What are Oysters and Where Do They Come From? The Mysteries of the Oyster | Full Documentary

Oysters first appeared on our planet 200 million years ago. People have been gathering them since prehistoric times and fossil traces prove that mankind has used them as a source of food since as far back as the Neolithic Age.
2000 years later, they continue to appeal to gourmet diners. Oysters hold a firm place in humanity’s history, and have always been a symbol of wealth and haute gastronomy, but how are they produced? Why is this peculiar product of the ocean so sought after?
This documentary follows the fates and fortunes of the oyster farmers during their most stressful period of the year. It looks at the challenges of a profession that is at the mercy of the whims of nature, as well as the effects of human activity on the quality of the water. Alongside this, it uncovers the questions of the mortality of these oysters, which some people fear could lead to a large decline in their numbers.
The oyster is nature’s treasure, wedged between the sea and the land this mysterious creature is an early-warning system for the health of our planet. To protect them is to protect all species for the generations of the future.
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[@Trigathus]

this is exactly what i needed at 2 am. god bless. just randomly became fascinated with oysters an hour ago.

[@JavaDiscover]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@roseoania17]

@@JavaDiscover p

[@Buddystemz]

A year later at the same time, i too randomly became fascinated with oysters.

[@claymalliett4838]

@@Buddystemz make a classic mignonette and serve on a half shell. thank me later

[@ThaPepperPlug]

I believe oysters were everywhere until pangea was separated

[@BCATC.250r]

Me and my brother and sister used to walk to beaches on the Bay of funday in New Brunswick Canada couple times a week scraped the oysters off the rocks and eat them on the beach as much simpler time I miss it love you Taylor and Kendra

[@sarahs5340]

Recently, I ate two dozen oysters from my hometown, Olympia WA. They were delivered to my neighborhood grocery store. I live in a different state now, but when I lightly cooked and ate the first bites it tasted like home. I could taste cedar trees and healthy saltwater inlets. I felt incredibly blessed, and of course I missed my hometown. 🤍

[@Eluderatnight]

I have had oysters from many fisheries. Pueget sound is my favorite.

[@franliebautista8442]

Thanks for this beautiful documentary I love 💕 oysters 🍷💕🍷

[@profnewt]

A friend and I split a 100 oyster bag from Wellfleet about once a month during all the seasons that end in “R”….doesn’t get any better….and we eat them straight up ..no horseradish or cocktail sauce…just a pinch of fresh lemon….and we shuck them ourselves…with the help of a beverage of choice… mine happens to be a tall glass…With two well muddled limes…splash of Absolute (2-3 fingers) splash of Cranberry juice and soda water over 1/3-1/2 glass of ice…it really doesn’t get any better❣️👌🙋‍♂️

[@vivelachocha7440]

I' grew up in welfleet

[@Torahboy1]

If you can get Campari anywhere near you, you gotta try Campari with a splash (not too much!) of soda with your oysters (To drink with, not to add onto the oyster) It’s not cheap. But it’s the best accompaniment to raw fresh oysters. It’s sweet at first, then bitter on the finish. The soda ads a tingle of frizz to the palate. Or, if that seems a bit too ‘foofy’ for ya. Try adding a splash of lemon vodka to the oyster immediately before you slurp it up.

[@gensaikawakami341]

A very fine documentary! Love the French folklore and history that was baked in throughout. Tres Magnifique!

[@zekelucente9702]

I love oysters and this was a very interesting film.

[@JahBreed]

Great work. I always thought I was odd in feeling the way I do about Oysters. They really are a Godsend Nurturer.

[@garthisrael178]

Thoroughly enjoyed this documentary 👌👌

[@howardjohnson2138]

Excellent and so Informative. Thank you

[@toddhupp]

A stunning documentary.Thank You.

