{"id":78,"date":"2019-03-12T23:10:32","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T23:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/n3-geoduck\/"},"modified":"2020-12-08T20:47:42","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T20:47:42","slug":"n3-geoduck","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/n3-geoduck\/","title":{"rendered":"Geoducks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

by Kate Briggs<\/font><\/p>\n

Geoducks<\/font><\/p>\n

Geoducks appear to be just a
\nsimple clam with a longer neck than usual. But these creatures are very
\nfascinating. Geoducks are not ducks in any way, shape, or form. It is actually
\na member to the Mollusca family under the class Bivalve. <\/font><\/p>\n

You can find these creatures
\neverywhere in the Puget Sound (also in British Columbia and Alaska). There
\nare about 109 million adult Geoducks that live in sediments; it is the largest
\namount of an animal in the Sound. Geoducks are disappearing fast. Commercial
\nfishermen harvest 2 million pounds or $10 million worth from the Puget Sound
\nalone. <\/font><\/p>\n

These exciting animals are most
\nabundant everywhere in southern areas of the Puget Sound. In these places
\nthey can be found in fine mud all the way to sand and sometimes even gravel.
\nSome even can be found burrowing in eelgrass. From a feet to 360 feet in
\ndepth of water they can be seen with 1-3 inches of siphon (neck) showing.
\nThe biggest ones are found in about in to 70 feet of water. <\/font><\/p>\n

Geoduck (pronounced “gooey-d1kk~
\nnot gee-oh-duck”) comes from a Native American tribe meaning “to dig deep.”
\nWhich they can, up to one meter. A Geoduck’s siphon can stretch up to 39
\ninches long and often get so large that their whole body does not entirely
\nfit into the shell. Weighing between 3 pounds (the maximum weight documented
\nwas 7.15 pounds). <\/font><\/p>\n

Although
\nthese creatures weigh up to 7.15 pounds they only eat phytoplankton. Geoducks
\ncan get very old; the oldest was documented at the age of 147 years. A Geoduck’s
\nage is determined quite like trees, by counting its annual growth rings
\non the shell (instead of the trunk). The average Geoduck is about 46 years.
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

The Geoduck is disappearing.
\nThe Geoduck harvest is the largest clam fishery on the West Coast. A diver
\ncan harvest 800 clams in a day, that’s faster then one a minute and 50 to
\n60 people are employed in the Washington harvesting Industry. A harvest
\ntakes about 10,000 Geoducks per acre and after harvested it takes a total
\nof 39 years to recover the wasted Geoduck bed. In British Columbia people
\nhave been harvesting Geoducks since 1976. In 1987 there was about 3,735
\ntons but they have declined to only 2,000 per year. As you can see Geoducks
\nare reducing each year by a tremendous amount. Already we have lost 1,735
\ntons in 15 years. I love this creature and wish it to stay with us a long
\ntime, do as much as possible to keep it alive. <\/font><\/p>\n

Kate Briggs

\nGrade 7

\nWest Sound Academy <\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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