If you’re a fan of seafood, you may or may not be familiar with the Pacific geoduck. This huge saltwater clam is a prized catch that’s revered for the meat it contains. But beyond having its place at the table, the geoduck is a fascinating mollusk with lots of impressive traits and characteristics.
Welcome to our latest blog post. Your friends here at Harbor Breeze Cruises are excited to answer the question, “What is a geoduck?” and share information about the Pacific geoduck, which resides in the waters we explore as part of our daily whale-watching excursions.
Before we answer, “What is a geoduck?” we want to ensure you know how to pronounce it. The “geo” in “geoduck” is not pronounced “gee-oh” but as “gooey”! This pronunciation alone begins our fun foray into learning about the geoduck and all its idiosyncrasies.
According to NOAA Fisheries, the Pacific geoduck is a large clam “found along the West Coast of the United States from Alaska to Baja California.” NOAA adds that geoducks have a small shell and long siphon, or “neck,” that has two openings at the end; one opening allows the geoduck to take in oxygen and phytoplankton, while the other allows the geoduck to release excess water.
Perhaps Smithsonian Magazine offers the most telling physical description of the funky-looking geoduck: “Its long, leathery neck can stretch to the length of a baseball bat or recoil to a wrinkled nub. The neck resembles an aardvark’s snout, an elephant’s trunk or a monstrous prehistoric earthworm emerging from a fist-size shell, among other things.”
The geoduck is often referred to as King Clam or Elephant Clam—two nicknames that speak to the mind-blowing size that these clams have the potential to reach (the shell, NOAA Fisheries states, is typically 6 to 8 inches, and the siphon can grow to up to 3 feet!).
The world’s largest burrowing clam has a rather impressive lifespan. These mollusks can live up to 150 years, and the oldest geoduck ever recorded was a whopping 168 years old. Not many animals are capable of living more than a century, so there’s something to be said about their survival instincts.
Fascinatingly, the geoduck grows rapidly in its first years of life. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife states that, on average, a geoduck can “attain their maximum size by about 15 years.” The fact that the mollusk stops growing after a decade and a half means that the next decades are spent trying to survive, and to do so, they must burrow into the sediment.
The aforementioned Smithsonian Magazine article notes that once a geoduck burrows, its shell remains sedentary and “while other clams move to avoid predators, a geoduck, when approached by a hungry crab or spiny dogfish, retracts its siphon, like a turtle withdrawing its head.”
Beyond the predators it encounters in the ocean, perhaps the geoduck’s biggest predators are humans who desire to eat them.
The food and drink website Serious Eats describes geoduck meat as “somewhere between a chewy clam and a tender abalone, though crisper in texture than either.” Furthermore, Serious Eats adds, “The geoduck’s strange appearance belies the ease with which it cooks up in the kitchen. It is easier to make than roast chicken and sautés more quickly than scrambled eggs; its trunk, in fact, is best when it isn’t cooked at all.”
If you’re interested in tasting geoduck, you should expect to pay a pretty penny. It’s not uncommon for these mollusks to be priced upwards of $30 per pound or more. NOAA Fisheries adds that “there is both wild harvest and a growing geoduck aquaculture industry, particularly in Washington State.”
In a Facebook video, famous chef and restaurateur Andrew Zimmerman compares the experience of eating geoduck to “kissing a mermaid.” Whether or not this makes you want to try a geoduck (should the opportunity arise) is your call to make . . . either way, it’s safe to say that this mollusk thrills foodies around the world.
There’s no denying that the geoduck has made quite a name for itself. In a February 2024 article published by The Seattle Times, reporter Conrad Swanson details how some state senators sponsored a bill designed to declare an official state clam of Washington.
Swanson makes a strong case for the geoduck, saying this clam deserved to be considered because it had become the mascot of The Evergreen State College in Olympia and, besides, geoducks have captured the attention of popular television foodies such as the late Anthony Bourdain. As of January 2025, it seems as though the razor clam will likely be named Washington’s state clam, but Swanson’s plea not to overlook the geoduck is a testament to the geoduck’s undeniable charm.
Now that you’re well-versed in the elusive (and apparently delicious) Pacific geoduck, you may want to consider booking a cruise with Harbor Breeze Cruises so you can learn even more about some of the ocean’s most unique creatures! Our highly experienced captains, crew members, and Aquarium of the Pacific educators are always glad to share information and answer questions about the ocean and its diverse inhabitants of all shapes and sizes.
If you’re looking for a relaxing, educational, and exciting time on the Pacific Ocean, look no further! Embark on a cruise you won’t soon forget; purchase tickets online or give us a call at 562-432-4900.
