It’s just before dawn in the salt marsh and the tide is low. Herons and sandpipers are already busy looking for breakfast. Several seagulls fly by with crabs in their beaks. Birds aren’t the only creatures looking for food at this hour. Motor boats can be heard in the distance. The clammers are out, their silhouettes barely discernible in several spots in the marsh.
Considering the large number of people out in the marsh digging for clams at a time when most would rather be in bed, the effort must have its rewards. The work is back-breaking and the mosquitoes are a nuisance. A young clammer was diligently at work with his short pitchfork when I photographed him. He said the pay was good for skilled diggers, but he didn’t consider himself a very good one.
Illustration of Happy Clams by Sydney Smith ~ Ecology Action Centre
Clammers find clams by looking for their breathing holes in the sand. Though some clams may just be a few inches below the surface, others may be down a foot in the mud. Clammers make use of spades, pitchforks or their hands to find them.
Clams should not be harvested during periods of algal bloom, known also as Red Tide, when phytoplankton increase in concentration in the marine environment. Warning signs are frequently posted at a location near Rainbow Haven Beach where boats are launched into the marsh area. Contaminated clams don’t have a particular taste and toxins cannot be eliminated by cooking or freezing. The paralytic shellfish poisoning caused by harmful algal blooms (HABs) can cause death.
Clams play an important role in the ecosystem by filtering water. A large clam can filter about a gallon of water in an hour. Their presence is an indicator of the health of the environment.
Flandrum Hill 
I remember the clam digging when I was a kid in Southeast Alaska – many many years ago. The taste can’t be beat – but the work is indeed strenuous. Thanks for the great photos.
You may have answered this one before, Amy, but do you dig for clams? Also, the light of the dawn is beautiful. I admire you for getting up and walking so faithfully at that time every morning. Does your husband walk with you every day or do you sometimes go alone?
JoAnn, I came across a lot online about Alaskan clam digging while doing some research for this post. They must be tasty. Glad you liked the photos.
Kathy, we’ve been walking a bit later the past couple of days (those photos were taken a few days ago) and have been able to see a deer every day! I don’t go out by myself to the Salt Marsh trail, but I do go out alone to a smaller beach that’s a 10 minute walk from the house or to the beaches at Rainbow Haven or Silver Sands.
I don’t dig for clams. As much as I love the taste, after all I’ve read about toxins in molluscs lately, I might have even been turned off them a bit. So many new toxins have been discovered in recent years.
I think I’ve gome clam digging when I was really young (in the Bay of Fundy), but I can’t remember for sure. I guess I’ll have to ask my mom:)
To those of us used to the sweetwater Great Lakes, ocean tides are a great mystery. The beautiful colors, however, are familiar.
“The Clammer” is a painting. I love the light.
So does the presence of clams mean the environment is healthy or unhealthy? (They’re doing their filtering job or they’re gathered at polluted sites where there’s lots of filtering to be done . . .)
Grace, since the Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, just being out on those mud flats at low tide must have been quite the experience.
pj, even though the ocean tides are something we notice regularly here, they’re still a mystery.
Glad you liked ‘The Clammer’ – to think Millet could have painted a clammer instead of a gleaner…
I think clams thrive in areas that provide lots of nutrients. However, they are disappearing in areas with too much CO2 (caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere). Shells are also prone to dissolving in water that is too acidic.
this almost looks like my home area here. i never get to the beach that early – I am sure it is an unforgettable experience that I am missing. I often see fishermen digging for worms. I must ask about clams.
Linda, at this time of year, beaches here are absolutely packed with sun seekers during the day, especially on weekends. Parking lots near the salt marsh are also filled up with the vehicles of dog walkers and hikers. Early morning is the most peaceful time to go out.
Hi,
I am looking for help finding a place that I can take my little boy to dig a few clams. He is curious but I am not sure where to go. I live in Halifax but will drive pretty much anywhere. I know that it is getting cold so we may have to wait until next year but I thought that I’d ask now while it is on my mind.
Thanks in advance,
Ben
Ben, many people dig for clams along the salt marsh trail located off Bissett Road which connects Cole Harbour to Cow Bay. You would need to go at low tide armed with a bucket, a small shovel and rubber boots.
I’ve seen people digging for clams in the area beyond the first couple of bridges. There are sandy areas just off the trail where you might be able to see the telltale siphon holes that indicate clams are below.
Hope this helps.
Amy-Lynn
Went clam digging yesterday at the salt marsh and got plenty of clams,we brought them home and boiled them up. My wife then battered them and deep fried them. Talk about being delicious, everyone enjoyed them. What a wonderful way to spend time together as a family.
Hi Rob,
It does sound wonderful. I’ve never done it myself but my husband has. Years ago, on his first business trip to Nova Scotia, he was taken out clam digging after work. A bonfire was made on the beach and the clams were cooked and eaten right there. He thought it was awesome.
Your way of cooking them sounds super good.
If you do it again, make sure you check to see if they’re safe for eating. When the water warms up, at some point in the season, signs may be posted in clam digging areas to warn of possible paralytic shellfish poisoning due to red tide (toxic algal blooms).