The Boy in the Submarine – Season 2, Episode 7: Pearl Oysters

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Oysters, clams, and mussels are a type of mollusc called a bivalve. Bivalves grow two shells, one on the right side of their body and one on the left. They hold them closed except when they need to open them with a powerful muscle.

Oysters grow together, sometimes little ones make a home on a shell of a bigger oyster and grow right off of them. This can lead to hills of oysters called reefs, or big stretches of sea floor covered in oysters called beds.

Bivalves sometimes get grit and sand stuck in them, which hurts. When they can’t get rid of it they secrete a thick mucus we call mother of pearl which hardens into a shiny resin, they coat the grit until it is a smooth ball with no hard edges to hurt them. This is where pearls come from. A few kinds of pearl are called “pearl oysters” because they make big, perfectly round, beautiful pearls. We grow them and put and in them on purpose to get big beautiful pearls.

Bivalves like the pearl oyster are living water filters: they suck in water, and clean it by taking out pollutants and bacteria, they spit it out much cleaner. That makes them a very important part of the environment.