Seashells, shark teeth, and shiny things
- Jul 23, 2022
- 2 min read
I'm still daydreaming about the ocean.
Once upon a time, I was obsessed with finding only the perfect, unblemished, unique seashells. As the years go by, I find myself more drawn to worn, weathered shells that have a more intriguing story. I wonder if this is because as we age, life and our experience weather us, so to speak, and the physical and emotional wear and tear make us more interesting and have more depth. Without wear and tear, you would never know the swirls and whirls that make up the interior of this small conch shell.
Don’t get me wrong, I still get excited when I find a perfect sand dollar, which in my mind, is still the ultimate beach find! But, I’m just as likely to pick up and save a weirdly colored scallop that reminds me of a sunset, or the worn purple/rose fragment from the inside of a clam shell. Sometimes I find beach rocks, like this one that has a ready-made hole so it can be used as a pendant.
I also think it’s interesting how different ages gravitate towards different findings. My 6 year old is just as likely to come running up to me with a fragment of an oyster shell and say “Mommy, look at this cool shell! I’m going to keep it!” He has much less discriminating taste than the rest of us. My 9 year old, in contrast, is more likely to gravitate towards the shiny abalone shells, preferably unbroken. When we are young, we are initially excited just to find things, but as we get older, we want the shiny, new items. Then, the more time passes, we are fascinated by the unique, but possibly imperfect, finds that are scattered along the shoreline.
Of course, the vastness of the ocean leads to numerous other finds beyond seashells. On my last morning walk, I found a cool piece of driftwood, a sea turtle rib, an old barnacle encrusted hat, an intact sea urchin, and sadly, a dead baby sea turtle. I brought the hat home and bleached and washed it until it’s a now a respectable beat up beach hat. The turtle rib is currently bleaching in the sun, and the sea urchin and seahorse are drying on my kitchen windowsill. I guess I’m a 2-legged version of Ariel and her collection of dinglehoppers, thingamabobs, and other treasures.
The Florida Gulf Coast has a plethora of fossilized shark teeth washed upon the shore, so those are fun to hunt. At first, it seems like there are none, but the next thing you know, everything is a shiny black triangle. Sometimes, differentiating between a nice tooth and a black shell fragment can be difficult, especially if half-buried in the sand. It usually becomes a fun game to see who can either find the most, or else who finds the biggest intact tooth.
Similar to snowflakes, there are no two shells, shark teeth, or other shoreline finds that are exactly the same, and that is part of the beauty of exploring this small window between land and sea. What is the most unique item you have found while wandering the beach?
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