TREASURES

The shoreline is where the waves churn over or cast up wonderful treasures from sea and sand: shells, frosted bits of glass, pottery shards, driftwood, fossils, antique man-made artifacts, and much more. In addition, geologic finds—rocks, pebbles, semi-precious stones—wash down onto the sand from eroding cliffs and coastlines.  The more you learn about the origin of each treasure you find—for all treasures have a story—the more fascinating they become.

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Beaches
Mayo Beach 5 Beach Beach
A winter beach, western shore of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. An array of islands with wonderful beaches to comb, Shetland Islands, Scotland. A typically beautiful Hawaiian Island beach, Kauai. Low tide in summer, Rebobeth Beach, Delaware.

 

 

Artifacts
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Shards of glazed Mediterranean wall tiles rest in a bed of teal, sea foam, and amberina sea glass; Ponza Island, Italy. An array of 18th, 19th, and 20th century pottery shards found on the shores of Jamaica; Shetland Islands, Scotland; Molokai Island, Hawaii; the Delaware River; and Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Copper doorknobs from the Orkney Islands, Scotland surround a 19th century "turtle-style" ink bottle found in the silt of a Virginia river bed. Victorian-era china shard, porcelain button, and sandstone rosette keep company with a seaweed agate and two Native American arrowheads; Annapolis, Maryland.

 

 

Fossils, Stone & Coral

Fossils Shell 4 Fossil 1
Beautiful quartz stones in shades of salmon, amber, dove gray, and pearl will eventually wear down and become the sand that covers the shores of Chesapeake Bay. A coral heart sits amongst gem-like Ni'ihau shells that are used in lei-making. Collected in Kauai, Hawaii. Fossilized bone, vertebrae, and shark, skate, and dolphin teeth from the Miocene period (10 million to 25 million years ago) found on beaches in Calvert County, Maryland. A Chesapeake Bay oyster shell in the shape of a heart rests next to a collection of rose-colored quartz stones

 

 

Sea Glass

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Worn marbles and beach glass bottle lips (including large milk bottle tops) found on bay and river beaches in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. Beach glass collected on the Long Island Sound. Colorful smooth, rounded sea gems from "Glass Beach" on Kauai, Hawaii. Antique sea glass bottle lips commiserating on a summer day.

 

 

Shells

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A Sugar Starfish, pink and yellow seaglass, and assorted miniature shells collected on Florida beaches. Sea worm as modern art found in Upolo, Western Samoa. A green turban shell (Tonga) nesting in a pile of miniature sea urchins and a sand dollar, all from the Caribbean.

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Atlantic Slipper Shells (a personal favorite) from Menemsha, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. An Angel Wing found on a beach in St. Mary's County, Maryland resting on sea sponges from the British Virgin Islands. A perfect Atlantic moon shell beside a colorful conch and channeled whelk discovered on beaches on the New Jersey shore.  
     
A channeled whelk from Assateague Island, VA.      

 

 

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