The guidak mollusk and its external characteristics. The guidak mollusk and its “external data”
You are reading this, and at this time they are shining - the most unusual lighthouses.
Lighthouses are one of those structures that, for people living far from the coasts, remain only some functional buildings that do not play any role in their everyday life.
Even if I live in small town in the center of the continent, but lighthouses have always attracted me. They are the ones that seem to me to be the coolest towers of all existing ones. Lighthouses in this world are simply pillars, sources of light! In function and meaning.
Let's take an interest today: which of the lighthouses are the most unusual.
1. Flannan Lighthouse (Scotland)
Happened at this lighthouse unusual story, which required the attention of a Sherlock Holmes-level detective. But this did not happen in those days and in this place. The story involves three disappearing lighthouse keepers on the Flannan Islands in 1900.
There is a lot of mysterious and strange things in the history of the Flannan lighthouse, and no one still knows where the people went. All the proposed and logical versions were broken by some fact of the event, which shattered the logic of this version to smithereens.
As you understand, there have been many attempts to shed light on the mystery of the lighthouse on the Flannan Islands over the years, including paranormal versions. But the truth is still somewhere nearby...
2. Thridrangar Lighthouse on the Westman Islands (Iceland)
It is considered the most inaccessible and secluded. Now the lighthouse staff gets to the island by helicopter. But when it was built in 1939, only the rock climbing method was used. Can you imagine how hard and dangerous work it was?
Local writer Yrsa Sigurðardóttir has created a mystery novel called Why Did you Lie?, set at Thrídrangar Lighthouse. I haven’t read the book myself yet, but I know that it became an Icelandic bestseller. Still would!!!
3. Lighthouse Church
Built more than 150 years ago on the Solovetsky Islands. Is valid Orthodox Temple. This is the Church of the Ascension, part of the Solovetsky Monastery, located on Sekirnaya Mountain on the Big Island.
The lighthouse is located at an altitude of 98 meters, which makes it the highest in the entire White Sea, visibility of light is as much as 10 miles.
4. The Statue of Liberty – although briefly, was a beacon
According to some information, the Statue of Liberty was originally conceived by its creator, the French sculptor Bartholdi, as a lighthouse. The American statue, a symbol of freedom illuminating the world, served as a beacon and navigational landmark from its discovery in 1886 until 1902. All ships sailing to New York headed towards its light.
It is only logical that the American lighthouse service was responsible for the main symbol of freedom in America. The Statue of Liberty lighthouse was maintained by 3 keepers, taking turns maintaining the fire of a free torch. Further, apparently, there was not enough strength...
5. The lighthouse caught the money
The lighthouse with the difficult-to-pronounce name Westerlichttoren can be seen on the Dutch 250 guilder banknote. But what ends up in the money is usually iconic objects and personalities, this is what and who the country is proud of.
Although by world standards, the lighthouse is average - the height of the tower is 50 meters, and the lantern itself is located at a level of 58 meters. It’s just that in the Netherlands there is no higher...
6. The tallest lighthouse (competition: who has the highest?)
Some people still think that the tallest lighthouse in the world is the Japanese steel tower in Yamashita Park in Yokohama. This may have been the case for a long time. And now he is one of... because his height Total 106 meters.
Today, the tallest (133 meters high!!!) lighthouse was built in Saudi Arabia(Makkah province, seaport of Jeddah).
Arab countries in general last decades They are very actively trying to “outdo” each other in terms of getting into the Guinness Book of Records. Now in the same Jeddah, for example, the tallest skyscraper is being built (its height according to the plan is 1000 meters), which has already been called the Royal Tower.
The lighthouse in Jeddah is operational; it is a cylindrical tower with a spherical observation building with a balcony at the top. That's it for tourists!
7. KAUST – the most innovative lighthouse
KAUST is the abbreviation of the university, the complex of which is located in Mecca, in the city of Tuval on the harbor. The lighthouse is a hybrid of a tent and a minaret, the height of the structure is 60 meters.
