Sand Dollars

Writing about my shell collection made me think of the very first time I ever remember finding a shell that actually excited me.

We lived in Salem, Oregon when I was in 4th - 6th grades. It was rather a long trip to the ocean, and I only remember a few trips there. Mostly, because of the rainy nature of that state, plus our lack of decent camping equipment, my memories are not good ones! They involve lots of cold, wet times, when everyone was, what at best can be described as

"owl-y".

But I do have one, glorious memory of a sunny day! On that day, we found a long, clear tidepool in the sands, away from the surf. We were having a fun time playing in the clear, warm water and I distinctly remember the first moment when I felt something under my bare feet. The water was shallow and I bent down and dug into the sand...and found a sand dollar! I was so very excited! In no time at all, we were all searching for the lovely little pieces of amazement that we had never, in our wildest dreams, imagined!

Never again have I had the good luck to encounter such an astonishing find. I just looked up "sand dollars on the Oregon coast" on the internet, and this is what I discovered:

"Along the Oregon coast or Washington coast, there are countless such sand dollar beds, but “beds” is not a technical term. Sand dollars live in patches just offshore, somewhere just west of the tideline to some degree. They are prolific little critters, reproducing at enormous rates and thus sometimes living densely next to each other. They're sometimes packed together as much as 600 or more in a square yard. 

The north Oregon coast's Seaside and Gearhart areas are well known for their proliferation of sand dollars – and not just those broken bits you normally find. Whole sand dollars are found here in large numbers, although scientists don't know exactly why.

Part of the reason is that there are simply so many just offshore, and part of that reason is because there's an unusual amount of nutrients pouring down from the Columbia River that feed the plankton of the area – which sand dollars eat. Thus, more sand dollar beds. What isn't known is why they get tossed up here on this stretch of beach so often.

One of the big factors, however, is that not many people venture close to the south or north mouth of the Necanicum River, which leaves a lot of these sand dollars whole and untouched."

I just thought I would pass on this fun "factoid". I fully intend to visit that stretch of the coast again someday!