A Shell In Wonderland
One of our favorite spots on Mount Desert Island is Wonderland, a short Acadia National Park trail that leads through woods to the open ocean. At low tide (especially an extra-low tide), the Wonderland intertidal zone reveals colors and tide-pool life that a visitor could explore for days…if the tide didn’t come in and swallow everything up.
While looking for an unrelated photo this morning, I came upon these shots Pamelia took of a shell at Wonderland. It’s just an ordinary shell, but it doesn’t look ordinary, not in this setting.
The shell may be from a small sea snail called a rough periwinkle. Or is it a type of whelk? (I need to find a photo of the underside to know for sure.) We have loads of smooth periwinkles along our shore; not so many of these.
That’s all for today. Something ordinary. One shell in a billion.
I was sure it was a whelk at first glance. Then I looked up the rough periwinkle (since I hadn’t heard of it) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littorina_saxatilis Hmm. Still looks like a whelk to me, but I’m not so sure now!
Wonderful post. Great blog. Can’t wait to get to Maine for the summer.
Many thanks for taking the time to comment. We’re having a warm and beautiful spring up here—we even skipped Maine’s traditional mud season. It’s been feeling more like early May!