This atrium, intended, among other things, for holding various cultural events, thanks to the materials used and the “walking wind” effect, it is able to maintain natural coolness throughout the hot day.
At dusk, the KAUST lighthouse not only directs a beam of light into the darkness of the sea area, but, glowing throughout the entire tower, acts as a landmark in the surrounding darkness. This is such an innovation!
- this is the place where light is born and a moment later dies, and this is repeated again and again. Since the famous Alexandria Lighthouse towers sending rays of light into the darkness become a guiding star for sea vessels and an object of delight for tourists.
Means navigation equipment maritime theaters in the form of a tower-type capital structure, designed to determine the location of ships at sea. This building has a bright contrasting color, visually distinguishing it from the surrounding area. Beacons are equipped with a strong light source and, as a rule, are equipped with optical means to amplify the light signal in order to be clearly visible at night.
The lighthouse can also signal to ships sound signals and (or) transmit a radio signal in order to perform its function even in conditions of insufficient visibility (temporary, as during fog, or permanent, for example, caused by terrain conditions).
Due to the use of modern navigation technologies, the role of lighthouses as a navigation aid has decreased somewhat, and currently the number of operating lighthouses around the world does not exceed one and a half thousand.
Alexandrian lighthouse ( Lighthouse Alexandria ) is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World, which, in addition to architectural elegance, also has a practical function.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was the tallest structure in the world and was located on an ancient island Pharos. The Alexandria Lighthouse was a guarantee of the safe return of sailors to the Grand Harbour. The height of the Alexandria lighthouse, according to various estimates, ranged from 120 to 140 meters. For many centuries it was the tallest structure on Earth. That is why we will include the lighthouse in the list of 7 ancient wonders of the world.
In 332 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and decided to found a new capital- Alexandria.
Maritime trade developed rapidly and the need for a lighthouse that would indicate a safe route to the Alexandrian harbor became increasingly urgent. And as a result, on the eastern tip of the island of Pharos, lying at a distance of 1290 m from Alexandria, a lighthouse was built, which received the name of the island. The connection between the name of the lighthouse and its function turned out to be so strong that from that time the word “pharos” became the root of the word “lighthouse” in many languages. The lighthouse reached a height of 135 m and its light was visible at a distance of 60 km. It was built by the architect Sostratus of Cnidus in 280 BC. on a cliff overlooking east coast Faros Islands.
The lower part of the lighthouse was a tetrahedral prism 60 meters high with a base in the form of a square, the side length of which was 30 m.
Various equipment was stored inside the lighthouse, and the base of the middle part was a flat roof, decorated with huge statues of Triton in the corners.
The roof was a tower lined with white marble. The top of the lighthouse was built in the form of a cylindrical colonnade, headed by a 7-meter bronze figure of the sea lord Poseidon. A huge fire served as the main source of light. The phenomenon of the light range and brightness of the beacon has not yet been established. According to some versions, this effect was achieved with the help of huge polished mirrors, according to others - due to the use of transparent polished stones - lenses.
In May 1100, a strong earthquake destroyed the lighthouse almost to the ground. After this, in the Middle Ages, the base of the Alexandria lighthouse was built into Turkish fortress Kite Bay. On this moment it turned into an Egyptian military port, so even archaeologists cannot get to the remains.
Lighthouse Tevennec and La Vieille.
The Atlantic coast of France has been inhabited by the sea, fishing and trade since ancient times. Port Brest - small trading and fishing boats always actively sailed along these shores - to the south of France, to Spain and beyond. But on the way of the sailing ships there was a very unpleasant place - a long chain of islands and underwater reefs, going far into the sea - Highway de Sein (Chaussée de Sein).
A huge number of ships disappeared there. And so in 1869 it was decided to erect a lighthouse on the island of Tevennec - the very first dangerous place if you sail from the north to the south of France. It took more than five years to build the lighthouse, and in 1875 a fire broke out on it. Thus, it, together with the La Vieille lighthouse, formed a kind of light gate and the ships had to stay between them.
