Original story by Michael Cavanagh, ABC Rural
They could be described as the canaries of the estuaries.
Oysters used to detect contaminants. Researchers using Sydney Rock oysters show the health of NSW waterways varies dramatically.
Sydney rock oysters – which are not part of commercial operations but selected by researchers – are being used to chart the state of waterways from the Hunter Valley through to the New South Wales/Victorian border.
Results varied from high levels of metals in waters around Wollongong through to a pristine environment around the Clyde River near Bateman’s Bay, on the south coast.
Professor Emma Johnston, from the University of New South Wales, says oysters were ‘significantly stressed’ with damaged cells in the estuaries where there were high levels of metals including copper, lead and zinc.
“These oysters are exposed to all the conditions in the water, just as the canaries were exposed to those in air.
“So if something goes wrong we know that there is a problem in the system, so our oysters are filter feeders.
“So they can filter loads of water every day and if there is a containment in the water, they’ll be exposed to that and they will respond.”
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