We are on the Kenai peninsula in Alaska where people are turning out in hoards to dig for clams. Yesterday the tide variation was 24 feet here!! 2nd only to someplace in Norway. Wait for low tide, or just a couple hours prior, and search the damp sand beaches for holes that look like someone poked them with a pencil. Those are breathing holes for the clams. They can bury themselves several feet deep. People come in rubber boots, hip boots and waders, they come with gloves up to their armpits and they come with bare hands and tennis shoes. Some have shovels, everyone has a pail, some have special clam diggers. All generations show up for this and they have a ball. Our neighbor gave us a bowl of cleaned clams and today I made clam chowder with fresh clams. Ahhhhh! it was heavenly scrumptious!
Why do clams need a breathing hole and how do they make a breathing hole 24" deep the size of a pencil. What do they do when the tide comes in? Why do they bury themselves so deep? Just wondering.
ReplyDeleteI think they bury themselves before the water recedes, as it becomes shallower. That way the sand is very soft and loose. But I've heard that they are incredible diggers and can disappear into moist sand in seconds. I think the hole just happens because of the breathing. The people, seaguls and eagles hang around at the water's edge to get their fill of those tasty clams. The birds have strong beaks for cracking them open but sometimes they carry them up and drop them onto the rocks below. So for the clams, burying themselves is survival. When the tide returns, the sand loosens and the clams go back to their work, gardens and underwater hobbies. Who knows the secret life of clams?
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