Treasures of the sea

During our visit to the sand dunes, my youngest daughter, Esmee, collected some shells. Shell collecting is a a wonderful nature activity. Children love shells. They are fascinated by their shape, their texture and even the sound they hear when they hold a shell to their ear. What is even more interesting is that these beautiful treasures are a creature's habitat.

Shells are made by mollusks - animals with soft bodies and no bones. They build shells on the outside of their bodies, to protect them and keep them safe inside. These exoskeletons are important to these creatures, as they provide them with shape and rigidity, protection, and sometimes camouflage, from predators. The shells are made from calcium derived from the environment, through their food or the water they live in.

The mollusk lives in the same shell, making it bigger as they get older. Each different species of mollusk makes a shell that is, in most cases, unique to it alone. The empty shell your child finds on the beach is a discarded shell of a mollusk that has died and has washed up on the beach by the incoming waves. Your child is not causing any harm to an animal when they pick up an empty shell. Esmee found a shell which still had a living mollusk in it as saw it moving inside. She placed it back in the water. A living mollusk should be left where it was found.

Conchologists are people who study shells. They also study the animal who made the shell -- their anatomy, their life history and their habitats. The study of mollusk is called malacology. Mollusks are classified into major groupings according to the characteristics of their shells. The phylum Mollusca includes organisms such as clams, snails, slugs, octopuses, squid, and chitons. There are many guides and books available, dedicated to the study of shells. For New Zealand shell collectors, The New Zealand Mollusca website is a terrific website, with great photos, for identifying your shells. Esmee and I discovered that we found several different shells; scallop shells, clam shells, helmet shells, paua shells, spiral shells and valve shells. We found one shell we haven't been able to identify. If you know the name of this shell, please leave a comment.

Esmee had a wonderful time walking the beach and collecting shells. Young children see beauty in every single shell and are as excited about the next one they find buried in the sand as the one they found before. This may result in a big pile of shells, which your child may insist on taking home. Spent some time with your child, looking for the largest, smallest, prettiest shell and, as a compromise, only take these home, and leave the rest. Although the main treat to our marine friends is habitat destruction, by only taking a limited number of shells, you will teach your child respect and moderation, while still enjoying the wonderful treasures of the sea.

Did you know? Collecting and studying shells and their makers, the mollusks, is one of the oldest natural history pursuits of man, dating back to the Romans and before -- indeed, a shell collection was preserved in the ruins of Pompeii. Aristotle, and then Pliny the Elder were among the first naturalists to write about shells and their peculiar anatomies; in fact it was Aristotle who coined the name "Mollusca," meaning "soft-bodied." Source: The Conchologists of America website

Sanddunes, flotsam and the pure joy of being outdoors

Run, Child, Run
Be Free, Just Be
Your world, Be One
Touch, Taste, Smell, Hear, See

- - A.G.

Ever walked onto a beach and felt like running? Feel the wind blow into your face, the sun warm up your body, the sand soften your feet and the water energise your soul?

My youngest, Esmee, must have felt just like that. Here in New Zealand, we are in the middle of summer, and my family's favourite outdoor summer spot are the Kapiti sand dunes, a few kilometers up North from where we live. This is where the children practice their long jumps, dig deep holes, run for miles and jump the waves.

There is more to a beach then sand and water. Dunes are an accumulation of wind blown sand at the rear of a beach. Sand dunes are a feature of about 1100km of the New Zealand coastline, located between the sea and land. Formed by wind, waves and time and held together by plants, sand dunes are an important habitat that is constantly changing. They play an important part within our ecosystem and are one of New Zealand's most endangered habitats. In the past, sand dunes hosted a wide variety of native plants that stabilised the dunes and provided habitat for many insects, animals and birds, including penguins and the native katipo spider. Few animals are adapted to life on the surface of beaches and sand dunes, but some shellfish and crustaceans burrow under the sand. Crabs, sandhoppers, slaters, lice and shrimps are all found on New Zealand beaches. Insect, reptiles, spiders and birds live in and around the roots, and leaves from the plants that inhabit the dunes. On one of my trips to the sand dunes I arrived back home to find a lizard hiding in my bag.

Another interesting part of New Zealand beaches is their flotsam along the shore. Driftwood – smooth bleached remains of forest trees – provides habitat for small animals. You can often see small creatures scurrying around when you move a driftwood log. Pumice, a floating volcanic rock, is also common on our beaches. Another drift material on our beaches is human produced rubbish that has been afloat for some time and usually caries seaweeds or shellfish. Children enjoy beachcombing the beach for interesting drift materials.

On our latest beachcombing trip we didn't find any litter, but there was plenty of driftwood, some pumice and heaps of shells. A tiny ladybug was hiding near a driftwood log. A shell revealed its inhabitant. Esmee was worried about its survival, and took it back into the sea, with such tender, loving care only a child can give.

Once her pockets where filled with feathers, driftwood, pumice and shells, the beachcombing followed with running into the sea, jumping, skipping, digging, throwing, all the things a young child should do - being outdoors and being active. Being out there, in nature, immersing herself into the open natural space, celebrating nature as well as herself. Pure joy.

Did you know? Scientist Bruce Hayward surveyed New Zealand’s beach litter between 1974 and 1997. His findings supported an often-heard claim that left-foot jandals are washed up more frequently than right-foot ones. Of 21 jandals and shoes found, 70% were for a left foot. Perhaps, because the majority of people favour their right foot, jandals slip more easily off the left foot. Source: Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand