1. Maia McGuire, PhD Sea Grant Extension Agent
Beachcombing
Maia McGuire, PhD
Sea Grant Extension Agent

2. Beach zones Dune Berm/backshore Foreshore Nearshore/breaker zone
Wrack line/strand line
Foreshore
Swash zone
Nearshore/breaker zone
Offshore
High tide I
Low tide
Subtidal

3. Backshore
Ghost crabs

4. Wrack line Often created during storm events Seaweed, debris
Amphipods (beach hoppers)
Sea beans, seashells
Other “treasures”

5. Sea beans www.seabean.com
Any of a number of seeds that are adapted to germinate even after spending a period of time floating in water
Mostly from tropical plants, many from vines

6. Seashells Phylum Mollusca Class Gastropoda
Classes Monoplacophora, Polyplacophora (primitive)
Class Bivalvia
Class Scaphopoda (tusk shells)
Class Cephalopoda

7. Mollusks
Generally have muscular foot, calcareous shell secreted by the mantle, feeding organ called radula
Larvae are often planktonic veligers

8. Gastropods “Snails” Head with eyes on tentacles
Usually relatively active/mobile
Usually coiled shell into which animal can retreat
Includes sea slugs
Grazers or predators

9. Moon snail (“shark’s eye”) Operculum (“trap door”)
Egg collar
Moon snail (“shark’s eye”)
Operculum (“trap door”)

10. Bivalves Shell has 2 (hinged) valves
Adapted to burrow in soft sediments
Most are filter-feeders
May be attached (cement, byssal threads), burrowers/borers or free swimming

11. Cephalopods Octopus, Squid, Cuttlefish, Nautilus, Spirula

12. Other “treasures”

13. Crab shells Moult or dead? (i.e. will it stink when I get it home?)
Male or female?

14. Polychaete worm casings/tubes

15. Sea anemones

16. Sand dollar/keyhole urchin

17. Purple sea urchin

18. Astropecten articulatus
Sea Stars
Astropecten articulatus
Margined Sea Star
Common Sea Star
Asterias forbesi?

19. Sea cucumbers

20. Mermaid’s purse (egg case of clearnose skate)

21. Stingray barb

22. Jellyfish Portuguese man-o-war Don’t touch!
Associated companions—”By-the-wind sailor”, “blue buttons”, purple sea snail, man-o-war slug, man-o-war fish

23. Cannonball jellyfish

24. Moon jellyfish

25. Swash zone

26. Live critters
Coquinas
Augers
Mole crabs

27. Sharks’ teeth

28. Marine Debris
PLASTICS!!!

31. Synthetic Sea

32. Sand
To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour. William Blake

33. Where does sand come from?
Erosion of rocks (on land)
NE Florida sand is silica-based; comes mostly from mountains of NC
Formed by marine plants/animals
Shells, sea urchins, etc.
Corals
Calcareous algae (macro- and microscopic)

34. Sand colors