[@emmilypalmer9269]

I definitely learned some stuff! Good documentary 🙌

[@rheffner3]

I have eaten a lot of oysters in my life. Lots. Thousands. In the US mainly. My favorite restaurant to eat oysters is Shaws in Chicago. Unbelievable. In NYC many restaurants have $1 oyster nights. What a deal. But the best oysters I ever had by far were in Paris. The first time I had one there my brain exploded with "ocean!". Still remember it even though it was 30 years ago. After watching this video, I can see why they were the best.

[@zekelucente9702]

I love Shaw’s and I agree oysters in Paris are wonderful. I have a nice seafood restaurant near me that has $1 oysters on Mondays. I’ve read that restaurants do this to get rid of oysters that didn’t sell over the weekend and should be avoided, but the quality of the oysters on Monday have always been good and they are selling so many of them that it seems unlikely that they’re trying to get rid of old oysters.

[@fredberns8249]

I am a life time oyster eater. The Best? New Orleans. I had oysters in Paris about 25 years ago and I thought I would die. Three of my 4 days in Paris were spent in my room sicker than can be. PS, I was traveling with a doctor who treated me mostly with pity for ordering them in a place where refrigeration is still in the stone age.

[@zekelucente9702]

@@fredberns8249 New Orleans is my favorite food city and Acme Oyster is an experience.

[@sparkboy5207]

@@fredberns8249That's true! It happened to in Negros. The osytets probably came from Hamaylan which has a wide river where hospital refuse are thrown. At the sea, oyster farming is there. Oysters like most sea shells are bottom filter feeders. On out first gathering, I ate only about 5. I had a diarrhea. I suspect it was due to oysters. On our second gathering one week later and having the same oyster source, I ate one, just one. This confirmed that the oyster is infected with coliform because even with one oyster, I still got diarrhea. In the gulf (Texas, Louisiana, New Orleans, etc), the oysters are disinfected first before being served in the restaurant tables.

[@williampalchak7574]

@@zekelucente9702 agree about Acme Oyster House. I've eaten them from Connecticut around the coast to Galveston. IMHO the Apalachicola are the best.

[@cherylmaden5989]

I have to give that Chinese chef a lot of credit he spoke excellent English it was amazing it makes me feel so uncultured that all I know is two languages I'm sure he probably knows at least three and he's a cook at a restaurant LOL although he's probably the head chef

[@nesiansides7133]

Good documentary, new zealand oyster farms gonna rock your world, fat meaty and creamy 😋 yummo

[@Johnlt13]

I’m very partial to oysters from Galway but have yet to try from NZ. Look forward to it.

[@ColonelBummleigh]

Very interesting

[@wilfredomacaraig7927]

Excellent job.

[@timgileo7585]

Some of my favorites blue point and fanny bay

[@samanthatrevino9031]

Just has a dozen Fanny bay for dinner this evening. Lovely oysters.

[@lightbox617]

In my teens (around 1963) I lived in the North west subs of Chicago. My parents were east coast and desperately missed fresh seafood. Every year or so, my Father gave in and ordered 1 gross (144) clams from the east Coast and smuggled them into an air frieght flight. Later, as my brother and I lived in Pa and NJ respectively, we would gather with my (our ) grandparents at Skaneateles Lake and do clams, corn and brined new potatoes. These days, I can go to a restaurant in Bayonne, NJ and split a dozen with Susan. Most recently, we take the 6 hour drive to Provincetown Ma and get fresh Wellfleet raw oysters for a dollar each. There are days when I would rather be in Wellfleet with oysters than Budapest or Barcelona of Philadelphia with art and architecture and 1200 years of heritage.

[@MarMachineInc]

excellent watch!

[@benjamindover5676]

It should be titled,, "More than you ever wanted to know about oysters". thumbs up anyway.

[@wayanron3523]

Wonderful to know where my fave Fine de Claire came from 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼...hope to see more informative docu on this little gem...😻

[@monstermind4286]

I looove Oysters

[@donaldmcdaniel1773]

very interesting... I am very hungry for oyster stew!

