Claire and Boris Datnow drove from Birmingham to rural Colbert County on Thursday to witness what they described as possibly the most amazing thing happening on Earth all day — the release of rare freshwater mussels into Bear Creek.

“It’s amazing to watch someone helping save a species from extinction,” Claire Datnow said as scientists placed the rare mussels in gravel on the creek bed. “What could be more thrilling than seeing a species being saved?”

Paul Johnson, director of the Alabama Center for Aquatic Biodiversity, said the Alabama lamp mussels released Thursday are one of the rarest mollusks in the world.

Thought to be on the brink of extinction 10 years ago, the mussels are propagated at the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center in Marion in Perry County.

Thursday’s release was the third time Alabama lamp mussels from the center have been released into the wild.

“There are more lamp mussels in the cooler than have been seen in the wild in the last 50 years,” Johnson said as he looked at a few dozen mollusks being held in an ice chest before being released. “There have only been 50 or 60 Alabama lamp mussels found in the wild during the past 50 years.”

Once common in the Alabama portion of the Tennessee River and several of its tributaries, the only naturally occurring population in the state lives along an 8-mile section of upper Paint Rock River in Jackson County. A small population also lives in the Emory River in Tennessee.

Johnson said damming of the Tennessee River and water pollution destroyed most Alabama lamp mussels populations.

Alabama lamp mussels from the aquatic biodiversity center have been released into Elk River in Tennessee and lower stretches of Paint Rock River. About 1,000 were released into Bear Creek along the Natchez Trace Parkway south of Cherokee on Thursday.

All of the mussels released came from three females collected from Paint Rock River and taken to the center.

Todd Fobian, a biologist at the aquatic center, said the clear, fast-flowing water of Bear Creek should provide ideal habitat for the rare mussels.

“We expect to see a good survival rate. We expect them to do well here,” Fobian said.

The mussels released into the creek are marked with a numbered green dot on their shells to help biologists monitor their survival.

Alabama lamp mussels are one of 10 endangered species being raised at the $3 million center that is the largest state-operated mollusk recovery facility in the nation.

Johnson said scientists there hope to begin raising orange pimple back mussels at the center and release them into Tennessee River tributaries. Once found throughout the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, the species is now limited to a small stretch of the Tennessee River on the downstream side of Wilson Dam.

He said the Shoals was once home to 85 species of mussels. Only 35 are now found in the region. He said dams and poor water quality led to the disappearance of many species.

Claire Datnow will include details of Thursday’s mussel release into her newest book about freshwater mussels. Boris Datnow videotaped the release, and his video will be released later this year in support of the book.

“With so much bad stuff going on in the world today, it’s great to see scientists doing something like this,” Claire Datnow said.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 256-740-5746.