Posted on 03/01/2023 12:11:16 PM PST by Red Badger
A quahog clam found at Florida's Alligator Point was determined by researchers to be about 214 years old. Photo courtesy of the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab/Facebook
Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A 2.6-pound quahog claim that made a rare visit to the Florida coast is believed by researchers to be 214 years old.
Blaine Parker said he was collecting shellfish to make chowder at Alligator Point, on St. James Island in Franklin County when he found the gigantic quahog clam, an Atlantic species found most often north of North Carolina.
"We were just going to eat it, but we thought about it a while and figured it was probably pretty special. So, we didn't want to kill it," Parker told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Parker took the clam to the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea, where researchers confirmed it was much larger than the average quahog, which typically weigh up to half a pound and measure up to 4.3 inches in length. Parker's clam was measured at 6 inches long.
Researchers said the alternating bands of light on the clam's shell indicate it was born in 1809, the same year Abraham Lincoln was born. Parker dubbed his find Aber-Clam Lincoln.
Lab officials said Lincoln is believed to be the fourth-oldest clam on record. The oldest, a quahog named Ming, was discovered off the coast of Iceland in 2007 and was determined to be 507 years old.
Parker and researchers at the lab agreed to return the clam to the Gulf of Mexico.
"We just figured he won't live very well in captivity. And I think he's earned the right to stay out there," Parker said.
A shell that’s hard to open?
That’s a second correct observable answer....you’re just touching the surface :^) I need a deeper explanation. Don’t you?
About 6 inches long per article...I don’t read them totally either.
Doesn’t look a day over 213 years to me.
We have no way to tell whether that pic is the real McClam. Photo should have a frame of reference for size.
See how things can work out for you when you stay down low and keep your mouth shut? Happy as a clam.
That cartoon cracked me up, I remember it well! B.C. was one of my favorites back in the day.
One I remember was when the fat broad rearranged someone’s face. I don’t remember who it was- Clumsy, Peter, or BC…
-I couldn’t stop laughing at that one!
LOL!
Can’t imagine putting my tongue on a clam that old.
Bill Clinton you ain’t.
The other way around: What does the clam NOT have that we do?
A mortgage, teenage children, an a$$hole boss, a harridan wife and a live-in mother-in-law.....................
BUT, from the clam’s viewpoint...SHARKS, otters, tsunamis, polluted ocean (leftist view), rocks, humans that love clams, trawlers, etc. It’s tough all around...
All this humor is distracting. I’m just here for the science.
I would think a 200 year old clam would be pretty tough to eat. Especially if it was bearded.
If they stay moist, their easier to open.
Yeah, me too.
As long as the spelchekker says it's OK, it's good to go!
Quoth Slick Willy:
“But, you know, if I were a single man, I might ask that mummy out. That’s a good-looking mummy.”
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