On the morning of May 3, a large number of blood cockles were washed ashore by the waves on the beach near Lan Chau Island. “Along the 1km stretch of the coast, blood cockles washed up thickly covering the entire sandbank. Hundreds of people brought buckets, basins, and sacks to pick them up,” said Nguyen Quyen, a local resident.

The clams washed up on the shore, lying everywhere. Locals and tourists picked up the clams to eat or sell to traders. “The clams are sold for 15,000-20,000 VND/kg. Some people picked up 50-100kg of clams in just a few hours,” said Ms. Phuong, Binh Minh block, Nghi Thuy ward.

After collecting the blood cockles, people pick up trash, remove dead ones, sort them, and clean them of sand to bring home to eat or sell to traders right at the beach.

According to locals, this type of blood cockle lives deep under the sea. Due to the influence of the weather and rough seas, the cockles are washed ashore by the waves. “Usually in August, the rainy and stormy season, when the sea is rough, there is often a phenomenon of cockles and clams being washed ashore by the waves. But now, it is only the third lunar month but this phenomenon has occurred, which is a bit strange,” Mr. Quyen added.

Blood cockles are considered a specialty and can be used to make many delicious dishes such as stir-fried cockles with bean sprouts, porridge or soup. Large cockles can be grilled with satay. This is a bivalve mollusk with high nutritional value and is popular with many people, so coastal people are very excited when they catch this "heavenly blessing".