This lighthouse is located on the island of Ouessant (located at the westernmost point of Breton waters in France). La Jument is built directly into the sea on a rocky spur not far from the shore and has a height of 100 meters.
Several consecutive frames of the lighthouse, captured by photographer Jean Guichard from a helicopter in heavy storm in 1989. The photo shows a lighthouse keeper who, due to the noise of the helicopter, thought that rescue services had arrived and came out of his hiding place. In this moment giant wave collapsed on the building. The caretaker almost died, but managed to escape in time behind the steel doors of the lighthouse entrance.
Lighthouse keepers go all the way, from “hell” (lighthouses on the high seas), through “purgatory” (islands) and to “paradise” (the continent) in solitude, and not only metaphysical. In the 20th century, World War I veterans often became custodians; oddly enough, even after World War II this profession was considered “privileged” for war invalids. Modern level technology makes the presence of a person in the lighthouse unnecessary.
In 2004, Kereon (“Sea Palace”), the last inhabited lighthouse at sea, closed its doors with a beautiful mahogany and ebony compass rose. Today no one lives here anymore.
Brittany. Teignouse lighthouse.
Numerous lighthouses in Brittany are faithful guides for sailors, and they speak the same language as fishermen. For example, on the Quiberon peninsula, instead of “burnt down” or “received sunburn“They say “became like the lighthouse Teignouse” - white with a red nose.
Lighthouse-tower Four (category “hell”), which is able to withstand waves of 30 meters in height.
Lighthouse Four (Le Four). Photo high resolution
Lighthouse Ar Men (translated from Brett. “rock”) is a lighthouse on the coastal reef of the Ile de Seine island in French Brittany. It got its name from the rock of the same name on which it was built between 1867 and 1881. The lighthouse is widely known for its isolation and the difficulties encountered during its construction (the lighthouse stands in the open ocean 5 kilometers from the nearest shore, this is the island of Sainte, off the western coast of France), as well as the difficulties associated with the evacuation of personnel from the lighthouse. It is considered one of the toughest places to work in the lighthouse keeping community, earning it the nickname “Hell of Hells.”
The decision to build a lighthouse in a completely impossible place was made after the shipwreck of the frigate Sane in 1859 (at this point in the ocean there is only a narrow passage among the underwater rocks, one of the most dangerous places for navigation, nicknamed the road from hell to hell). The problem was that the only rock in the area on which something could be built protruded only a couple of meters above the sea surface. In principle, this would be enough in calm waters, but the ocean in that place is almost never quiet. Several expeditions returned from reconnaissance missions with the verdict “it is impossible to build.” But without the lighthouse, shipwrecks would have continued and the project was pushed through.
Construction began in 1867, with a group of workers landing on the rock. This is how the preparation of the rock base began (drilling holes and installing reinforcement). People worked right in the middle of strong waves, with safety nets and special shoes so as not to be swept away by the waves rushing over the rock. Short shifts during low tides. This preparation took two years.
The main work began in 1969, laying out granite blocks and pouring the concrete base of the lighthouse from Portland cement, which is resistant to impact. sea water. 40 hours of work gave one cubic meter of foundation.
Construction took 15 (!) years, with disasters, human casualties there were practically none, only in 1981 one of the workers who found himself in the water died (although there were many cases of people being washed into the ocean both during and after work). During the construction process, there were fears that the structure would be fragile and would not withstand waves, because the size of the rock is only slightly larger than the diameter of the lighthouse tower! But the lighthouse stands, only the walls are etched by sea water.
The first lighthouse signal could be seen on the night of August 30–31, 1881. And it still works, having gone through several technical upgrades.
In the late 1980s, the Ar-Men Lighthouse was electrified and equipped with a 250 W halogen lamp. It was one of the first to be automated, and since April 10, 1990 it has been operating fully automatically.
