When I was a kid we found beautiful scallop shells at almost every south side beach on the Cape but especially at Kalmus and Dowse’s Beaches. Due to over harvesting and the depletion of eelgrass beds the population of these tasty little scallops, also called bay scallops, crashed. It is slowly rebounding and once again I can find scenes like this one on my early morning walks….

Blue eyed scallops are bivalves, having two shells. Often their shells don’t match which makes collecting different colored shells easy and fun. They only live about 2 years and grow to about 3″ max. 

I found this live one in shallow water this morning. Blue eyed scallops can actually “swim” by opening and closing their shells and they can scoot around pretty quickly when they want to. If you have never seen a scallop’s eyes, here’s a picture that shows them a little. Sometimes you will see them with really bright blue eyes, hence their name.

I tossed this guy back into deep water so it was safe for today anyway. By the way, if you want to sound like a local you say “scollop” not “scaaallop” The latter gives away a wash-a-shore every time….