Back to Part 3: "How to Prepare Geoduck"

PART 4:

"You May Not Believe This About Geoduck..."

1. Did you know that the Geoduck is the mascot of the Evergreen State College in Olympia?

The school's motto is Omnia Extares - Let it all hang out.

Here's the school fight song: Go, Geoduck go, Through the mud and the sand, let's go. Siphon high, squirt it out, swivel all about, let it all hang out. Go, Geoduck go! Stretch your necks when the tide is low. Siphon high, squirt it out, swivel all about, let it all hang out! (Yes, it's all true!)

2. Did you know that Dr. Richard J. Long, also reputedly known as Dr. Dick Long, marine biologist, oceanographer, and environmental activist, concluded that the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster had some rather unpublicized long-term effects on the geoduck?

Dr. Long claimed that the lichen eaten by Lapland reindeer had become contaminated and rendered the reindeers' antlers unsuitable as an aphrodisiac for the insatiable Japanese market. The Japanese turned to the geoduck as an alternative because of its extraordinary muscular elasticity. Dr. Long also claimed that the Japanese were exporting geoduck at an enormous rate to satisfy the voracious demand for the geoduck as an aphrodisiac.

The story goes that Dr. Long founded the "Save the Geoduck Committee" and called for the immediate halt of the commercial harvesting and exporting of what he labeled "an endangered species about to become extinct." He launched a media blitz that went world-wide. His quote "The geoduck is threatened with extinction due to a voracious international appetite for aphrodisiacs" became the quote of the week in U.S. News and World Report and was also picked up by the UPI Wire Service.

In reality, the "Save the Geoduck Campaign" was actually a satire of the late 1980's intended to distract Americans from all their so-called self-inflicted problems, such as high national debt, the Chernobyl aftermath, Greenpeace antics, zealous animal rights protesters and the U.S. trade imbalance.

3. Did you know that the state of Washington may produce 5 million pounds of geoduck in 2004, which is more than half the world's supply?

The geoduck fishery is managed by the state Department of Natural Resources, similar to management of public forestlands. Underwater tracts are measured out, biologists estimate the size of the crop and harvest rights go to the highest bidder at auction.

4. Did you know there’s an actual geoduck song to sing while you’re digging?
 

THE END

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