Palm Tree
Palm Tree

200 Year Old Giant Clam Found on St. James Island in Florida

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Palm Tree

Blaine Parker stumbled upon a rare and enormous quahog clam while gathering shellfish at Alligator Point in Franklin County.

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Palm Tree

The quahog is an Atlantic species and is mostly found around the north of North Carolina.

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Palm Tree

Parker originally planned to use the clam to make chowder, but decided not to cook it after realizing it was special.

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Palm Tree

Parker took the clam to the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea to test it, and researchers found it to be 6 inches long, much larger than the average quahog.

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Palm Tree

The clam's alternating light bands on its shell showed annual growth, and it was determined to have been born in 1809, the same year as Abraham Lincoln.

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Palm Tree

Parker named the clam Aber-Clam Lincoln and estimated that it was big enough for two servings, with shells large enough to use as bowls.

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Palm Tree

Researchers estimated the clam's age to be over two centuries old, making it one of the oldest quahogs on record.

Palm Tree
Palm Tree

The oldest recorded quahog, named Ming, was found in Iceland in 2007 and was determined to be 507 years old.

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Palm Tree

Parker and lab officials agreed to return Aber-Clam Lincoln to the Gulf of Mexico, as it would not survive in captivity and had earned the right to remain in the ocean.

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