Shell Counting Day: Semi-truncated beach shell and cockle found most often

The shells most commonly found on Dutch beaches during the Shell Counting Day last Saturday were the semi-truncated beach shell and the cockle. About 1,500 people participated in the counting day, organized by Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

Overall, the participants counted more than 49,000 shells at seventeen locations along the Dutch coast together. With the help of experts, they sorted the shells by type and counted the numbers.

People also went to the beaches in Belgium and Northern France to count shells. Over 110,000 shells have been counted along 400 kilometers of the North Sea coast. The initiators said the results give the experts a better picture of what is happening in the North Sea. The common carpet shell was most commonly found in France.

In the Netherlands, the oval and sturdy beach shells were often found (third and fourth place). The mussel was counted less often and was in eighth place. In Belgium, the nun was again found a lot: With 9013 specimens collected, this shell species took third place. Last year, it was the most commonly found shell in Belgium.

Furthermore, special finds were made again this year. The Anadara kagoshimensis from Japan, also known as the ark shell, was found on Dutch beaches. This species does not originally come from the Netherlands. It was accidentally transported to the Netherlands by ships in the 1960s.

A huge shell was also found, which required further study. Experts concluded that it is the Mesodesma donacium from Peru, which does not occur naturally along the Dutch coast. Experts consider it almost certain that the shell comes from a collection of tropical shells from tourist shops.