Some called it reckless dumping. Others warned it would be detrimental to an already dwindling ecosystem. And for a while, these concerns seemed valid. Even the researchers running this giant experiment had their doubts as no visible progress was initially seen.

All of these things and more helped revive fish, turtle, and dolphin populations to numbers not seen in over two and a half decades. Layer by layer, the ocean floor had rebuilt itself until the results were visibly undeniable.

all 30 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 47 points 3 months ago (8 children)

“No one expected” sounds like they didn’t talk to any coral reef biologists.

It’s been known for a long time that marine invertebrate shells are mostly made of calcium carbonate which dissolves into the water, acting as a pH buffer. Since coral skeletons are also made of calcium carbonate, corals need calcium carbonate rich water to grow.

Ocean acidification is one of the big downstream negative effects of climate change. CO2 in the air dissolves in water and becomes carbonic acid, lowering ocean pH. As the pH drops, coral reefs begin to bleach and die off. By adding large amounts of calcium carbonate rich material to the ocean, ocean acidification can be counteracted and coral reefs protected.

  • source
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

    Absolutely, artificial reefs are not new in any way.

    I didn't know that CO2 contributed to bleaching, but I know the heat sure does. I wonder if they sunk these lower than usual or something.

    You're right though, the article is about as well researched as an ikea manual

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    They didn't even need to meet that high a standard, lol, even though they should have.

    I'm just your garden variety Lemmy computer nerd and I use oyster shell in my own little back yard pond. Baking soda is also useful, which is sodium bicarbonate rather than calcium carbonate.

    The carbonates help keep pH stable and help the all-important bacteria in the filter do their thing.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 90 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    A half million tons of shells were dumped. Headline kinda missed the scale of this whole thing.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 51 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    Headline kinda missed the scale of this whole thing.

    It's LLM-generated from some mill called UpWorthy; the fact it's on Yahoo! News just lends it some credibility because most people aren't going to understand that, while Yahoo! News has some original articles of its own, it's primarily a news aggregator with minimal quality standards.

    Restoring the balance of these elements is not only critical to marine life, but human life as well. And we're not just talking about food supply here. A lack of fish means a lack of income for fishermen, and higher prices at seafood restaurants. Dirty waters lead to a decline in tourism. Reefs even provide natural protection during coastal storms. It's almost like every aspect of our lives is directly affected by the state of our environment. What a concept!

    OP genuinely doesn't seem to give a shit about the quality of what they post; I administered the other day what I think has been the first temp ban of a poster from !leopardsatemyface@lemmy.world because they refused to learn when their posts got removed for clear lack of relevance.


    Edit: This article never once sources this information. The FDEP talks about using oysters but never says 500,000 tons, and all I can immediately find about that specific claim are some shitty AI videos from late 2025.


    Edit 2: But here's a neat report! Again, though, the 500k number seems to have been pulled out of an AI hat.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 31 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    This is the exact thing they did with the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland after trwalers destroyed to sea floor and the oyster population completely collapsed. The oyster population has boomed back since the initial and subsequent efforts to restore oysters in the bay.

  • source
  • [–] 49 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Good on Yahoo for calling it Gulf of Mexico, instead of kowtowing to the asshole.

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 22 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    Revived turtle populations? Hell yeah!

  • source
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    Sorry, I just think turtles are really good. 🐢🐢🐢

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Don't be sorry that you like turtles. Feel sorry for the ones who don't like turtles.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    we remember this:

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/they-dumped-2m-tires-in-the-ocean-then-learned-it-was-a-mistake/ar-AA1PNMEJ

    ... when "they" were a non-profit working for the environment.

    but i hope this one works better.

  • source
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 36 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Crazy that oyster shells would work better than old car tyres. Who'd have thunk.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    in elementary school they taught us to put the parts of the fish we don't eat back in the river, before cooking and seasoning mind you. Over the years I'm almost certain nobody in that class put any fish bones back, but I saw a lot of garbage go in rivers and streams.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    The article does not explain why anyone thought dumping items made of toxic materials into the ocean would be a good idea.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • 22 comments in c/upliftingnews@lemmy.world view that post
    [–] 81 points 3 months ago (10 children)

    The title is incorrect, they dumped over 500,000 tons of oyster shells.

    This reads like an LLM scraped an original article or press release.

  • source
  • hideshow 10 child comments
  • [–] 27 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    It's a very weird article, in that it tells a narrative about what went well with the oyster shells but does not quote or cite any sources for where that information is coming from. I don't think journalism is supposed to work that way.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    So, phony uplifting news? I guess we should cross reference and check.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago*

    fwiw it does seem to be true that there are programs in that region for restoring ecosystems by dumping used oyster shells: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/gulf-coast-oyster-shell-recycling-key-sustainable-seafood-and-coastal-protection, so the main uplifting part isn't phony.

    I just think the "no one expected it to work" and "it worked much better than expected" claims are bogus AI hallucinations and that the article was generated without actual research, even automated research. Some of the keywords in the article are hyperlinks, and one of them is relevant to the topic of the article, but the rest are totally irrelevant, so I think what happened is the article was generated first, and there's some algorithm for finding relevant links that was applied after.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 36 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Goes to show that even something as small as how we dispose our waste can affect the ecosystem. We live in a giant enclosed terrarium and every single decision has an impact. Great to hear that we can foster the ocean just by dumping some trash back into it!

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • load more comments (-1 replies)
    [–] 16 points 3 months ago

    Please replace the Yahoo News link with one to the original. Yahoo News is a feed that aggregates news from outlets, and it displays the source for each item at the top.

  • source
  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago

    Dear diary: today, Florida Man did something wholesome.

  • source
  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    At least it wasn't old tires this time.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago

    If you build it, they will swim.

  • source
  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    Ocean compost?

  • source
  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago

    The canva images… like if this is real can there not be one picture of the actual place?

  • source
  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago
    [–] 4 points 3 months ago

    Restoring the balance of these elements is not only critical to marine life, but human life as well. And we're not just talking about food supply here. A lack of fish means a lack of income for fishermen, and higher prices at seafood restaurants. Dirty waters lead to a decline in tourism.

    I'm not sure exactly when every "human life" concern started needing an economic angle when written about but thanks I fucking hate it.

  • source