Duck, duck, geo (pronounced gooey)

We live in an area that has a lot of sea life, hence a lot of seafood. Restaurants serve it, and a lot of people around here enjoy fishing, clamming, crabbing and such. I'm not a native of this area. My mother was, but somehow she never acquired a taste for seafood.

I grew up in the South, and we weren't anywhere near the sea. I had heard of these sea creatures that people enjoy eating, but we didn't partake.

When friends visit from other regions we like to take them to a place in Seattle called Uwajimaya so they can get a close look at the geoduck and octopus for sale. Another great place is the Pike Place Market, where they make a show out of the fish orders. It really is fun to watch.

But back to my point. I had never seen a geoduck in its habitat. I heard we have them on our beaches, but I had never seen them.

Chuck is a native of the area, and he loves all seafood. Loves geoduck. So last week he took me with him to dig for a couple of geoducks--the limit with a license.

They poke up out of the sand like this.

They were everywhere on this particular beach. 

I thought you had to dig really fast for them, because I've seen people digging before. I guess it depends on the beach and the type of sand.

He's marking off the area.

He said he looks for ones that are big, but the big ones are usually really deep. He got the first one pretty quickly and without any trouble.

He went for a big one, and we decided it was a grandpa and had eluded many geoduckers. 

He dug a deep hole and was reaching as far as he could for the big one. The shell is anchored deep in the sand and they stretch up with their necks. As you dig the hole, the geoduck pulls its neck back down toward the shell. Chuck was determined, and dug the hole larger, but eventually gave up.
He got one decent sized geoduck and one medium and we were finished.

Yeah, I know.

I already know I don't like them, because I tried a razor clam once with Jewel and Bjorn in Montesano. The diner was famous for its razor clams and the waitress told us if we didn't like that, we wouldn't like geoduck.