johnny devenanzio: fed by the salty mediterranean sea, fresh runoff from the rhone river and the canal du midi [inaudible] maintains a delicate mixture of mineral rich waters ideal for farming shellfish. this is not what i pictured it being. this is amazing. [speaking french] johnny devenanzio: when an infant oyster grows to about an inch, a hundred of them are cemented to an eight foot string and affixed to a solar powered pulley system which raises and submerges the mollusks into the sea. why do you have the oysters here on these ropes? worker: they have to be out of the water 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hours per day. this one take this. yes. johnny devenanzio: don't want to lose these. floran: if the oysters stay in the water, they stay always open, and the muscle is very small. johnny devenanzio: they're not working out. floran: exactly, exactly, exactly. johnny devenanzio: but then when you pull it up out of the water it has to close. - yes. and that's why its muscles are so big. yes. like you, big muscles. floran: to keep the water inside they have to make mother of pearl. johnny devenanzio: it has t