"America’s Freshwater Mussels Are Going Extinct — Here’s Why That Sucks"

"Dozens of these water-filtering species are at risk of vanishing, and that’s bad news for every living creature that relies on them."

"Give Rachel Mair two tanks of water and she’ll show you something amazing.

“When I do outreach at a festival, I put mud and algae and stuff in the tanks,” says Mair, a biologist with the Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery in Charles City, Va. “Then I put some freshwater mussels in one tank and tell people to come back and check on me in a few hours.”

Those few hours make a difference, as do the mussels. “People come back and the water in the tank that has the mussels will be substantially cleaner,” Mair says. “I say, which water you rather your kids play in or drink? That’s what mussels are doing for you.”"

John R. Platt reports for the Revelator April 4, 2018.