Explore the Eelgrass Meadow with Sam and Crystal by Gloria Snively

Author:Gloria Snively
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heritage House
Published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sam and Crystal had great fun jumping up and down and tricking Butter Clams into squirting.

When the bucket was half full, Aunt Kate declared, “Good job! We have enough Butter Clams to make a delicious clam chowder.”

Closer to the tideline, Crystal found several white Sand Dollars half buried in the sand. “Wow,” said Crystal happily. “I’ve always wanted to find one of these.”

Aunt Kate smiled. “These white shells are actually the skeletons of dead Sand Dollars. The living animals are covered with a velvety coat of short spines and tube feet. They avoid heavy surf and prefer the protection of quiet bays or deep water offshore beyond the surf. Unfortunately, the shells are becoming rare because too many people cart them away in buckets as souvenirs. It’s important to collect only dead Sand Dollars, and even then only take only one or two.”

Crystal was careful to make sure that the two sand dollars she took home were not living specimens.

The trio had not travelled far when Crystal found a clamshell at the surface with a perfect hole in the centre. “This is strange. It’s like somebody drilled a perfect hole in the clamshell so I could wear it as a necklace.”

“I have a hunch this is the work of a large predatory snail that lurks beneath the sand." It wasn't long before Aunt Kate spied a little ridge of sand moving just below the surface. She took her shovel and quickly dug deep into the sand to uncover a very large snail with an enormous plow-shaped fleshy foot.

“It’s a Moon Snail, the largest snail on the Pacific coast,” she explained. “These snails are nightmares on clam gardens. When it digs, it pushes the tip of its foot into the sand and pumps water further underground. Its foot gets smaller and acts like an anchor, pulling more of its body down into the sand until it’s buried. Then it moves by filling different parts of the foot with water to pull it through the sand.”

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