News Release

Annapolis Maritime Museum / 723 Second St / Annapolis, MD 21403
Contact: Alice Estrada / 410 295-0104

What:      Premiere Screening of SHELLSHOCKED: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves
When:      Thursday, March 21, 2013 
Time:      7 - 8:30 p.m.
Where:     Annapolis Maritime Museum, 723 Second Street,Annapolis, MD 21403
Admission: In advance: $12.50/Museum members, $17.50/Non-members; $20 at the door
More info: www.amaritime.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 4, 2013

SHELLSHOCKED: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves

Eighty-five percent of the world’s wild oyster reefs are gone -- destruction engineered by humans. The award-winning documentary, SHELLSHOCKED, Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves, by American filmmaker Emily Driscoll, will make its Maryland premiere at the Annapolis Maritime Museum on March 21. Driscoll wrote and directed SHELLSHOCKED, a 2012 CINE Golden Eagle Award Winner. Driscoll says her film is, ultimately, about hope — of people being caring and innovative in attempts to restore wild reefs as habitats and water purifiers. The film features Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau.

SHELLSHOCKED: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves follows efforts to prevent the extinction of wild oyster reefs, which keep our oceans healthy by filtering water and engineering ecosystems. Today, because of overfishing and pollution, wild oyster reefs have been declared "the most severely impacted marine habitat on Earth" and no longer play a role in their ecosystems.

“In my film, wild oysters are called ecosystem engineers. So for something that vital in the ecosystem to no longer have a role... is a big fall. Wild oyster reefs are functionally extinct and no longer have a significant role in their ecosystem,” says Driscoll.

“Aquaculture has put oysters back on tables in such robust quantities that its easy to see why people donʼt understand the ocean environment is stressed, with little natural reef left. Ninety-five percent of the oysters served on a plate have been farmed. So people would have no way of knowing (of the vanishing reefs) because in their day-to-day experience, oysters seem plentiful,” the filmmaker says.

The Annapolis Maritime Museum will present this final event in a series of ten presentations for the Annapolis Maritime Museum’s Winter Lecture Series on Thursday, March 21, 7-8:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance until March 21, online at www.amaritime.org for $17.50 (non-members) and $12.50 for members. Tickets at the door are $20. 

The Annapolis Maritime Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching adults and students about the rich maritime heritage of the area and the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. The Museum partners with community groups, government entities, and other like-minded organizations to deliver high-quality educational experiences and programs on subjects ranging from maritime history and culture to environmental and good stewardship practices.

For more information about the Museum: www.amaritime.org

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