[@sammysammy7666]

Merci

[@joanhuffman2166]

Hmm, I had heard that ostracize came from the Greek word ostraka which meant a pottery shard which they used to vote who would be subjected to exile. So I looked it all up and the word for an oyster shell and a shard of pottery come from the same Greek root. Curious

[@billjonceski5531]

EVEN THA SHEETH COME FROM GRIKS INVENTION GREKS ARE VERY FAST TO CLAIM EVERYTHING AND STUPID PEOPLE GETH SUCK IN TO BELIEVE

[@dimi_sf]

Same here! I also thought it came from ostraka

[@perlasalazar]

My favourite food to eat.

[@sweetla4750]

Absolutely nothing like Louisiana oysters ⚜️❤️

[@thaocomposer]

Excellent documentary! You deserve more subscribers, well you got one more now :-) Nice channel

[@manthony777]

Thank you for watching

[@nickinportland]

If you think you don’t like oysters, try a good one. I used to think they were so gross but once I tried it, I was in love.

[@sylvia7000]

true but also in high end place you can get a terrible one

[@markogaudiosi5243]

@@sylvia7000 just like vaginas.

[@nickinportland]

@@sylvia7000 true but you know just generally buy a nice west coast oyster. Good starting point.

[@kierranbrooks7306]

It's not the taste for me that's the issue sadly, it's 100% the texture, I love oysters IN other dishes, but my body just physically rejects raw oysters on their own, like if I force myself to swallow one it WILL come back up very soon.

[@jonnyogden7274]

Have a new found respect for the price of oysters. Yummm

[@bambiegabutin8271]

Filipino favorites oysters from Thailand. 😅😅😅✌️

[@normamcgiboney9925]

I absolutely love them my dad was at shrimper, so I feel like a mermaid 🧜🏿‍♀️ ❤

[@janetannhamdepalma736]

A fresh raw oyster is an absolute delicious. Sweet tangy wonderful treat, why so many will not try them is a mystery, they taste of the fresh salt air .

[@kierranbrooks7306]

My body just physically rejects them, I love the taste but the texture of raw oysters just causes my body to reflexively bring them back up, if I COULD eat them then I would

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

Some years ago, when my daughter was a little girl, I took her to a small fresh water lake behind my house for her to swim and play in the water, usually with me sitting on some stones reading a book, on one occasion my little daughter had found a shell she took up from the water and an elderly lady I had not noticed screamed like crazy telling me and my daughter to put the shell back in the water, I had no idea about what in the world the woman made such a fuss about, but I investigated later and found out the fresh water oysters had been harvested almost to extinction here and some people tried to let it come back again, anyhow, stupid of the woman to scream, but a bit interesting to learn something I had no idea about

[@shable1436]

Yeah I never like others screaming at my kids, that's rude

[@silvanamcadoo6366]

I love

[@warrenpeece1726]

"Twas a brave man who first et an oyster"

[@kmlammto]

And a lobster.

[@hensonlaura]

Just hungry.

[@macawism]

😜and if you consider those middens from tens of thousands of years ago, that brave man may not even have been fully human

[@kandyapple2210]

Unless you have tried the supreme Oyster from New Zealand you have not experienced the supreme flavour. It is called the BLUFF Oyster from the southernmost islands of New Zealand.

[@Eluderatnight]

I'll have to try. Have you had a pueget sound oyster?

[@roselquirante1325]

Oysters is like a fruit from the sea😊

[@cokycoffee5882]

🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️

[@cokycoffee5882]

🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@deanawells4395]

I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and we have the most beautiful oysters here

[@tipsytrippinrednecks]

Heck yeah that was awesome cheers

[@jevgwapo7747]

Now I have a mystery sauce in my kitchen..