Lighthouse height:
- Altitude: 33.50 m
- Overall dimensions: 37 m
- Height Length: 33.50 m
Light source
- from October 1, 1897 - diesel fuel (produced on the Ile de Seine island)
- since 1903 - oil vapor
- 1988 - electrification (250 W halogen lamps)
- 1990 - automation
This lighthouse is located in picturesque place on the edge of the Conquet peninsula.
The tallest lighthouse in Europe is located on Ile Vierge near Plouguerneau. The lighthouse is 82.5 meters high and was built in 1897, and next to it there is a small lighthouse, but it is a little older - it was built in 1845. The Coast of Legends (Cote d' Legende) belongs to the department of Finistere, which is famous for its bays - Aber-Ildut, Aber Benoît and Aber Wrac'h. The lighthouse is located right at the mouth of the latter.
Lighthouse Les Pierres-noires (“Black Stones”).
The lighthouse is located in the city of Conquet in France. It was built from 1867 to 1871. On May 1, 1872, the lighthouse began its work. At that time, 325 thousand francs in gold were spent on the construction of this project.
An active lighthouse in Côtes-d’Armor (France). The height of the lighthouse is 60 m and it is considered the 24th tallest lighthouse in the world.
The lighthouse is located on the rocky reef of Roches-Douvre, which is considered very dangerous due to the fact that during high tide it is completely covered with water and cannot be seen from the surface. The Roches-Douvres lighthouse is considered one of the most distant from the mainland in Europe; it is located 30 kilometers from the French coast.
The building can only be reached by boat from the shore. The lighthouse itself is completely closed to the public.
The lighthouse looks like an ordinary one, but the place where it is located in Alum Bay is distinguished by its fabulous beauty.
Needles Lighthouse in Alum-Bay
The area where the lighthouse is located is a narrow rocky ridge, which in some places rises up to 120 m in height. These rocks have always posed a great danger to sea vessels. But in 1781, merchants and shipowners submitted a petition to build a lighthouse. They received a patent in January 1782.
And in conclusion, a small selection of beautiful lighthouses and simple modern ones, but which are located in very picturesque places.
Lindau Lighthouse. Lake Constance. The height of the lighthouse is 33 meters. Bavaria, Germany
Hook Head Lighthouse, Ireland
- The most famous incident involving lighthouses was mysterious disappearance simultaneously by three lighthouse keepers on the Flannan Islands in December 1900.
- In France coastline was not marked with lights until the 17th century; this was done to prevent attacks by pirates.
- One of the few that is still operating, the lighthouse church is the Ascension Church, built in 1867 on Sekirnaya Mountain of the Bolshoi Solovetsky Island (see Solovetsky Islands).
- The Statue of Liberty was used as a lighthouse from 1886 to 1902.
- The westernmost lighthouse in Russia, built in 1813-1816, is located in the city of Baltiysk. It shows the way to ships heading to the ports of Baltiysk, Svetly and Kaliningrad.
- The Westerlichttoren lighthouse was featured on the Dutch 250 guilder banknote.
- The first recorded lighthouse was the Lighthouse of Alexandria, built in 200 BC on the island of Pharos by the Egyptian Emperor Ptolemy. The Foros Lighthouse is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The height of the lighthouse was 150 meters (492 feet) - about three times higher than modern lighthouses.
- Roman emperors built many lighthouses to help their troops navigate. In 90 AD e. Emperor Caligula ordered the construction of a lighthouse in Dover, England. This lighthouse is considered to be the oldest lighthouse in England and it still stands at the base of Dover Castle.
- In 1543, the tallest brick lighthouse in the world, Lanterna in Genoa, was built. Its height is 75 m (246 ft).
- The first stone lighthouse in the world is believed to be Smeaton Eddystone, which is located south of Plymouth, England. This lighthouse was built in 1756 by the father of English town planning, John Smeaton. He lit it with 24 candles. Eddystone stood for 47 years until it caught fire, after which it was dismantled and built on a nearby rock.
- Today the equivalent of a lighthouse light is about 20 million candles. And modern lighthouses operate on high-pressure xenon lamps.
- The tallest lighthouse in the world is the steel tower at Yamashita Park in Yokohama. Its height is 106 meters (348 feet).
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The lighthouse in Estonian is called tuletorn, which translates as “fire tower”, “tower with fire”. And somewhere, but in Estonia, 1/10 of which is occupied by islands, they know a lot about lighthouses! Trading ships of Hanseatic merchants and Swedish galleons and galleys have long sailed through one and a half thousand islands, through sharp capes and narrow straits. There are many lighthouses here, they fit perfectly into the landscape, and many of them have a very long history.
The Tallinn lighthouse is notable not for its beauty or antiquity (it was built after the war), but for its location: in an ordinary city district of Ülemiste, almost in a courtyard behind a high fence. The sea cannot be seen from its foot, but from the sea side the lighthouse itself is clearly visible and its light sparkles among the high-rise buildings.
Surupi, Harju County– in other words, the outskirts of Tallinn. Complex of two lighthouses high bank and right by the water, both of which can only be seen from the sea. The lower lighthouse, built in the mid-19th century, is unique in that it is made of wood. This structure, the width of which is almost equal to the height, is not at all similar to the lighthouses we are used to - towers pointing towards the sky.
The lighthouse of Ruhnu Island is notable at least for its location: Ruhnu, or Runo in Swedish, is a tiny island a hundred kilometers from the Estonian coast. No other land is visible from it, but meanwhile, there is a village here and the oldest in the Baltic wooden church. And the lighthouse itself high place- a metal structure reminiscent of the Martian tripods from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. Only it has 5 “legs”, including the central one, and it was built long before it was written famous novel- in 1877. Venerable age they give out rivets at the joints of metal sheets - electric welding had not yet been invented then.
Tahkuna lighthouse on Hiiumaa island- about the same age, and also metal, but of a completely different shape: a slender tower fifty meters high. Perhaps this is the most beautifully located of the existing Estonian lighthouses - on a narrow cape, between forest and wasteland, north wind. Near the lighthouse there is a small monument in the form of a metal structure with a bell leaning over the sea: it is dedicated to those who died on the ferry Estonia, the local Titanic, which in 1994, with almost a thousand people on board, was sunk by a storm. The current washed floating debris to Cape Tahkuna, including several empty boats. The bell on the monument begins to ring when the wind reaches the same strength as in that ill-fated storm.
The Kõpu (Dagerort) lighthouse on the island of Hiiumaa is certainly the main Estonian lighthouse. Built in the 1550s by Hanseatic merchants, and improved by the Swedes in the 17th century, this is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world - the guidebooks say that it is the second after the Spanish one in La Coruña, built by the Roman Empire, but in fact the fifth: there is also a medieval lighthouse La Laterna in Genoa and a couple on British Isles. Like the wooden Surupi, Kypu is not at all like the elegant lighthouses of our time - an impregnable man-made rock, on the flat “top” of which a powerful fire was once simply lit, and in the 19th century a turret with a lantern was built on it. The narrow staircase inside the lighthouse was broken through at the same time - and before, the keeper had climbed up using ropes.
Kiipsaare Lighthouse on the Harilaid peninsula, which in turn on the island of Saaremaa is one of the most little-known and inaccessible in Estonia, but perhaps the most spectacular. No, theoretically, it’s an ordinary concrete tower from the 1930s, but the location... the lighthouse is abandoned, stands in the water not far from the shore and has noticeably tilted towards the sea, which has been eroded over several decades Sandy shore. All around there is solitude, wind, tall grass. Estonian local historians are wondering what will happen first: someone will think of climbing onto the lighthouse and lighting it, or the tower will finally collapse.
Fire of the native lighthouse
Vast Russia is rich in islands, but we have much fewer outstanding lighthouses: almost everything was either built much later and without any frills, or was destroyed by wars and restored according to standard designs, such as the numerous lighthouses of the Black Sea.
Tolbukhin (Kronstadt)– this unprepossessing round lighthouse on an artificial island can be seen from the western tip of Kotlin Island, a few kilometers further along the bay. However, this is the oldest lighthouse in Russia, built in 1719 by order of Peter I, and it is difficult to imagine how many “flags visiting us” it has seen.
