The divers use a nozzle fed with high pressure water from the fishing boat to liquefy the sand around the geoduck, remove the clam and place it in a bag clipped to their waist. Divers are in constant communication with their boat via high tech diver to ship communications. Geoducks and horse clams are mollusks this group includes clams, oysters, scallops, octopuses, squids, slugs and snails. Mollusks are invertebrates with soft, unsegmented bodies and have the mechanisms for producing a hard outer shell though many members only have this capacity to a limited degree. Male and female clams spawn annually beginning in late April and into July depending on a variety of factors.
Fertilization occurs in water column.
Once fertilized, the eggs develop into free swimming larvae. While a free swimming larvae, they drift in the plankton for one to two months and are dispersed by water currents. They are capable of traveling long distances in this state. The larval phase ends when larvae settle, change form, and attach themselves to a suitable substrate by byssal threads. Upon final settling, juvenile geoduck creates permanent burrow where it usually remains for life.