Freshwater Mussels, Our Blue-Collar Bivalves

Freshwater mussels are THE most imperiled animals in both America and the Delaware River watershed, and restoration of mussels has become a national priority, especially as these hard-working animals perform the vital service of filtering our water. A coalition of public and private partners has ambitious plans, including propagating as many as a million mussels annually in labs and ponds to restore their populations. Lance Butler, senior scientist with the Philadelphia Water Dept, one of the partners, presents the astonishing sweep of this ambitious program, designed to help these blue-collar bivalves thrive in our waterways again.