Heat wave scorches Washington's shellfish, total losses unclear

Section:Gallery

Sat., July 10, 2021

“Here’s some death,” says Eric Sparkman, a Shellfish Biologist with the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Natural Resources Department, as he shows a clam that was cooked to death during an abnormal heatwave on Friday at a beach on Hammersley Inlet near Shelton, Wash.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Eric Sparkman, a shellfish biologist with the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Natural Resources Department, snaps a photo of dead shellfish Friday.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
A Seattle fishmonger stands near a display of locally harvested clams, muscles and oysters at on July 10, 2021, at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Karen Stewart, left, watches as her husband Dennis Stewart smells an oyster to see if it's rancid after they plucked it from Eagle Creek Beach on the Hood Canal on Thursday, July 8, 2021, near Hoodsport, Wash. The couple live a hunter gatherer lifestyle and said they take naturally obtain most of their diet, much of which includes shellfish. "It's nice we can eat our hobby," said Dennis Stewart.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
An informational message board for tourists explains the shellfish ecosystem to tourists on Thursday, July 8, 2021, at Potlatch State Park on the Hood Canal south of Potlatch, Wash.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Eric Sparkman, a Shellfish Biologist with the Squaxin Island Tribe's Natural Resources Department uses his hands to dig into a sunbaked beach to look for a moon snail on Friday, July 9, 2021, on Hammersley Inlet near Shelton, Wash.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Eric Sparkman, left, and Rana Brown, Shellfish Biologists with the Squaxin Island Tribe's Natural Resources Department, survey a sun-cooked beach on Harstine Island on Friday, July 9, 2021, near Shelton, Wash.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Eric Sparkman, a Shellfish Biologist with the Squaxin Island Tribe's Natural Resources Department, removes his hat in the hot afternoon sun as he finds dead clams in a mudflat on Friday, July 9, 2021, near a commercial shellfish operation on Oakland Bay near Shelton, Wash.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Dennis Stewart places oysters he harvested into a zip-lock bag on Thursday, July 8, 2021, at Eagle Creek Beach on the Hood Canal near Hoodsport, Wash. Stewart and his wife Karen Stewart live a hunter gatherer lifestyle and said they naturally obtain most of their diet, much of which includes shellfish. "It's nice we can eat our hobby," said Dennis Stewart.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Eric Sparkman, a Shellfish Biologist with the Squaxin Island Tribe's Natural Resources Department, walks across a mass of dead clams on the surface of a tidal mudflat on Friday, July 9, 2021, near a commercial shellfish operation on Oakland Bay near Shelton, Wash.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Karen Stewart, walks across an oyster bed on Eagle Creek Beach on the Hood Canal on Thursday, July 8, 2021, near Hoodsport, Wash. She and her husband Dennis Stewart live a hunter gatherer lifestyle and said they obtain most of their diet from the wild, much of which includes shellfish. "It's nice we can eat our hobby," said Dennis Stewart.

Tyler Tjomsland The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo