Mystery objects in the beach wrack.
By David McRee of BlogTheBeach.com
I just got a comment from Cindy K. on a blog post that asks this question:
What’s currently washing up in high numbers along Bradenton Beach/Anna Maria Island beaches, along with the seaweed, in the surf line? They look like bone-colored quills or needles — like white pine needles. We’ve never seen them before.
Great question Cindy! Here’s a closer look:
A closer view of the white quill-like objects washing up.
The first time I saw these I was a bit stumped as well. But I have a great book that helps me identify strange things like this. It’s called Florida’s Living Beaches, by Blair and Dawn Witherington. It tells me that these are “sun-bleached segments of manatee grass.”
Manatee grass is an undersea grass that grows out in the gulf to a depth of about 20 feet. Blair goes on to say in the book that manatee grass often breaks apart into segments like this. The fragile leaves are often the first ones to show up on the beach during rough weather.
Here’s a really close-up look:
Sun-bleached segments of manatee grass have washed up on the beach and I photographed them in the wrack line.
I took these photos yesterday at Fort Desoto Beach in St. Petersburg, but they are likely being found in the beach wrack all up and down the coast right now.
