What Is That?

What is That?

We've all had the experience of walking the beach, finding beautiful shells, and coming across some sort of unidentified sea creature. Sometimes, these mysterious finds can even draw a crowd. Beachcombing is a favorite pastime of many Lowcountry residents and vistors. However, strolling the beach can be way more exciting and interesting when you know what you're looking at. Wouldn't it be a great experience to walk into a crowd that is hovering over a giant blob and begin to educate the group with your vast knowledge? We think so, and that's why we teamed up with Carlos Chacon, the Naturalist at Coastal Discovery Museum to learn more about what's washing up on the shores around the Lowcountry.

Sea Pork
The odd appearance of sea pork has many beach goers wondering. When freshly washed ashore, it is bright pink with a rubbery texture, and resembles brain matter. After a few days on shore, it turns grayish brown. Sea pork is a community of little animals called zooids, which are members of a group of organisms commonly known as tunicates that include sea pork and sea squirts. Zooids make their living by filtering water, picking plankton and nutrients out of the water. Although unappealing and blob like in appearance, sea pork is considered a member of the phylum chordate, which also includes all vertebrates. Some tunicates, including sea pork, present a notochord in their early development, although they lose it as they develop into their adult form. The notochord is the structure that develops into a backbone in vertebrates. Tunicates are considered an early evolutionary step in the development of vertebrates.

Moon Snail
The moon snail, also called shark eye, is a common shell on Hilton Head Island beaches. This remarkable snail is responsible for the small holes found in the apex of many shells on the beach. Moon snails are predatory snails; they travel the ocean floor in search of shellfish to prey on. Once they have found a potential prey, such as a clam or snail, they wrap their body around it. Then, with their mouth, (called radula and resembling a circular saw) they drill a hole through the prey's shell, secreting an acidic substance that helps them in the drilling process. Once the hole is complete, they eat the prey out of its shell through the hole. All shells found on the beach with a little circular hole that looks as if someone used a drill to make it are the remnants of prey eaten by a moon snail. Moon snails prey on a variety of shellfish, including other moon snails. It is not uncommon to find moon snail shells that were predated by other moon snails.

Horeshoe Crab
One of the true wonders of nature, this incredible creature is considered a living fossil. This particular designation is given to organisms that appear in the fossil records from a long time ago, and are still alive today. The horseshoe crab's oldest known fossil is dated to be 445 million-years-old and was found in Manitoba, Canada.  It is remarkable that such a creature has been alive with few changes for such a long time. Horseshoe crabs were here before dinosaurs, they were here when the dinosaurs were alive 230 million years ago, they survived whatever killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, and they are still here today. Who knows, they may be here after us, too.

Although called a crab, they are not closely related to crab. In fact, the four species of horseshoe crabs alive today belong to their own biological class called Merostomata. They are part of the arthropods-a group that includes crustaceans, arachnids, insects and others. Horseshoe crabs gather in large numbers in certain areas of the shore to mate and lay eggs during high tide in new and full moons in May and June. This spectacular phenomenon is something that deserves to be seen. The Coastal Discovery Museum conducts guided tours to witness the mating and egg laying process of horseshoe crabs on Hilton Head Island.

Whelk Egg Case
Most beach goers have a hard time figuring out what this odd structure can be. Many think it may be an animal skin of some kind, similar to a snake's shed, or perhaps some kind of seedpod. However, if curious enough, one may find her curiosity rewarded by finding what the little capsules contain. This odd structure is a whelk snail egg case. The structure is produced by the female whelk, can be more than a foot long, and has as many as 140 capsules on it, with more than 100 eggs in each capsule. After the egg case is produced, the whelk will bury the skinny end of the egg case in the sand to prevent the case from washing ashore.
Inevitably, some do come loose and wash ashore. Once ashore, the eggs (or embryos) quickly dehydrate and die. It is possible to open a capsule and find tiny baby whelks inside if found during the right level of development. The miniature whelks make for a great show.

Ghost Crab
The elusive ghost crab is seldom seen by daytime visitors to the beach. However, their prominent burrows are seen by anyone paying attention to the sand. Quite common in the dry sand in the upper part of the beach near the sand dunes, their burrows can be up to four-feet deep, and may have one or two entrances. Although ghost crabs can be active during the day, on heavily visited beaches they prefer to be active at night. The ghost crab is an opportunistic predator and scavenger, which feeds on little coquina clams, mole crabs, and other prey, as well as dead fish or other carcasses that have washed ashore. Ghost crabs are also known for their taste for sea turtle hatchlings. During the Loggerhead sea turtle nesting season it is not unusual to find dead turtle hatchlings at the entrances of ghost crab burrows.

Younger crabs with smaller burrows are usually found closer to the ocean; large burrows from older crabs can be found up to a quarter mile away from the ocean. Although the ghost crab is the most terrestrial of the South Carolina crabs, there is a limit as to how far from the ocean it can live. Their gills need to stay moist in order to function. During dry periods this may require a dash to the ocean every now and then. In addition, female crabs are required to release their eggs in the ocean, where the larvae develop into small crabs that will eventually exit the water and settle on the beach.

About Carlos
Born and raised in Costa Rica, Carlos Chacon started volunteering for various nature-related organizations at age 12. His fascination with nature led him to study Tropical Biology at the University of Costa Rica.  Carlos has lead hundreds of trips through the Rain Forest and other environments of Central America; these have varied from general natural history to bird watching, butterfly watching, as well as whale watching along both coasts of Central America.

In 2000, Carlos moved to Hilton Head Island, his wife's home.  Since moving, he has worked as a kayak guide in the marshes and as an Alligator tour guide in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve. In 2007, Carlos received a M.S. in Earth and Environmental Resources Management from the University of South Carolina.  Currently, Carlos is the Manager of Natural History at the Coastal Discovery Museum.

As the naturalist, he works for the Hilton Head Island Sea Turtle Protection Project and manages the Karen Wertheimer Butterfly Enclosure.