Episode 49 Oysters & Lesser Shellfish

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Listen to "049 Oysters & Lesser Shellfish" on Spreaker.

 Link to the Episode:

East Coast Oysters - some of the many varieties.  Different shapes & depths.

The dugout boats and long oyster tongs of the late 18th & 19th century:
Also the incredibly cruddy weather that was part of the job.

So what does a shore made of oysters look like?  Why would colonists think oysters were endless?
While this is cheating - these are Pacific oysters, on Cortes Island in Desolation Sound
and that is all oysters.

Up close - looking at the two logs on the shore.
All oysters from the water to the top of the tide.
(at high tide, this is all covered)



There are so many oysters its almost hard to see the individual oysters.


The oysters are absolutely stacked and packed - seaweed and eelgrass and barnacles everywhere.


A 19th century Oyster Ketchup Bottle
Media:

While its mushroom ketchup - the sense and process of making 
18th century ketchup is all laid out in this Townsends Video -
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29u_FejNuks



Goodall, Jamie H. L. Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay - From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2020.























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