09/22/2026
Scenes from the intertidal!
Surveying clam recruitment and finding some wavy gravy. Manila clams recruit naturally in the Hood Canal, and we farm them by making space for them to settle and (most importantly) protecting them from predation with clam nets. Here, our team is doing a population estimate… especially important because this summer was a rough one for clams, and we think about 50% of the clams on the beach died.☠️ We’re not 100% certain what causes the different shell patterns but we assume it’s related to their genetics.
Moonsnails sitting pretty on an oyster bed.
These are carnivorous drill snails that use a sandpaper like tongue and corrosive saliva to lick their way through shells (usually clams) and then suck out the innards. (Nature is metal).
Eccentric sand dollars living their best life.
Sand dollars are actually urchins, and they’re called eccentric because of their “off centered” body structure… but maybe the scientist who named them also had a sense of humor. They burrow in the sand, live in dense colonies, cruise around like hover craft, and are purple and fuzzy when alive.
