Apalachicola Bay, Florida (CNN) -- You can feel the tension in the air and on the bay -- even on a Sunday.

When you're an oysterman, your day is a long, hard one spent harvesting oysters on the brown water off Florida's big bend -- known as the forgotten coast. Oyster harvesters say that if oil arrives and turns the bay black, their livings will be as good as over.

For Florida oystermen, race is on against approaching oil - CNN.com