1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brains Duck, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain 2 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren Bolebaum. Here. The Gui duck is not a 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: type of duck, and it's not particularly guy spelled geo duck. 4 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: The Gui duck is the world's largest burrowing plam, averaging 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: just over two pounds or right around a kilo in 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: weight including their shell. But unlike say the giant clam, 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,559 Speaker 1: which is almost all shell, the Gui duck's shell is 8 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: small compared to its soft body. Its body length can 9 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: be up to three feet or a meter long, and 10 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: its shell is usually only about six to eight inches 11 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: long or about fifteen to twenty centimeters, which means that 12 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: its shell only covers about a fifth of the Gui 13 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: duck's body. That body is composed of a meaty mantle 14 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: that fits mostly inside the shell, and a long, thick 15 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: neck or siphon that protrudes out for one end. It 16 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: has two openings at the tip of the siphon, so 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: it looks sort of like an elephant's trunk or a 18 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: worm with spouts. And look, I'm not trying to be 19 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: rude or edgy here, I'm just being accurate. It looks 20 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: really phallic. They're found in the northern part of North 21 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: America's Pacific Coast, from Puget Sound up along British Columbia 22 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: and into Alaska. Natural beds of them exist on many 23 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: public beaches, but they're rarely visible except at very low tides. 24 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 1: I say beds because these clams make a home by 25 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: burying themselves two to three feet down up to about 26 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: a meter in the mud, sand or gravel at the 27 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: ocean's floor. Oh once they're in, they're in for life. 28 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: They use their siphon to poke up above the sea 29 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: bed into the water. Again. The end has two openings. 30 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: They're a filter feeder, so one is for drawing in 31 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: gulps of water from which they glean oxygen and food 32 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: a phytoplankton, and then they push out excess water and 33 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: inedible stuff through the other opening. They can retract into 34 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: the sea floor to avoid predators, but again cannot fully 35 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: retract into their shells. Gooby ducks reproduce through what's called 36 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: broadcast spawning. Male clams release sperm into the ocean water, 37 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: a prompting female clams to release eggs a couple million 38 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: that ago if and or when they meet and fertilize 39 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: in the water larvae form and begin swimming around, eating 40 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: algae and growing their shells. Over a few weeks, they'll 41 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: get heavy enough that they sink to the seafloor and 42 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,519 Speaker 1: burrow down. As they get older and bigger, they burrow 43 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: further down, and then they just eat and breathe and 44 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: hang out for oh say a century or so. They 45 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: grow pretty fast during their first few years of life, 46 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,799 Speaker 1: reaching about one and a half pounds in five years 47 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: and their full size by fifteen years, though yes, they 48 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: can live much longer than that, over one hundred and 49 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: fifty years. Every year they build a new layer of 50 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: their shell from the inside, so you can see the 51 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: size that the shell was in previous years by looking 52 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: at the rings formed on the outside as each progressively 53 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: larger layer has been added from underneath. The scientists count 54 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: and measure the rings of their shells to assess climate 55 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: change over the decades. The oldest known Gui duck was 56 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty eight years old, and the largest 57 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: found in Discovery Bay, Washington, was eight point two pounds 58 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: that's three point seven kilos. And guy ducks aren't just 59 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: curious specimens, they're local delicacies. Indigenous peoples in the Pacific 60 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: Northwest have harvested guy ducks for hundreds or perhaps thousands 61 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: of years and ate them fresh or smoked. Their harvest 62 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: continues to this day, with Native American tribes holding treaty 63 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: rights to half of the shellfish harvest in Washington State's 64 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: Puget Sound to prevent commercial overfishing. The harvest of guy 65 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: ducks is tightly monitored and regulated, and has been in 66 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: various ways since the nineteen twenties. These shellfish are popular 67 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: outside of the Pacific Northwest too. Most of the clams 68 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: are shipped to China. They're a popular ingredient around the 69 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: lunar New Year. They typically go for about twenty to 70 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: thirty dollars a pound wherever they're sold, though prices as 71 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: high as three hundred dollars per clam are not unheard 72 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: of in upscale restaurants around Hong Kong. The limited harvest 73 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: and high prices that guy ducks fetch have led to 74 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 1: the unlikely sounding crime of clam rustling and shellfish smuggling. 75 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: In the early two thousands, wildlife authorities put away the 76 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: head of a smuggling ring on the conviction of illegally 77 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: harvesting a million bucks worth of guy ducks. People are 78 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,119 Speaker 1: also giving gui duck farming a try, which is approximately 79 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: one hundred percent less likely to end and arrest, but 80 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: the technical and environmental details of which haven't entirely been 81 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: ironed out yet. I have never tried guy duck myself, 82 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: but from what I understand, they can be tender to crunchy, 83 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: to chewy to meaty, depending on how they're prepared, with 84 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: a delicate sweet, a fresh to slightly oceany flavor. I 85 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,919 Speaker 1: get the idea that's like squid, but more flavorful. The 86 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: siphon is the edible part of any clam, and you 87 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: get a lot of it with a guy duck. They're 88 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: eaten in all the ways that other molluscs are eaten, 89 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,679 Speaker 1: Simmered in soups and hot pots, sliced raw into sushi 90 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: or sushimi or savice or crudo, a baked or stir 91 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: fried or barbecued or breaded and deep fried or ground 92 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: and deep fried in fretters, and beyond all of that. 93 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 1: There is a school that has adopted the guy duck 94 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:39,599 Speaker 1: as its mascot. Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington is 95 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: known for its quirky curriculum structure, and focus on freedom 96 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: of speech and the exchange of ideas. Like the Guy Duck. 97 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: Evergreen says that they are quote accessible to all who 98 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: are willing to dig deep. I'll leave you today with 99 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: their college chant Go guy Ducks, go through the mud 100 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: and the sand. Let's go siphon Hi, squirt it out, 101 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: swivel all about, let it all hang out. Today's episode 102 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: is based on the article The Gooby Duck is the 103 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: World's most not Safe for work mollusk on HowStuffWorks dot Com, 104 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: written by Kristen Hall Geisler. Brain Stuff is production of 105 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and it 106 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my 107 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 108 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.