Shell yes: Why more seashells are washing up on Grand Strand beaches
If you’ve walked along Grand Strand beaches recently, you might have noticed more seashells than usual.
It’s a rather typical occurrence in the aftermath of a winter storm, one expert said.
Coastal Carolina University professor and Vice Dean of the School of the Coastal Environment William Ambrose said it’s common for specimens, living and dead, to wash ashore after a coastal storm.
“After a storm, a bunch of stuff washed up isn’t unusual,” Ambrose said.
A storm that developed off the coast of North Carolina and South Carolina brought heavy rain, winds and coastal flooding to the coasts this weekend.
ambrose said the storms, combined with last week’s king tides, may have caused the shells to wash ashore. The king tide, also known as a perigean spring tide, brought some flooding to the Myrtle Beach area Thursday along with the new moon. Cherry Grove streets were submerged in a few inches of water.
“It’s fairly common. Not only were the tides high. . . there was a storm,” Ambrose said. “Any time you get a storm you’re going to get shells washed up.”
Ambrose said the types of storms that cause large quantities of shells to be washed ashore are more common during colder months.
“Unless you have a hurricane, you don’t see these big storms so much in the summer,” he said.
“Every time I walk on the beach even after just a moderate winter storm, there’s all sorts of stuff washed up.”
Ambrose said the increase in shells is not a cause for environmental concern unless large quantities of marine life begin to wash ashore.
“If you’ve got live animals being washed up, that’s having some impact on the population,” he said. “
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 6:58 AM.
