© Jonathan Quilter/The Columbus DispatchAnthony Sasson, freshwater conservation manager for the Nature Conservancy in Ohio, picks up a dead mussel in the Big Darby Creek at Prairie Oaks Metro Park.
Biologists, mollusk experts and officials with state and federal agencies gathered Oct. 20 to talk about the mysterious die-off. They've been surveying the stream and collecting samples, but say it could be weeks before a cause is pinpointed.
In the meantime, the mollusks continue to die, leaving their empty shells strewn along the stream.
"This is one of the few last healthy rivers in America. If we lose that we're losing a key piece of our heritage," said John Tetzloff, president of the Darby Creek Association. "Mussels have been in decline for decades. ... It was a recipe for disaster and this is the disaster. This could be the end of Darby as we know it."
Mussels are immobile filter-feeders and are highly sensitive to environmental changes. That makes them "canaries in the coal mine" for various ecosystems tied to the Darby, Tetzloff said.
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