What Can I Find At the Beach? Walking the Carolinas Beaches

By Grazia Walker

The book is for you, a beach walker, who wonders what are the many things brought by waves to the beach. The 72 photos will help you identify big and small things found there. Each photo has a simple explanation of every item, helping you to “see” small things such as encrustations, holes and scars on shells.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: May 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483449227

Book preview

WHAT CAN I FIND AT THE

BEACH?

Walking the Carolinas Beaches

Grazia Walker

Copyright © 2016 Grazia Walker.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4922-7 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 04/27/2016

To my grandchildren Camryn, Ian and Sydney and to all the other wonders of Nature

Acknowledgments

For their contribution and advice I am indebted to Franco Sechi, Camryn, Sydney, and Michele Chepes, Tony Ansaldo, and to Martina Sechi.

Contents

Introduction

Preparation for Walking on the Beach

What do I see?

Sand, lots of sand

Origin

Composition

Strand Line (Wrack Line)

White and Dark Sand

Big and Small Holes in the Sand

Ways animals adapt to life in the ocean

Common Findings at the beach

What is a shell?

Bleached and Black Shells

What do mollusks eat?

How do Mollusks breathe?

How do Mollusks reproduce?

How do Mollusks move?

Do Mollusks have eyes?

Two Main Kinds of Shells

Gastropods: Snail Looking Shells

General Characteristics

Outside and Inside of a Gastropod

Most Common Gastropods and Identifying Features

Moon snails

Purple snail

Worm shell

Slipper snails

White baby ears

Scotch Bonnets shell

Ceritium snails

Olive snails

Egg cases of Gastropods

Bivalves: clam looking shells

General Characteristics

Outside and Inside Anatomy of a typical bivalve: the Quahog clam

Most Common Bivalves and Identifying Features

Crossed-bar venus clams

Surfclams

Ark Shells

Cockles

Oyster

Lucine

Jacknife Clam

Jingles Shells

Fossil Clams

Scallops

Tellins

Coquina clams

Angel Wings

Pen shell

Marks on shells

Holes on shells

Settlers on a shell: sponge, tubeworms and oyster

Other Beach Findings

Red Alga, also called red seaweed

Sponge

Gorgonian Coral

Bryozoan colony under the microscope X20

Hard coral on shells

Drift Wood

Shell Pieces

Mermaids’ Purses

Shark teeth

Bones of fishes and marine mammals

Bryozoans

Mended Shells

Sea urchin

Horseshoe Crabs

Activities connected to the beach

Glossary

Introduction

The purpose of this book is to foster in adults and children curiosity about the ocean. The beach is where the ocean meets the land and therefore we can learn a lot about the ocean by observing what is left on the beach. This book is for you, a beach walker, who wonders about how shells are formed and what happened to them along the way. You will be able to find and learn about the delicate and beautiful little shells, fragments of colorful shells polished by the ocean, and other items brought to the beach by waves. You would be able to find the life story of some broken shells: how did they live and how did they die? Did they spend most of their time buried in the mud? Where to go? You will be able to find interesting things on