their after-work plans on a Thursday listening to a scientist rattle on about oysters. But why not? These bivalves are amazing creatures – turning secretions into valuable pearls, safekeeping the ocean’s health and also being tasty on the half-shell or po’-boy.
On Feb. 26, the monthly speaker series Ocean Hoptimism – motto, “Uniting Ocean Enthusiasts Over A Pint” — will toast these miraculous mollusks at Alameda’s Faction Brewing. (Finger’s crossed they’ll serve oyster stout.) Led by Casey Harper, program director at the local Wild Oyster Project, the talk will examine the return of native Olympia oysters to the San Francisco Bay, probing what their recovery means for the region’s resilience and restoration.
These oysters once existed in the millions here but were decimated by dredging, pollution and shoreline hardening. Now they’re on the upswing, thanks to organizations like the Wild Oyster Project, which is working to build a “swimmable, edible Bay using the power of oysters.”
“Some of the most important work happening in the Bay doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t leap or sing or demand attention,” write the talk’s organizers. “It filters. It anchors. It builds habitat slowly, quietly and collectively — until a whole system begins to breathe easier again.”
Details: Talk takes place 7-8 p.m. Feb. 26 at 2501 Monarch St., Alameda; free, oceanhoptimism.org
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