The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife saw decent turnout for razor clam digs on beaches this week and expects large crowds over the weekend.
Digging opened Wednesday with reports of 585 diggers on the Copalis, which includes Ocean Shores, and Westport beaches — with an additional 760 participants at Long Beach, according to the WDFW’s Dan Ayres. Those numbers jumped to 1,660 on Mocrocks and Westport beaches and 1,300 at Long Beach on Thursday.
“This is the earliest we have opened razor clamming in over 30 years, so was hard to know what to expect,” Ayres wrote in an email. “However, with the early morning times of low tide, I didn’t expect to see big crowds until maybe Saturday morning. … So far, digger turnout is what we expected.”
COVID restrictions have limited the WDFW’s ability to take measurements, but Ayres stated what he’s been able to eyeball thus far looks good.