As I walked along the shore, enjoying the gentle sound of the surf and listening to the bird calls, I noticed something I've never seen in my life before! In the sand. There were two of them nestled close together. Upon a closer inspection with my camera lens, I kinda figured by the slight indentations they might be of the urchin family species. I marked the area with a piece of drift wood and walked back to the car for my gloves {I have a supply of 'come-in-handies' in the trunk} and found a plastic container to go back and pick them up. Once I was home I got online and did some research....indeed, with an uneducated guess, they just MAY be a type of urchin. Something I've only seen in pictures and on National Geographic-type programs!! I typed into Google "balls of seaweed found in the Gulf of Mexico" and went down the list of links. One had a very similar picture of what I found....called "Sea Potatoes". The description fit perfectly what was now laying on our garage floor. I intend to get them cleaned up, and dry them out to keep {maybe...if they don't stink while drying - they may get tossed in the garbage, who knows}. - - Keep in mind, I'm still not 100% positive on them being a type of animal...maybe just seaweed. Time will tell. Maybe, lol
Online, the picture I found [link]
My photo from the beach. They're near perfectly round, slightly flattened, and under the spiny exterior, there are marks of an urchin...
Sea Potato Facts
What would be YOUR guess?