Do you know what this strange sea creature is?

September 21, 2010 4:42 PM

I saw this mysterious item on a kayaking trip in Ten Thousand Islands in January. I can't even tell if it's plant or animal or what. . . This has been bugging me for a while, thought I'd try here. For reference, according to my memory this object is about 8-10" long. Any clues are appreciated!

givemeaname

posted by abirdinthehand to Science & Nature (5 answers total)

Looks a lot like a whelk egg case.
posted by Ery at 4:48 PM on September 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seconding Ery. It is a whelk egg case .

The thing in the center of it appears to be some form of seaweed or plant that has attached to the floating object and grown out.
posted by strixus at 5:05 PM on September 21, 2010

Yup. If you were to have taken one of the little cells and split it open, you would've found itty bitty little conch shells inside. Seconding also strixus's call on the hanger-on, too.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 6:32 PM on September 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Just chiming in to say that's exactly what it is. Though as a kid we always called them mermaid's necklaces. Tangent: and the egg cases of skates were their purses. Each section contains dozens of teeny tiny whelks.
posted by sephira at 6:49 PM on September 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Wow thanks, that was quick! Now I wish I had opened one of the cells! Maybe better to leave nature undisturbed though. . .
posted by abirdinthehand at 8:27 AM on September 22, 2010