Just as in Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” where the sea gave rise to the goddess of beauty and love on the half shell, so is the daily life of our beloved giant clam. Our mammoth and magnificent mollusk is an enchanting vision often found nestled amid the reef it supports. Impressive in size, supportive and vital to marine life. Still in place yet undulating in a brilliant array of iridescent colors and texture. Drawing in sea water, seeking plankton and filtering both daily nutriment and toxins harmful to the reef, the largest bivalve expels clean and healthful water.
Reefs once brimming with these gentle giants, are now bereft of these cleansing clams. Over fishing and exploitation is the main reason that giant clams are becoming endangered. A byproduct of this exploitation is reef degradation, ultimately affecting all marine life, and each of us as well.
{these photos were taken at MERC/Marine Ecology Reseach Centre at Gayana Eco Resort,
Malohom Bay, Gaya Island, Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia}
