On Wednesday the 19th of April, students from Varsity College’s Generation Green had the opportunity to travel to the Port of Brisbane and help members of the environmental group OzFish create artificial oyster reefs.
Whilst there, we learnt about the various endeavours the OzFish organisation takes to help preserve Australia’s waterways and aquatic life, how these artificially constructed reefs help to create homes for a wide variety of ocean life, help to filter out harmful elements, and are generally beneficial for our marine ecosystems.
In addition, the incredibly helpful and friendly volunteer team from OzFish showed students the processes used to construct these structures, called ROBs, or Robust Oyster Baskets. We were able to take a turn ourselves making 120 ROBs.
The process involves cutting and shaping metal mesh to form a triangular framework, which is then filled with cleaned oyster shells, sealed, and taken to be placed in whatever body of water needs it. As students learnt, oyster shell is actually the perfect material for new oysters and other such creatures to attach to and grow on.
Over an approximately two year timeframe, the metal will rust away completely, leaving only the shellfish. However, over this time, the oysters grow together and form a natural ‘clump’ which holds its shape even after the metal framework is gone. This is the oyster reef, and will continue to grow larger and provide more homes for marine life.
All in all, the excursion was an exciting, educational and delightfully interactive opportunity to learn about some of the methods being used to try and clean up our environment.
Written by Juno Leavesley, Year 12
