No matter what season of the year a walk along the shore will provide the opportunity to find shells. Shells come in a huge variety of colors and shapes and each is adapted for a special way of life. Some are made strong to withstand the heavy pounding surf, some are made for digging into soft mud, others stick like glue to rocks as the tides wash over them at the change of each tide. Mollusks lack bones and they have soft unsegmented body so the shell becomes its protecting armor. Without it the creature would be defenseless.
When you find an empty shell it is in reality an abandoned home where the animal has lived, fed, reproduced and in which it moved. Just as you can read stories in animal tracks so can a shell tell you many things about the mollusk's life. You can judge the age, state of health, and from the scars and cracks you can learn of predatory attacks. A creature with a smooth shell lives in fast moving currents of water. Rough shelled creatures live in slow moving water. The shell is living architecture secreted by the animal's body, a most amazing home. Mollusks shells are made from calcium carbonate. Snails and clams are two familiar examples of Mollusks living around MDI.
