19 November 2008

Beachcombing

Today we went beachcombing along the shore beside the estuary.

Along this stretch of coast, old ice-age beds are exposed so that one can find shells that are about 10,000 years old. Some are no longer found living around the British coastline.

Below are some Icelandic scallop (Chlamys islandica) shells. These can still be found living around Iceland, but are extinct in British waters.

Here's my collection for today. These are all ice-age shells, plus a marble and a broken clay pipe. Some of the shells are in remarkably fresh-looking condition, as they were buried in heavy clay which preserved them perfectly. Pictures of these and more, along with their names, can be found on our website

Among my finds today was this pair of Chlamys islandica. I've added a juvenile shell to each picture for scale, and it measures 35mm in its longest dimension.

The Trophon shell (below) is one of my favourites, though the specimen I found today is a little bit broken.

And who would expect that we would find a PENGUIN??

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