[Lara Croft]

Hi.
On Waikanae Beach last night, we found lots of sort of triangle-shaped things that had been washed up. They could be fitted together to form a flattish disc, maybe 3-4 inches diameter. They were slim and slightly wedge shaped, inside them it looked like the underside of a mushroom... so please tell me, animal, vegetable or mineral??? What are they???

Thanks,
J

[Jo Jo]

They sound like sand dollars to me, which are a type of flattish sea urchin. They are round when they are alive (and covered in spines), but once they die the spines fall off and the shell often breaks into triangular pieces.

EDITED TO ADD: there's some info about them at the bottom of this page. (http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/SeaLife/StarfishSeaUrchinsAndOtherEchinoderms/2/en)

[shakyle2906]

Great info JoJo!

Never heard of these before.

Sharon
x

[Alan]

Does this help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_dollar

[theSingsons]

Yup, I have to agree... those are skelletons of sea urchins. I've been a scuba diver for a couple of years and I've seen some of them.

[StevieD]

Thanks for that we wondered what they were - found quite a lot of them about the beaches.

[Lara Croft]

Great replies - thanks everyone :)

J