Storozhensky lighthouse ( Leningrad region)
– a thin elegant tower from the beginning of the twentieth century shines not over the sea, but over Lake Ladoga, and its fire is visible tens of kilometers away. This is the highest historical lighthouse in Russia - 71 meters. To call it “the highest in the world” or “in Europe,” as some guidebooks write, is, of course, overkill – but among lighthouses on fresh water bodies, it is perhaps truly beyond competition.
Sekiro-Voznesensky monastery on the Solovetsky Islands (Arkhangelsk region)– here the lighthouse is unusual in that it is built right in the dome of the Church of the Ascension, standing on the top of Sekirnaya Mountain - not the highest, but the most visible place from the sea on the Big Solovetsky Island. The monastery has been known since the 16th century; the current church was consecrated in 1862.
Another lighthouse temple of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is located in Crimea, near the village of Malorechenskoye and is quite visible from Alushta. Built in 2004, it is very beautiful, but still, unlike the Solovetsky Church, here the connection of the church with the lighthouse is just an unusual design move.
Lighthouse at Cape Svyatoy Nos ( Murmansk region)
- one of the most inaccessible in Russia, as it stands on a deserted cape separating the Barents Sea from White Sea. The lip (that is, the bay) under the cape has the eloquent name Lopskoe Stanovishte. The low wooden tower was built in the 1860s and has been perfectly preserved since then.
Murmansk Memorial Lighthouse– clearly visible from the Kola Bay or from the train station (which in Murmansk is located near the port): a red and white turret among gray high-rise buildings on the slope. Nearby is the snow-white Church of St. Nicholas-on-Vody and the cabin of the Kursk submarine raised from the bottom. In fact, this is not a lighthouse, but only a memorial stele dedicated to all those who died at sea in Peaceful time. Inside the lighthouse there is a memorial hall with books of memory of sailors of different navies. The thickest of these books is not from military sailors, but from fishing ones.
Petrovsky lighthouse in the village of Vyshka ( Astrakhan region) - founded by Peter I during his campaign against Persia, rebuilt in stone at the end of the 19th century, it was supposed to mark the entrance to the navigable channel of the Volga... but the sea left - the water level fell, the Volga washed out new banks, and the lighthouse now sadly stands in the middle of the steppe. The dry Aral Sea could have left even more vivid scenes... but there were no permanent lighthouses on its shores.
It's always dark under the lighthouse (Japanese wisdom)
Not exactly ours, but very interesting lighthouses:
Adzhigol lighthouses at the mouth of the Dnieper (Kherson region, Ukraine) - two lighthouses on artificial islands, 35 and 70 meters high, stand out because they were built by Vladimir Shukhov, the creator of the famous “hyperboloid structures” like the radio tower on Moscow Shabolovka. Hyperboloids, light and very strong due to their shape, look amazing: it seems that the openwork mesh is simply hanging on the lighthouse, but in fact it is what holds its entire weight.
The lighthouse of the city of Aktau on the Caspian Sea (Mangyshlak region, Kazakhstan) is unique in that it stands on the roof of an ordinary high-rise building. In the 1960-70s, when the city of Shevchenko was being built (as Aktau was called under Soviet rule), the lighthouses were not yet automated and needed a keeper, and the city designers found the ideal solution - to build multi-storey building with a lighthouse on the roof, and assign the caretaker to the nearest apartment on the top floor.
Holy landmarks of the Pomors
In Russian northern seas Long before the lighthouses, there was a well-functioning system of landmarks created by the Pomors. Here the sky is often cloudy, and in the summer there is a completely polar day, leaving no way to navigate by the stars. But on the capes and islands, the Pomors erected crosses with characteristic triangular tops: in a canonically located Orthodox cross, the oblique crossbar with its upper end points to the north.
