In the search for the perfect shell there are some hints on how to go about it.  If you land on a rocky beach you will probably find the hardest of shells such as turbans, cowries.  When you find one shell there are more than likely others of the same kind on that beach.  The shells as it may travel in groups.  This is what I have experienced in beach combing.

Abalone

Abalone shells are found all over the Channel Islands. Mother of Pearl is made from the inside of the shell. It is a shiny white reflective surface that has iridescent rainbow colors that sparkle in the sun light. There is commercial fishermen that harvest the abalone in the Channel Islands but they are becoming harder to find and the urchins are taking their place as the largest commercial harvest to be shipped out of the Channel Islands. Most of the abalone and urchins are shipped to Japan they are considered a delicacy.

Urchin

Urchin shells are only found in protected coves where the pounding surf can not break them. The best cove to find them is Valdez inside the cave. The tide comes up and deposits them between the big rocks and then the surf can not get to them and break them. They dry out and loose all their spines and look like the picture to the left.

The smallest urchin shell in the picture is about the size of a penny. The underside of the urchin has a hole where there are pinchers that can dig holes in sandstone and shale rocks. The urchin feeds off the algae in the kelp forest.

The sea urchin can be found from Alaska to Baja California. They use there spines to help them move around. We saw a lot of sea urchins on kelp floating in the water. If you looked close you could see the purple spines moving about. They ranged from the size of your small finger nail to as big as good size grapefruit.

The urchin shells made great Snowman ornaments.  We took three urchin shells of declining size and glued them on top of each other to make a snowman.  We painted them and put faces on them.  Glue a string on the top and hang them on the Christmas Tree.

Turbans

Turbans we found in abundance on all the beaches we visited. They are hard shells that can endure a lot of pounding from the surf so they survive intact when they wash up on the beach.  Most of the beaches in the chain of islands are made up of rocks so the delicate shells usually do not make it to shore often. The largest turban we found was about the size of a baseball.  We found a few that had animals living inside of them. These turbans had a door covering the entrance to the spiral of the shell.  We put these back in deeper water so they could survive.

We made turbans into Christmas Trees.  We spray painted the turbans. Took the hot glue gun and glued on the sequences or glitter balls or anything else you think would look good and then glued on the hanging string.

Limpets

Take the large limpet, glue a string on the top to hang it. Glue 3-6 inch strings to the tops of the small limpet shells. Glue these strings to the under side of the large limpet. Take care that they balance each other or you will have a lopsided mobile.  This can be done with various kinds of shells.

Scallops 

We found a few scallops scattered up and down the beaches of the islands. These shells can swim in the water. They have two sides that fit together and they have a muscle that is inside of them. When the muscle tightens the water shoots out and they are propelled backwards in the water then fall back to the bottom. The scallops we found were purple scallops. There are many different kinds and many different colors.

Cowries

Cowries are very hard shells. They can survive on a rock beach with pounding surf pretty well. They live under rocks and feed on algae at night. When alive they have a mantel that covers the shell and has fingers that searches for food and danger. When in danger it pulls its mantel into the shell for protection.

Starfish

We saw starfish in many coves attached to the rock sides. The biggest ones we found were in Santa Barbara Harbor. They were as big as basketballs and were attached to the cement piers in the harbor. We saw smaller ones at Ladies Cove. They were attached to rock cliffs. They were mostly just below the low tide mark. The ones that we saw that were alive were bright orange. Starfish eat mussel or clams by clamping their arms around the shell and opening them up to get the meat out of the center of the shell. At the end of each arm they have an eye that detects light or dark and helps them decide which way to go.

Each leg of the starfish will either be the Santa's head/hat, arms or legs.  To start with you paint the entire starfish white except where the face of the Santa is going to be.  Using black you paint the boots, gloves, belt, and face.  I taped these areas off so it would be easier to paint.   Then with the red, paint the body of the Santa. Do not forget to leave white between the black and red for the fluff at the end of the sleeves,  the beard, and the hat trim and ball on top.  Use the glue gun to attach the string at the top of the hat.

To find out more about the marine life in the Channel Islands click here, Marine Life