[@tinklvsme]

I was prescribed Vit D , that is oyster shell. I don't eat anything that lives bow sea level. I wasn't raised eating them. I did a doc about how they farm oysters

[@tonymorgan9240]

MANY YEARS AGO THERE WAS A COURT CASE IN NZ ABOUT LAKE TAUPO AND THE RIGHTS TO THE LAKE ( LAKE TAUPO )THE MAORI CHEIF STOOD UP AND EDUCATED ALL OF THEM QUOTING THE GOVT OWNED THE WATER ABOVE LAKE TAUPO BUT THE LAND UNDER THE WATER BELONG TO HIS TRIBE THEY OWNED THE LAND

[@ajdogcurr1]

I commercial oystered for 13 year in Apalachicola bay. Best years of my life even tryed oyster farming. But because of state regulations refusing to lease bay bottom to farm oysters and the huge efforts by developers and politicians working to shut down oyster harvesting and the constant closing of the bay to harvesting as a so called precaution to pollution brought on by heavy rainfall and the runoff into the bay. It just became unprofitable to stay in the business. I left it all behind and walked away. What was once a thriving industry providing a good living for hard working men and woman. Now days is just a shell of what it used to be. With just a handfull of oyster houses left and struggling to hang on. What a shame thanks to political efforts and the regulators that control everything. That was the plan all along to kill the oyster industry in the appalachicole bay. They have destroyed the entire commercial fishing industry not just the oyster business.

[@angelagreen1496]

There you go 30 politics again always ruining people's lives may God help all those people who wanted those jobs and love doing it

[@angelagreen1496]

To reply above by myself it's dirty politics not 30

[@royboone5991]

Ya go job .I'm a t.bay born in 62 best inland bay in the gulf .look what they don't there.6 inch oster still there in a few spots.

[@ajdogcurr1]

@@royboone5991 don’t have a clue as to what you said or what your talking about, or what you mean?£¥€+*^%#

[@karld1791]

Sad. Not only does oyster farming provide jobs and food, they clean water, remove nitrogen and carbon from the environment, and build up coastlines. Encourage oyster farming for so many reasons.

[@kirksmith1534]

Yes‼️🙄

[@ericbeattie761]

FYI the Everglades has his own oyster

[@cletuswyns]

When I was in fourth grade the teacher asked each of us what our favorite food was. When I said raw oysters, she told me to pick a real food! Oysters are still my favorite food to this day.

[@ajdogcurr1]

👍

[@oldmanriver1057]

Oh I love Oyster stew with Oyster crackers 😋 😍 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻!

[@stephenswistchew7720]

Can’t answer that but it was a brave man that ate the first one

[@yaddahaysmarmalite4059]

why am I not surprised that they didn't show too much about how they catch the spats? Can't let too many trade secrets get out I suppose.

[@ShowdogTiger]

With weird ass KZbin content rules this documentary might have been reported for oyster porn had they included spat collection.

[@jorgeocampo650]

I think the pearls are excrements of the oysters digestive system. Oysters don't have a nervous system, hence they dont need that much minerals, like calcium or salts, witch are used to build bones in other organisms.

[@kierranbrooks7306]

It ,iterally explains how pearls are made in the documentary my dude, its the way in which oysters protect themselves from foreign objects trapped inside their shells, a grain of sand for example would be covered in layer after layer of pearl material to prevent it being in direct contact with the muscle of the oyster. So it's less like a poop and more like a scab.

[@jeremybenoit759]

I work in a place that shucks and sells oysters and I can tell you they have not been cleaned well lol

[@chelton87]

First time I tried oysters I had 3 dozen I guess you can say I like ‘‘em right of the bat

[@jaymeselliot8181]

oysters arnt my favorite, but i crave them from time to time and always feel good for a week after eating them

[@netsoup1]

Heading to Cedar Key, FL on Friday for the week. Fantastic Oysters.

[@allencolvin4320]

I would never eat one raw, but I did like them either with a tomato base in a stew, or thrown whole on a wood fired grill and dunked in herb butter

[@daveram57]

Soundtrack?

