Cooking: Shucking Oysters

Not exactly cooking as we ate them raw. $10.50 a doz from coles unshucked. It is worth the $2 saving to shuck them yourself? At least you know when they were shucked and they didn't sit around exposed for who knows how many days.

I don't know why but the shells were really brittle. Not exactly sure where these oysters were from but were they from slightly more acidic water? 

I still can't shuck them from the hinge, they just don't want to open that way. So I shuck them by piercing the wider end at a weak spot. Anyone got tips for shucking from the hinge end? 

 12 shucked oysters

They weren't bad, but not as rich as I hoped. I don't think they were very fresh.