Tonnes of sea clams have been washed up on a beach in Cam Nhuong Commune in Cam Xuyen District under Ha Tinh Province, located in north-central Vietnam, over the past few days, creating a long purplish strip on the beach.

Locals are flocking to the beach to collect these sea clams, which have a purplish shell, for sale.

High and powerful waves have brought such clams, both dead and alive, onto the coastline.

A resident of Cam Nhuong Commune said that locals often find anadara subcrenata, which has a white or cream-coloured, thick, oval shell, washed ashore by strong waves every year.

However, this year, the shoreline is being covered by clams with purple shells.

Nguyen Van Hung, chairman of the Cam Nhuong People’s Committee, said that powerful waves carry metric tons of anadara subcrenata onto the beach each year.

It was surprising that a huge number of purple clams were washed ashore this year, he added.

The beach has been crowded with locals over the past seven days. They have collected clams, processed them, and sold them.

Many of them pick 20 kilograms of clam flesh a day.

This is the first appearance of purple clams on the beach.

In early September, purple clams were discovered washing ashore at the Thien Cam tourist site in Cam Xuyen District. Tonnes of the clams were collected for sale.

Clam is a kind of bivalve mollusc. They mainly live in tidal flats, and in the seafloor sand that contains a certain volume of freshwater.

In Ha Tinh Province, clams are farmed along the coastlines in Loc Ha District and Thach Ha District.

During the clam harvest season, the prices of the shellfish range from VND20,000 (US$0.82) VND25,000 ($1.03) per kilogram.

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