Clams, Clams, Clams!

Clams

Handful of Quahogs

Hard clams are edible marine bivalve mollusks native to the eastern shores of North America from Prince William Sound to the Yucatan Penninsula.  One of the best known of these hard clams is the Quahog clam, shown in the picture above.  This clam, also referred to as the round clam, is a favorite on the East coast.  Many recommend it be eaten raw or in chowder, but many other recipes exist for this popular clam (see the picture below). 

Stuffed, Baked Quahogs

Quahogs are hermaphrodites, so they are born as males and change to and remain females as they mature.  Smaller versions of the Quahog clam include Littlenecks and Cherrystones (discussed next).  Confusingly, the name "Quahog" also refers to an ocean clam species (Artica islandica) that is of different family of bihalves. 

Ocean Quahog

Cherrystones, as mentioned earlier, are smaller versions of the Quahog clam.  Cherrystones can grow up to 3 inches wide and are named after the Cherrystone Creek in Virginia.  These clams are also typically eaten raw.  In fact they are usually the clams you will get when you order clams on the half-shell.  

Cherrystones

One of my personal favorite clams is the geoduck (pronounced "gooey-duck") clam! This is a very odd looking clam that has even been featured on shows such as "Andrew Zimmerman's Bizzare Foods" and "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe."  This clam is related to the giant clam, can have a shell 5-8 inches wide, and can weigh in at over 5 pounds. (Some varieties in the deep ocean have been reported to grow over 100 pounds!!!) The most unique feature of the geoduck -- it's LONG neck, or siphon.  This neck can easily grow to be +3 feet in length.  The geoduck lives deep in the sand and is thus harvested by digging down, sometimes as far as 70 feet deep.  Different parts of the clam are used for different recipes such as chowder and even steaks (clam steaks, that is). 

 Harvested Geoducks at Market

 Diving for Geoducks!!!

 Yay for Geoducks!

What is an Environmental Sensitivity Index map?

An Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) map is a very useful tool for organizations wanting to design response and cleanup procedures for a specific coastal area in the event of an oil spill.  The actual map is a diagram depicting a coastline area and the human and biological resources and shoreline sensitivity to an oil spill in that area.  An ESI map is created using geographic information system (GIS) techniques to combine the shoreline map with info on the biological and human resources present in that area.  The resources and aspects on the maps are typically ranked and color coded by their sensitivity to an oil spill. 

The figure below shows an ESI map for the San Diego Bay and it's vicinity as provided by NOAA. 

As you can see the map is color coded and uses different symbols and pictures to depict different human and biological resources and animal species.