What beach treasure is special to you? A relaxing walk on the beach will usually always yield something to stir the emotions or wonderment of the mind. There is always the anticipation of what lies ahead and what will wash up next. What will the sea spit out on the sand?
Perhaps the joy of a beautiful shell found unbroken such as a murex or cockle, a scotch bonnet or a flame auger. Finding a sea bean such as a hamburger bean or a sea heart to add to sea treasures will make the walk a memorable one. A beautiful piece of drift wood washed ashore inspires an idea of what to do with it. An odd creature lying on the sand and not knowing what it is may inspire a desire to learn more about what the sea yields. Is it a piece of yellow string lying there or is it the sea creature whip coral?
Perhaps the despair of finding an animal that died at sea and washed up to the shore stirs the heart strings and emotions run deep with this creature. Did it have a full life? How did it die?
Creatures that have been caught in the waves and don’t have the strength to escape the waves force, such as jellyfish, end up on the beach to fascinate us with their beauty and ability to cause us pain. To see a purple bubble slowly wiggling on the sand both awes us but makes us wary. They will disappear into the sand thru the day. Sadly no more sand dollars can be found on South Padre due to over collecting. Many of the shells may have hermit crabs in them and should be left to live and do their job in the eco system. They will not live out of the water and if you purchase a land crab as a pet it will not live if let go on the hostile beach environment.
If an injured marine mammal, sea turtle or injured bird is seen on the beach this should be reported immediately to local authorities and don’t despair if it takes a few calls to get thru to the right people to help for that certain area. Many of these animals can be saved if helped soon enough. Some of the places to call are the Coastal Studies Lab at 956-761-2644, Sea Turtle Inc. at 761-4511, the Sea life Nature Center at 761-7178 or the police at 761-5454. It is best not to touch the injured creature and try to keep anyone with dogs away.
The many stories and finds while taking a walk on the beach are vast and fun to share. Some finds are real treasure like coins and artifacts and some are treasures of nature such as a rare shell or a shark’s tooth. Some finds are very disappointing such as the vast amounts of trash washing up in the form of plastics and glass. Light bulbs, tires, bottles, floats, wood, plastic bags, rubber gloves, boots, food wrappers and the list goes on as far as the beach itself. But some trash can be made into treasure like old flip flops carved into toys, cans recycled, and trash turned into works of art. And of course everyone can help save wildlife by picking up plastics on the beach.
Everyone finds their own treasure of some kind on the beach walk and sometimes it is just the walk itself that is the real treasure, being at one with the sea and sand and air. It is good for the soul, mind and heart.
If you find something on the beach you want to learn more about bring it by the South Padre Island Nature center. To learn more about sea life visit the Dolphin Research and Sea life nature center at 105 W. Pompano. There is a 1:00 program daily. See our website at Spinaturecenter.com or call 956-761-7178.

1. Poor Hermy, the land hermit crab, was found abandoned on the beach at South Padre. He is an imported land crab sold in local shop to keep as pets. He needs freshwater and fruit to survive. He was about to be eaten by gulls that pecked thru his thin shell and was rescued by an passerby and lives at the nature center now. 2. All forms of Trash as seen here impact our sea turtles. Please help save our turtles and other wildlife. 3. This poor Ruddy Turnstone is tangled in fishing line and will ultimately loose its leg. Fishing line is something that should be picked up and disposed of to protect wildlife from this type of injury and quite often death. 4. Stay away from this beauty, the Portuguese man o war. Their tentacles have stinging cells that will inflict tremendous pain to those who come in contact with them.