Beach Bites

Gem of the Sea

They go way back.

Cleopatra bested Antony in a wager for the most extravagant meal in history when she dissolved and then swallowed one worth ten million sesterces. Ancient Chinese superstition holds that they fall to the ground à la meteorites when the blue dragon and the yellow dragon battle in heaven. And Shakespeare’s cocksure Pistol immortalized their value when he declared the world “mine oyster” (The Merry Wives of Windsor c. 1600).

Pearls’ allure is universally known … but where do they come from and how closely do they relate to those succulent shuckables you might have savored at Stone Crab a few nights ago? Had you exercised greater willpower would those oysters have birthed you a fortune?

Thankfully the answer is no. Taxonomy eliminates the need to choose between gemstones and dinner allowing you to have your pearl and eat it too.

The oysters that produce the pearls you’d want to wear hail from the family Pteriidae. An oyster shell is lined by a thin organ called the mantle which secretes nacre also referred to as mother-of-pearl. When a parasite invades the oyster and adheres to the mantle nacre production is amplified to surround and trap the intruder sequestering it for the protection of the oyster. Like magic a pearl turns an irritant iridescent.

Tracing their heritage to a different clan — the Ostreidae family — are the oysters you eat. But in addition to being delicious and nutritious (one gram of protein towards your daily value for every oyster enjoyed) oysters work wonders on an ecological level and are considered a keystone species because of the crucial role they play in sustaining the entire ecosystem. (Just as an arch collapses without its keystone so does an ecosystem crumble without its oysters.) A healthy oyster reef can house more than 300 different organisms: algae barnacles crabs and many others. What’s more oysters are filter feeders filtering excess plankton sediment and nutrients and expelling organic components back into the water. A single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day; thus oysters are instrumental in both cycling nutrients and maintaining water quality.

The bad news: The population of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) the species of oyster found off the coast of North Carolina has suffered a 90 percent decline over the past century. The good news: The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) is working to reverse this trend through its innovative Oyster Shell Recycling program. The program has established shell recycling barrels in hundreds of sites throughout the state and the shells from these barrels are returned to select shallows to form the nuclei of new oyster reefs. (Thanks to this effort a thriving oyster reef now inhabits the area between Banks and Back Channels.)

The Oyster Shell Recycling program is an important step towards restoring native oyster populations and their habitat … and guess what: you can help. Many local restaurants participate in the program and you can too by bringing your shells to any of the 13 public shell recycling locations all along the Azalea Coast.

“We strongly encourage everybody to recycle their shells ” says Stephen Taylor a shellfish biologist at the NCDMF “and to tell all their friends to recycle their shells too. When it comes to oysters every little bit helps!” For a list of public shell recycling locations or additional information call the Division of Marine Fisheries at (910) 796-7289 or visit www.ncdmf.net.

Cucalorus Film Festival

Cucalorus is no ordinary film festival. What started 15 years ago as a one-night one-screen affair has garnered so many plaudits for its unparalleled patchwork of independent documentaries features and shorts that it now spans four days and as many venues.

Perusing the festival’s itinerary it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Not to worry — this year Cucalorus has constructed some useful categories to help you. The “Buzz” program for instance showcases hits from the festival circuit; the “Voices” program politically- and socially-aware documentaries. Festival director Dan Brawley recommends the shorts blocks (comprising five or six films each) as “chances to get a sampling from the next generation of filmmakers just as they’re getting started.”

From its modest beginning — 16 films all made by North Carolinians — Cucalorus has expanded to include more than 100 films from all over the world but its focus is still emphatically trained on the filmmakers. Many screenings are followed by Q&A sessions that provide forums for audiences and filmmakers to connect and trade ideas; between films the schedule is dotted with panels parties workshops and special events such as Dance-a-lorus which brings filmmakers and choreographers together to blur the lines between their respective media.

Write down the dates: Wednesday November 11 through Sunday November 15. For tickets or more information call (910) 343-5995 or visit www.cucalorus.org.

For years you’ve been hoping for looking for listening for the inimitable sounds of the New York Metropolitan Opera to reverberate down the Eastern Seaboard. Well … take a seat in UNCW’s Lumina Theater (located in the Fisher Student Center) and you’ll find just what you seek.

 UNCW’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and Department of Music bring you a full season of stunning performances through the The Met: Live in HD a series that has already collected both an Emmy and a Peabody Award. Taking the big screen by storm will be live high-definition broadcasts of the following (all performances begin at 1 p.m. unless otherwise noted):

November 7: Turandot (Puccini)

December 19: Les Contes d’Hoffman (Offenbach)

January 9: Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss)

January 16: Carmen (Bizet)

February 6: Simon Boccanegra (Verdi)

March 30 at 7 p.m.: Hamlet (Thomas)

May 1: Armida (Rossini)

For tickets or additional information call (910) 962-3195 or visit www.uncw.edu/metopera.