Oysters are experiencing mass die-offs along the US coastline, leaving farmers distraught and scientists struggling to come up with answers as to why.
For more than a decade along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, millions of farmed oysters, which are grown in cages or bags in tidal areas, have fallen victim to Sudden Unusual Mortality Syndrome, or SUMS, which causes the flesh inside the shell to break down.
It has been devastating for the seasonal oyster industry, resulting in some farms shutting down completely and others moving further north. And scientists believe they are only just beginning to understand the scale of the problem.