[@franliebautista8442]

We do have deliscious oysters in the Philippines…,in the province of Aklan they have farm s❤️🙏🏼❤️

[@sparkboy5207]

Negros Occidental has more.

[@boivilla7458]

Next year....when this crazy pandemic is really over....we will visit Philippines again....the mission...." The hunt for the biggest best oystersss "....if God permit....merry Christmas Philippines.

[@lansvale28]

41:28 Quite a French response, looks down on foreign oysters

[@craiglynch5122]

I do like Tasmanian Oysters. I think they a very nice.

[@bluey-uo9li]

Camera night vision ideal radar solutions

[@LUxo323]

😊

[@obrienjohnj]

Mysterious gift? Really? It is biological and is easily studied. They provide filtering actions in the water around their local beds.

[@migfredcastillo3706]

Those things are delicious! They come from delicious and magic! The unicorns of the sea, without horns, or horse like stuff.

[@MBihon2000]

Now (2022)the price of oysters served at oyster bars is about $1 each.

[@macawism]

I am chilling around the Bay of Thailand, 50 ultra fresh large oysters for $10. Make some fresh garlic butter pour it over the oysters and grill them a little. Ya’am

[@sweetla4750]

Try again,in Louisiana they are $18 a dz

[@drmodestoesq]

I wonder if they could use these oyster harvesting techniques to harvest the vast amounts of manganese nodules that litter the ocean depths. Manganese may not be as tasty as oysters....but we need it to make high quality steel.

[@MarioPerez-nz8xf]

Way to commercials nice information but too many commercials last my interest

[@russell7374]

I'm curious, me being a chef and wondering is it only chefs watching this and yes foodies do count and sea nerds... who else?👨‍🍳

[@Blugrazz]

I’m a river scientist, & I interned at an oyster lab once, so I’m watching this!

[@hensonlaura]

Love to eat oysters.

[@stevensgold]

I really like oyster,unfortunately my stomach cannot accept it to digest , I vomited, my mom said there's some acid in my stomach cannot take it But I admired these people the sea farmers, the doctors studying the oysters farming,dedicated to help their culture, oyster farming

[@Mimi-qi7zy]

Hi you all , you haven’t tasted an oyster from Prince Edward Island in Canada , you are sure missing something very rare ! I do not like to eat them raw but I love to fry them seasoned with spices and flour and fry them in lots of butter , yummy you don’t know what you’re missing PEI Oysters are the best !

[@newhorizon4066]

Watching his seabed-raised, painstakingly-cultivated raw oysters being bouilloned to yellow little balls in heavily seasoned broth in a Shanghai so-called high class Chinese banquet, the French oyster vendor must have felt like he was getting stabbed in the heart. It must have taken him superhuman self-control not to blurb out: "Now I know why you people deserved to eat your oysters FRESH FROM THE CAN!"

[@johnyossarian9059]

What are you talking about? It's clearly said in the scene that the oyster used in the hotpot are Chinese oysters.

[@newhorizon4066]

@@johnyossarian9059 So you think the French oysters would fare better? That's how the Chinese eat their oysters, whether French or African or Chinese, they basically boil every living, squirming thing to death. So wake up and smell ...the seaweed.

[@johnyossarian9059]

@@newhorizon4066 you said they were boiling oysters produced by the French guy. They were not doing that. And there is another scene in the video showing a different restaurant in Shanghai where they serve raw oysters. You are just seeing and hearing things you wanna see and hear.

[@newhorizon4066]

@@johnyossarian9059 Sounds like you're aspired to be a judge on the appellate court. Any one with a morsel of imagination could see that the French oysters would end up in the same pot (well not exactly the same pot for the judiciary minded) sooner or later. bye.

