Tuesday, June 10, 2008

It's called a what?

Our recent trip to the Lakes with mates (travelogue still waiting to be written up. I know, I know) held a mystery. Walking along the beach at Seascale, we saw a large number of these either drifting about in, or resting beside, rock pools. The photo gives no clue as to size, but it's about the same as a small clementine.

Ritchie speculated that it might be a sea urchin skeleton, but despite having similar markings I thought it was the wrong shape for that. So I saved one, intending to research it later. This isn't the one I saved. Sadly that one went pop when I bent over to collect another memento of our visit. I'm a bit of a magpie when walking on beaches. Trying to find a replacement for that first specimen was a task, as many of them had been pecked to pieces by marauding seagulls.

In the end, and quite out of the blue, it was Natalie who discovered what the mysterious creature was. With a breathless phone call, and in the midst of much laughter, she told me. It's a sea potato.

The ultimate irony of that will be lost on most of you but trust me: it's too funny.

1 comment:

Gloria Horsehound said...

Looks like a washed out beaten up cricket ball to me. Note the stitch like effect.
But it's a potato and potatoes make chips and chips go with fish so I suppose it all makes sense. Sort of.