The crosses also served as signs - in some places as landmarks (and still relevant in their places!), and in others as border signs, marking the possessions of the Russian people; on important islands and capes they stood in groups described in the navigation directions, and made it possible to unmistakably identify the place. On the western side of the crosses, religious scenes were carved, and on the eastern side there was often something like sailing directions, hints for the sailors who went to the cross.
On the trade route from Europe to Arkhangelsk, crosses stood in direct visibility from each other on the rocks of the Kola Peninsula and the White Sea skerries, and in some places (say, near Teriberka) this “route” was recreated. Pomeranian crosses have been preserved even in Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya. And this is one of the strongest images of Rus': the Orthodox cross as a landmark.
Some forty years ago about this bivalve mollusk with strange name Few people have heard “guidak” outside the USA and Canada. And in just four decades, the guidac (lat. Panopea generosa) somehow inconceivably managed to transform from an unknown mollusk into an exquisite delicacy.
It is so popular that one fishing company alone harvests more than two million geoducks a year off the northwest coast of the United States and Canada. Next, the mollusks go on a journey to restaurants North America, where they are soaked in wine vinegar and served with rice, or end up in the hands of Japanese chefs who use them to make sushi and sashimi. In the fish markets of Hong Kong, the cost of one guidak reaches sixty dollars.The name “guidak” itself is borrowed from one of the Indian dialects: the word gweduc local residents denoted unusual mollusks that can dig deep. Appearance Guidaks are really different from what regular clams look like. From a relatively small shell, up to 20 centimeters in length, comes something like an elongated neck, similar to the trunk of an elephant. This is the so-called siphon - an organ that mollusks use for a variety of purposes, from movement and breathing to feeding and reproduction.
Guidak needs his double siphon, like a double-barreled shotgun, to filter water, extracting plankton from it: through one half the water enters the sink, and through the second, already filtered, it pours back out. The length of the siphon of guidaks is approximately a little over a meter, but specimens with two-meter siphons, although rare, are found.
This mollusk is famous as one of the longest living animals: approximately 146 years, and the age of the oldest individual found was 160 years. Two possible explanations for this longevity have been put forward. The first is a not too intense metabolism, the second is the absence natural enemies. The only predators that are capable of causing damage to the mollusk are small sharks and sea otters, which are capable of removing the geoduck from the ground, as well as starfish, which attack the siphon located on the surface of the ground. Fertilization in geidacas is external. During their hundred-year life, females release about five billion eggs into the water column.
Unlike other mollusks, which constantly have to be on the move to avoid encounters with a predator, geoducks buried in the sand sit motionless in the same place all their lives. It’s not for nothing that they were called “deep-digging” - these mollusks are capable of burying themselves a meter down, and here they are not afraid of either hungry crabs or prickly sea dogs.
If the clam's siphon is on the surface, it can attract attention starfish who will definitely rush to attack. However, they need to hurry - it’s easy for a geoduck to retract its “neck”, as turtles do, and be out of the reach of hunters. In such conditions, mollusks can survive long life, which they do successfully, living to be 100-150 years old. Guidaks are rightfully considered the second longest-living animal (after turtles), and scientists study climate change using the rings on their shells.
Several related species can be found from Argentina to New Zealand and Japan, but the most large population Geoducks live on the Pacific coast of North America.
The clam meat is quite tough and tastes like abalone. Sometimes it is prepared in the USA; Americans cut the geoduck into pieces, beat it and fry it in butter with onions, but the main consumers of guidak are the Japanese and Chinese. In Japan, guidaka is called “murugai”, it is scalded, the skin is pulled off, the entrails are removed, thinly cut and made into sashimi, eaten raw (in the form of sashimi)
Asia is another matter: Japan, China, Taiwan. In the country rising sun Guidaca is called "murugai". Its meat is widely used in making sashimi and is prized for its crispy texture and piquant taste. The entire mollusk is kept in boiling water for six seconds. Then the skin is removed with a stocking, the shell and entrails are separated, and cut into thin transparent slices with a sharp knife. Eaten dipped in soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi. It is believed that eating guidak promotes the growth of male potential.