Photo credit: Brian Beal
Join Friends of Sears Island for a program on clam biology, ecology, and management with Dr. Brian Beal on August 16th, from 9:30-11:30am on Sears Island. Participants can expect to learn about the basic biology of soft-shell clams, Mya arenaria, and their relationship to other organisms in the intertidal ecosystem of Sears Island. Searsport and Stockton Springs were once the clam capital of Maine. Learn about factors affecting clam populations, and why there are so few clams today in this region of the Maine coast. In addition, participants will learn how to fly clam shells (it’s fun and easy)!
Dr. Brian Beal is professor of marine ecology at the University of Maine at Machias, and Director of the Marine Science Field Station at the Downeast Institute on Great Wass Island in the town of Beals. He is an experimental marine biologist who studies the interactions of various intertidal species, most notably shellfish. Dr. Beal conducts applied marine research, the results of which can be used to help manage commercially important shellfish.