Oyster Blog — Oysters

Here's a pumpkin sized oyster for you. Happy Halloween!

It's not a tumor, it's an ingrown pearl.  The 2009 ugliest pearl contest ended in a draw: But we had a clear winner in 2010:

Diana, Office Manager Extraordinaire, took this shot from her porch in Triton Cove, which is just a few miles north of our farm on Hwy 101. A few minutes after this picture was taken the spat had dissipated and was no longer visible. We love it when the oysters spawn, because it bodes well for Hood Canal's future oyster population, and it means the oysters will no longer be "milky." For a description of what, exactly, is going on here, please read our earlier posts on oyster reproduction.

Friend Justin discovered this delightful and very large pearl in an extra small crispy fried delicious Hama Hama oyster taco. He found the pearl with his teeth, which is not the preferred way of finding pearls. Fortunately, there were no teeth harmed in the finding of this pearl.

Here are some photos from a nighttime beach walk we took a couple of weeks ago. Ever wonder what diving ducks do underwater? In the photo below you can see a duck excavation, created by foraging a surf scoter, white wing, or other clam-eating duck. In the winter the tideflats are covered with these pits, and the hungry ducks are one reason we always put nets over areas of the beach where we've spread clam seed. We also found a spotted dorid hanging out. The most common nudibranch on our beach is the yellow monterey dorid, so finding this spotted guy was a treat. One...