Found on the beach yesterday….

BTW, for anyone interested, this was the section of spine we found - sister’s foot is there for scale.
There were some separate vertebrae washed up - it was one of those that I took.
(I don’t know why the image has come out sideways!)

It went down very well for Gds (6) at his school ‘show and tell’ yesterday. A friend of his was so fascinated, he asked to take it home for the evening, but (I trust ) brought it back today, since Gdd (7) wants her turn at show and tell, too.

Georgesgran

I’ve just bought these sea glass and silver earrings for a friend’s birthday. Her son lives in Seaham.

Georgesgran, thanks for the inspiration!
I have sea glass from the East Neuk waiting to be made into jewellery, but couldn't think what to do.

No signs of little white wigglies or ants for several days now. It’s been soaked in a bleach solution, now drying in the sun, ready to take home tomorrow.

We went on a whale watch a few days ago - showed the pic to marine biologists on the boat and they said either Minke whale, or a very large (at least 10 foot) dolphin. I will tell the Gdcs it’s from a whale anyway.?

How exciting !
I'd love to know where it came from .

I also love sea glass and am interested to know of a couple of sources in the UK .

Thank you for your understanding!

Germanshepherdsmum

?

? - can’t say I’m surprised, GSM!

?

More teeny little white wiggly things appearing this morning! - we’d assumed that they were all gone. The ants are having a field day.
We’re all finding it very interesting to witness Nature’s clean-up operation - very efficient!

nanna8

What I was told when I once found a large and smelly seashell was to bury it in the garden for a couple of months. When I dug it up, Lo and behold, the garden creatures had done their job and after rinsing the earth off it was as fresh as a daisy !

Yes, Nature does a good job, given time. When we lived in the Middle East, any possibly smelly beach finds of dds were just left out in the hot sun, for that and ants or whatever else, to quietly get on with it.
I might well dunk the vertebra in a bleach solution overnight before we go home, but TBH I’m not sure it’ll be necessary by then - that is if we have several more sunny days - not guaranteed here.

That's a nice vertebra. My son climbed on a dead whale and dug out one of his teeth.

What I was told when I once found a large and smelly seashell was to bury it in the garden for a couple of months. When I dug it up, Lo and behold, the garden creatures had done their job and after rinsing the earth off it was as fresh as a daisy !

Witzend, if you plan to keep it, soak it in bleachy water overnight. We have found the odd bone or skull and my DH has done that to clean it. Same with any shells found.

I wouldn't travel with it though...

This was from the last time I went hunting for sea glass. I’ve only found lots of colours at Seaham but they were very small pieces. I couldn’t see any at first but my friend who grew up there knew how to spot it. This was from Berwick. There was a lot of pale green glass that day.

Definitely mammal, whales evolved from the same line as cattle and sheep along with dolphins and other sea mammals.

Wonderful. Beachcombing is a big part of my life. I love that you just never know what's going to come in on the next tide.

They re beautiful georgesgran and yes I live on the coast too and love glass now referred to as sea glass which I always used to hunt for for a child pummelled and shaped and smoothed by centuries of washing and moving

That's lovely georgesgran. I just have a 'thing' about bones, despite avidly watching them being dug up on archaeological programmes (except when I'm eating or about to eat).

I’ve just bought these sea glass and silver earrings for a friend’s birthday. Her son lives in Seaham.

BlueBell. Seaham beach in Co Durham is famous for sea glass as Sunderland was a leader in glass making and lots was just dumped in the sea. Over the years it’s been smoothed by the waves, collected by beachcombers and made into jewellery - lots of it sold too.

We had a dead minke washed up last year they re really smaller than I ever expected
Are you sure you can carry it home on a plane and get through customs!!
I too love beach things especially glass and seasoned timber and stones pummelled over the years into various shapes

Interesting!

I think it's from a mammal rather than a shark.
A shark's verterbra is more circular, just a round I think and are cartilage rather than bone.

Ooh, double yuk!

I'm sure your dgc will be excited to see it.

Four or five years ago, I found a badger skull while out walking near my house.. I knew that my nature-loving dgc, who was about six then, would love it, so I washed it and gave it to him.
Recently, I was both surprised and pleased when I noticed that he still has it on display on his bedroom shelves.

You may well say Yuk! Germanshepherdsmum - when I went to have another look this morning (we’d left it outside) there were lots of tiny white wiggly things coming out of the central bone marrow bit. So we’ve left it in the sun to be well baked. But when I looked again just now, lo, a trail of ants were carting the tiny white wrigglers away! By the time we go home in another 8 days I’m hoping it will have been well cleansed by sun and Nature.