This work is funded by a grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundations’ Southern Resident Killer Whale Conservation Program for the purpose of improving habitat, food sources, and conducting research to support recovery of the Southern Resident Orca population within our region. The grant covers the costs for volunteer coordination, recruiting, training, equipping, and managing the data captured by our volunteers.
The Rough Piddock is a clam able to drill through rock. Look along the beach for clay or stone riddled with holes, and you may find the home of this unusual creature.
Rough Piddocks have shells up to 6 inches long, one half smooth and the other rough with ridges and points. A fleshy foot extending from the rough end sticks to rock like a sucker. Once in place, muscles in the piddock's foot and body slowly turn the rough shell against the clay or rock and grind away. Thirty slight turns take an hour and rotate the piddock a full circle. Then the creature changes direction and grinds the other way. Slowly, the piddock burrows in.
Rough Piddocks can live 8 years. They start burrowing right away and enlarge their burrow's diameter as they grow, effectively trapping themselves inside their rocky home. To obtain food and get rid of waste, this shellfish has a pair of long, fused tubes, called "siphons", extending from its smooth-shelled end. The siphon reaches up to the burrow's mouth and extends further to penetrate any sand covering it. A square yard of seafloor may have 50 colorful piddock siphons poking above its surface taking in minute plants and animals while ejecting waste from the creatures burrowed in below.
When the piddock dies, its burrow is a ready home for small crabs, worms, and snails. All these creatures and the amazing piddock too depend on clean water to thrive. You can help them by doing things to prevent polluted run-off; for example, dispose properly of used motor oil, avoid spreading chemicals around your yard, and dispose of pet waste in the trash.
