Icelandic scientists recently found the world's oldest known animal, a quahog clam whose shell had barely formed when Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. However, it's possible that you've already seen -- and eaten -- even older clams.
Conservation biologist Mark Powell made this point in a comment and then on his own blog, and it's a good one. "The real news," he wrote, "is that people are busy turning the world's oldest animal into clam chowder. Do you want to eat 500 year old animals?"
"These clams live in the sandy ocean bottom, and there are no fancy corals or other dramatic habitat features that will lead to protection," he continues. "And typical fishery management lets the biggest and oldest animals get sent to the fish market, so normal management won't protect them. These unsexy old animals will probably keep finding their way into chowder unless we value them simply for being old."
Something to think about. And if it resonates, you might also want to think twice about eating rockfish or orange roughy, some of which can live longer than people. **
Image: Kent Wang
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