In yesterday’s post (“Bears on the Beach”), I spoke of the clamming activities that the brown bears of Hallo Bay (Alaska) participate in, during low tides. Today’s post includes a couple of images of brown bears as they clammed the shores of Hallo Bay:
Watching a brown bear locate and dig up the razor clams is a very interesting thing to watch. The bears’ keen sense of smell allows the bears to locate the razor clam, even when they are embedded several inches below the surface. And sometimes, the razor clams “gives away” their location as they squirt water out of the tiny hole to the surface, where they are embedded.
Once the clam is recovered, the brown bear uses his long, sharp claws to surgically open the clam and retrieve the goodies inside. Hard to imaging those “nasty” long claws being used in such a delicate operation!