Saturday, February 13, 2016

It's a conundrum!

We have a conundrum, a puzzle and even a bit of an oddity. As you know the Mom has been collecting some shells and in particular she loves these 'shark eye' shells but so far every single one of them she has found has had ONE perfectly drilled hole in the side of it. Now the conundrum is what is doing and why?

You can tell from the hole that is been drilled from the outside in - was something trying to get to the mollusk inside - but why not just go directly through the big opening on the bottom that each has? Was King Neptune planning to make a necklace with them? Is there some deranged fishy with a drill bit for a nose?

Now lets see how creative you can get at providing an answer for this conundrum :) And if you can't guess - we found the answer - it is below the photos :)













The smooth, gray to tan spherical shark eye shell is one of the prettiest found on the Atlantic coast measuring 1/4 to five inches in diameter. These predators feed on other mollusks, especially clams, by drilling a hole with its radula through the shell and at the same time secreting an acidic substance that softens the shell. After completing a perfectly beveled hole, this snail will suck out the body of the mollusk eating up to four clams a day using this method. Moon Snails will actively hunt for their food and will consume other Sea Snails, Sea Stars, Oyster, Fish  and will even prey upon each other !

19 comments:

  1. that's interesting to read, what great things you found on YOUR beach, wow! I will look on not-my beach if I can find that kind of necklace shells too :o)

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  2. Those are such pretty shells. We confess that curiosity got the better of us so Gail and I read the explanation about the holes before even trying to think of the answer ourselves. Poor show, I know!
    Toodle pip!
    Bertie.

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  3. These are very pretty, and that's interesting too. Is your mom going to make a necklace?

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  4. We never knew that. Don't think we have those kind on our beach. But will keep our eye's open.
    Luvs Freya and Ark XX

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  5. They are such beautiful shells, sea life is so very interesting!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  6. That is soooo interesting! I didn't knows that! Very cool
    Nows, is your Moms gonna make a necklace outta them? That would be purty!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  7. That is something we didn't know. Thanks for telling us about it. Love those shells.

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  8. You guys are so smart! We sure do learn a lot from you!

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  9. Wowzers, that was a really cool mystery! I thought maybe a mermaid was going to use them for a necklace and started drilling holes - then gave up and tossed them back in the sea! Then Cammie said, "Don't be silly, mermaids don't have drills!" She's really smart.
    Yours sincerely,
    Margaret Thatcher

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  10. FAscinating, the things that go on in the sea!

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  11. Hari OM
    Wowsers; cannibalism among sealife. Is that pescicide... or just plain pesky??? HUgs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx

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  12. Wow, those snails are skilled hunters and artists!

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  13. Wow that is really cool, thanks for the info.

    Happy Valentines Day


    Ziggy Out!

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  14. I think dey came from Ariel's necklace.

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  15. Hi hi hi! Ojo here! Clearly this is the fault of Cats. They are sneaky and mischievous, you know...

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  16. Wow, what a barbaric way to go!! Yikes. But they are pretty shells.

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  17. They are beautiful shells and so shiny. Have they been touched up or just cleaned to look that way?

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  18. I was going to guess that mermaids used them to make music...

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Thank you for woofing at us - we read each and every one of them