Caught a clam weighing more than 1kg, intended to cook porridge but was surprised to know its 'origin'

A guy in the US was very happy when he caught a giant clam because he thought that he could cook clam porridge for several people. However, he also found the clam very strange so he asked about it and was extremely surprised when he found out how old the clam was. Luckily, he hadn't cooked it yet!

Rare things often appear when we least expect them, and in the case of one American guy, he almost cooked a rare thing into porridge!

A few days ago, Blaine Parker was walking along the coast of Florida, hoping to find something to cook porridge with. Suddenly, he saw a giant clam .

Parker's first thought was that the clam shell was so big that it could be used to make clam porridge. The meat would probably be enough to feed at least two people.

Parker caught the clam and weighed it, finding it weighed 1.18kg.

Parker and the clam he caught. (Photo: Tallahassee Democrat).

But as he was preparing to cook the clam, Parker suddenly thought that maybe this clam was a special animal. Luckily, Parker is a graduate of the Department of Marine Science and Environmental Studies, so he had that thought. Otherwise, he would have cooked the clam and eaten it.

So Parker took it to the Gulf Coast Marine Specimen Laboratory, where it was discovered to be very old, 214 years old , according to the Tallahassee Democrat .

So that means the clam was probably born in 1809 .

The clam is 214 years old. (Photo: Gulf Marine Specimen Laboratory).

This clam is 15.24 cm across, while most normal clams are only about 7 - 8 cm.

Because of its uniqueness, the clam is also very attractive. When it is kept in the Laboratory's aquarium, more than 100 visitors come to see it every day. This clam is said to be the 4th oldest clam in the world , while the oldest clam is 507 years old, named Ming, and was found at the bottom of the sea in Iceland.

The clam was set free. (Photo: Tallahassee Democrat).

But Parker's clam didn't survive in the tank forever. Eventually, he decided to release it into the Gulf of Mexico, because 'it wouldn't survive well in a tank like that'.