Beautiful Shells From Around The World (PHOTOS)

There's a little thrill to finding a unique seashell washed up on the shore as a kid. It's the kind of thrill that stays with you as you grow older, as every once in a while you'll stumble on a shell that blows your mind. As part of Our Oceans week, we're celebrating the beauty of seashells by compiling some attractive shells from around the world. Take a look, and vote for your favorite!

Have a seashell you think is prettier? Use the participation tool to the right to send in your shell.

 

Have you spotted a beautiful shell? Snap a picture, and send it in!

Find a picture, click the participate button, add a title and upload your picture

1 of 19

Tannirbavi Beach, Mangalore, India

1 of 20

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Threatened Animals

Chipotle's Influence

Wild Animals Who Are Part Of The Family

Top 10 Most Polluting Countries (2011)

Fracking Photos

Storm Clouds

comments(8)

Total comments: 8 | Post a Comment

1 of 20

Rate This Slide

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Pretty Unbelievable!

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Top 5 Prettiest Shells

loading...

Top 5 Prettiest Shells

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

For updates from the Mission Blue ocean conference all this week, check back here

Comments

[Ron Bednar]

12:46 PM on 04/07/2010

Well we are going to be seeing lots more of these beautiful shells on beaches...for awhile at least. Because the critters that make them are dying off from our pollution...
Enjoy them...

[anothervoice]

05:55 PM on 04/11/2010

Ocean acidification will dissolve the living and the dead and the rest will starve. Enjoy them while they last.

And don't believe them when they tell you Soylent Green is algae. Bon appetit.

[leajazz]

11:30 AM on 04/07/2010

Years ago on my first trip to the Gulf of Mexico, I was walking on the beach and found a bunch of sand dollars. Dumb yankee me didn't know what they were and told my date "look at what I found, someone broke a necklace." I gave some away and framed the rest.

[EnPointe]

10:02 AM on 04/14/2010

Hi Leajazz... I probably would've done the same! just came upon this thread. I love shells, only I don't have any. : ) when hiking, I'm always scoping out for fossils or arrowheads here in Kentucky. And I'm probably the only person who has never found an arrowhead. It's a joke now. Anybody else can just trip over the daggone things, but not me. : )

[TheInsomniac]

11:19 AM on 04/07/2010

I'd just like to make a little PSA. While shells are pretty, and it's generally fine to collect empty ones from the beach (unless there are needy hermit crabs around!), many marine snails are toxic and can deliver a painful or even lethal sting. Most snails are voracious predators, and we are lulled into a state of complacency by the harmless, garden-variety herbivores we are familiar with on land.

How a cone snail eats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcBKH7s4SVQ

[maggiebeer]

10:43 AM on 04/24/2010

And don't anybody touch the textile cone! Deadly. IMO it's only 100% safe to handle in a shell shop where you can be sure the organism has been dead for a long time. But then I was trained in Australia, where they're very safety-conscious, so Americans probably think I'm a wimp. :)

[lorsavus]

09:38 AM on 04/07/2010

Beautiful.

[julie1215]

09:12 AM on 04/07/2010

wonderful. beautiful. a good reminder of why we should protect the oceans and all the environment. The bottom line is not about our own selfishly filled bellies, it's about having a world worth living in.