A 2-pound clam shell was tossed onto Cape Lookout National Seashore's beach by Hurricane Dorian/NPS
Hurricanes typically toss a great many seashells up onto the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but Dorian outdid most storms, flinging a 2-pound shell up onto Cape Lookout National Seashore's beaches. And that was just half of the entire shell.
"The large storm waves during Dorian were strong enough to pick up and carry over the sand bars some of the largest shells. Large whelks and other shells can be found on the beaches to the delight of our shelling visitors," the seashore staff said in a Facebook post. "But have you ever seen a clam shell that weighs 2 pounds?"
Staff said that the shell was fossilized.
"This one is actually a fossilized shell (minerals have replaced the calcium carbonate that the clam used to create its shell) and is very old. The actual species may no longer be found as a living organism, but it does resemble a modern clam species, the edible quahog clam," they said. "Modern clam shells will have the purple coloring in the inside lip of the shell while older ones will not. Size is an indicator. Most of today's quahog shell finds are much smaller and therefore lighter in weight."
The shell measured more than 5 inches across/NPS
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