The Missing Numbers

This week I worked on my oyster mortality project at the lab, which I wrote about a few weeks prior. Those weeks ago, I explained that while the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources reported that they collected data every week during the 2019 double opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway, those data were not included in our initial data request when we started our work. I'm pleased to let you all know that after submitting an additional, slightly more detailed public data request, I received the 2019 weekly report from MDMR. These data are so important because they provide the only documented weekly snapshot of the health of Mississippi Sound oyster reefs during this unprecedented event. The data also help shape the story of how operations of the Bonnet Carré Spillway have affected the oysters throughout the past decade or so, providing, therefore, fine and broad scale details on the natural history of the local ecosystem.

As of today, I have finished approximately half of my work on this project and I have moved on to evaluating another measurement of oyster health where I am also incorporating these newly acquired 2019 data. The end goals for this work are to: (1) Evaluate how freshwater inflow has affected the health of oysters in the Mississippi Sound, and (2) Evaluate how oyster mortality in the Mississippi Sound compares to mortalities across North America. I am partially through goal 1 and I started goal 2 a while ago, collecting data on oyster mortality from publications across North America. However, since I took a step back to work on other projects and to wait for the 2019 data, I will search the literature again in case there are new publications reporting on oyster health.

I hope to have this project done by the end of September, as I will be presenting this work at the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation conference this November. The month between the two events gives me plenty of time to edit this narrative into a 12-minute presentation format, to practice the presentation, and to record the presentation, as the conference asks all presenters to provide a video recording for those who cannot attend the talk but are interested in learning about the work.

Next week starts the Fall 2025 semester at USM and we have lots of exciting events on the horizon. Stay tuned to learn more about all the work we are doing in the fish ecology lab.