Bivalve Bash draws crowds, educates on Samish Bay water quality

PETER JENSEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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Saturday's hot weather made for an enjoyable day at the beach for the Taylor Shellfish Farm's Bivalve Bash, and La Conner residents Anneliese and Bill Farell didn't waste the opportunity.

While they arrived too late for the event's annual highlight, the mud run, the Farrells still made it in time to enjoy the variety of shellfish foods available to eat and peruse the sculptures made of oyster shells that dotted the beach while the tide was out, Bill Farrell said.

This year marked the first time the Farrells attended the Bivalve Bash, but it won't be the last, Anneliese Farrell said.

"It's fun - good food, a live band," Bill Farrell said. "You couldn't have a better day for it weather wise."

The weather was almost too hot, as some participants in the mud run had to be treated for heat exhaustion, said Bill Dewey, a Taylor Shellfish Co. employee and a past president of the Skagit Conservation Education Alliance, which received a portion of the event's proceeds.

But as fun as the event was, it was also meant to educate people on pollution in Samish Bay - an issue critical to local shellfish harvesters such as Taylor Shellfish Co., Dewey said.

Dewey said too much fecal coliform has been washing down the Samish River and into the bay, prompting the state Department of Health to limit the number of days shellfish farms can harvest.

To educate attendants on this issue, 18 informational displays were placed around the event, Dewey said.

"We really have some challenges out in the bay," Dewey said. "Too often the message around pollution is doom and gloom. We want to put the clean water message into a fun-filled day."

Dewey said the effort required to put on the event makes it seem difficult to want to do it again next year, but the fun people have during it makes it worthwhile.

"We are always wondering if we're going to do it again next year," Dewey said. "It's hard when you see this many people having this much fun at the event to say we're not going to do it again."

This story was corrected Wednesday, July 29. The name of the department that limits shellfish harvesting in Samish Bay was incorrect.

MUD RUN RESULTS

- 250-yard run, male 13 years and older:

1. Kyle McKnight

54.21 seconds

2. Andrew Troutman

56.36 seconds

3. Peter Franssen

57.11 seconds

- 250-yard run, female 13 years and older:

1. Trish Griffen

1 minute, 26.38 seconds