Oysters once crowded Europe’s coast – here’s how we discovered these long-forgotten reefs

By Ruth H. Thurstan, Associate Professor in Marine and Historical Ecology, University of Exeter
Philine zu Ermgassen, Postdoctoral Researcher in Zoology, University of Edinburgh

Six generations ago, Europe’s seas possessed vast oyster reefs. Oysters were found in their millions, clustered together in reef systems that spanned hundreds of square kilometres. Now the reefs are gone and with them, our collective understanding of what the sea used to look like.

Throughout the 1800s and probably earlier, each August would bring Oyster Day: when the bustling streets of London were lined with stalls selling oysters. Children would build grottos from the shells and pester passers-by for pennies for their efforts, with cries of “Pray remember the grotto!”. This cultural…

Read complete article

~	Myanmar must be held to account – or the world will look powerless against Rohingya persecution

~	Canada as a 51st state? Republicans would never win another general election

~	With precarious jobs, work identities shift — including for contract academics

~	Loneliness and social isolation are linked to specific proteins – new research

~	Four tips for picking up that instrument you might have put down a long time ago

~	A decade on, six things the world can learn from Wales’ innovative future generations law

~	Five healthy diet staples that may interact with prescription drugs

~	China’s economy took centre stage in Xi’s new year address, spinning slow growth as a ‘remarkable’ achievement

~	What Ghana’s small businesses can teach the world about becoming more sustainable

~	Clearing the UK’s asylum backlog has led to rising refugee homelessness