oysters

In an effort to revive depleted Chesapeake Bay oysters, federal and state agencies are working together to plant about 400 million juvenile oysters in a new 4,500-acre sanctuary. Stephanie Westby, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows oysters growing in Harris Creek, a tributary to the Choptank River on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's DOOM lab (Dissolved Oxygen and Oyster Mortality) is examining how oysters respond to sudden drops in oxygen levels in shallow parts of the Chesapeake Bay at night. These fluctuations are partially natural, but appear to be made worse by nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. Oxygen depletion may make oysters more susceptible to a disease called Dermo.

Cownose rays dining on oysters.  Photo courtesy of Robert Fisher/Virginia Insitute of Marine Science.

Could new research on HIV treatment turn the tide of the AIDS epidemic? Plus, a look behind the delays in introducing aquaculture to the Chesapeake. And, the writer Dudley Clendinen speaks with Tom Hall, and his doctor Jeffrey Rothstein, about the different treatment options available for people with ALS — and how his life will change if he decides to try one.