[@johnyossarian9059]

@@newhorizon4066 so you're admitting that you were just imagining things 😅

[@craigdutton6072]

Theirs oysters were we holiday on the central coast Australia 🇦🇺 leases in the salt water river ✅ya can buy bags of them at the rite time love em salty little gems 💎

[@buggerit]

from the ocean

[@buddyharrington7050]

North Carolina pamilco sound oysters are the best

[@gaminawulfsdottir3253]

I'd have given this a Like, but for the sheer number of times it was interrupted for multiple ads. After a point it becomes unwatchable.

[@asteriaastra4292]

Everytime I see or about to eat oysters I kinda wanna laugh a bit cause I'll remember about Mr. Bean...🤗😂😆

[@H4TTOR1_H4NZO]

All I know is that someone was really hungry in the past in order to eat something like a oysters, I can see a ship wrecked pirate eating one lol. Some things are just not meant to be eaten just because it's there...

[@cerveza2297]

👏👏👏

[@Eluderatnight]

My guess is early man watched seagulls, racoons, and bears eat them.

[@albertoalveriomondillajr6067]

I LOVE OYSTERS

[@albertoalveriomondillajr6067]

I live mystery of oysters

[@patrickp3301]

You could put radio trackers on these not only that you can use security drones that work in shift that can fly over the whole horizons and videotape live time back to an advisor who is watching the screens 24/7 and this day and age that is not impossible

[@markgarin6355]

I get mine at the seafood store...

[@howardjohnson2138]

What's being done with drones to combat the robbers?

[@AJ-lu3wx]

snot rocks

[@suziperret468]

Bought a lot of shelled raw oysters yesterday, in BonSecure, Alabama. They put the container on ice and bagged it up.Ate some ice cold oysters for breakfast with salt, lemon, and hot sauce on top of a cracker. They were soooo……GREAT!! There is nothing like really fresh oysters…nothing! It’s a passion!

[@petrosbalaskas4753]

Great documentary. However it has a hoge historical mistake. The origin of the word OSTRACON is Greek and not Latin. THe Latin term its much later nomencature based on the Greek word. Please, make the correction to restore the historical truth

[@haroldlee6923]

Belon oysters are the best from Normandy, France

[@goldbell1972]

Like no.403 👍😀

[@jeffreywickens3379]

I took one bite out of a fried oyster one time, and that was the end of my interest in oysters. I don't know why people eat guts, slime and poop.

[@alonzomosley7]

No discussion about oyster diseases ,they are a nightmare.

[@comment8767]

Most of those can be cleared up with penicillin.

[@dmac7403]

The people stealing the oysters off those men better pray the farmers never catch them in the act, at that point trust me you would rather it be the cops but it's likely a disgruntled worker or someone that has a means to sell them in bulk but it's definitely someone they know.

[@kaydee5931]

Lol she said that’s being hospitable

[@ToddSloanIAAN]

25:55 world's major producers

[@deanawells4395]

In the USA we where told to only eat oysters in months that have an R in the name since they spawn in all the months that don’t have an R in them. I read recently that is not true anymore because the oyster doesn’t spawn anymore… In Europe do they adhere to the only eat oysters in months with an R in the name?

[@Eluderatnight]

It has more to do with higher chance of vibrio bacteria in warm months. With cooked oysters it doesn't matter.

[@dmac7403]

What are those pearls worth?

[@Standup428]

Like them, but stop eating them when I seen a video of a live worm/some type of parasite inside one being served at a restaurant. It was so disgusting I was done after that, at least with eating them raw anyway.

[@artadams424]

All this attention for elephant snot ! It takes all kinds…

[@fiwalker6690]

Best ones are in 🇳🇿🇳🇿🇳🇿New Zealand bluff oysters 🎉

[@alanstrong55]

Oyster stew would taste very good on my table. The price is steep.

[@deepsouthNZ]

Oysters should not be interfered with eat them rew or deep fried in beer batter and that's it. They didn't mention our wild oysters dredged straight from the sea here in southern new Zealand, shame. Best in the world