A Mobile Beast

Fossils are supposed to be dead and fixed in the rock but this lovely pecten, found at one spot along the shores of Kilchoan Bay, seems constantly on the move. We find him, then, for months, we lose him. The other day we set out to hunt him down to take his portrait but it took two thorough searches before we nailed him.

He's as mobile as his living relatives, the scallops, the empty shells of which are to be found along our beaches, shells often used as ashtrays.

Scallops are one of the few bivalves with the ability to swim, which they achieve by taking water into at the front of their shells then, by clapping the two shells together, expelling it at the back. This sort of progress isn't much good unless you can see where you're going, so another of the scallop's wonderful inventions is a line of primitive eyes running along the front edge of his shell, which can be seen in this US Government photo.

Sadly, too many of these beasts are moving out of the sea and down our throats. Most are being removed by dredgers, which rely on the scallop's ability to swim. As they drag a heavy chain along the sea bottom the scallops jump up and fall into the net that follows it. This removes scallops of all ages as well as other bottom-feeding fish, and does immense damage to sea floor ecology.

Pegasus, a boat that operates out of Tobermory and was in Kilchoan Bay only yesterday, catches scallops the traditional way, by sending divers down to pick up the choicest individuals. This does no damage to the environment and ensures that only select scallops end up on our dinner tables.