Despite the punishing conditions, thousands of people are drawn to the Washington coast each fall. The first digs of the year suggest a promising season. An estimated 55,700 diggers attended the mid-September opener, harvesting over 1 million clams, according to a Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife press release.

At more than 300 farms, Washington state accounts for a quarter of U.S. shellfish production — valued at $108 million in market sales — according to the Pacific Shellfish Institute. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife received at least six reports of shellfish die-off in Puget Sound waters after the record heat in late June, according to communications manager Ben Anderson. Some came from the public on recreational shellfish beaches and one from a grower. “The suspicion, obviously, is it’s related to the heat wave,” Anderson said. Like Macias, he noted the impact won’t be known for some time but said the department is actively monitoring potential fallout.