The Seaside Beach, in Seaside, situated in the western coastal state of Oregon in the United States bore witness to thousands of sand dollars washing ashore last week. According to a Facebook post shared on August 16 by Seaside Aquarium, sand dollars washed up with the afternoon high tides on the south end of beach near Tillamook Head.
Sand dollars are a type of sea urchins which have a star-stamped skeleton. It belongs to the order Clypeasteroida and resides in tropical and temperate waters throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Sand dollars can only survive out of the ocean water for a few minutes after which they die. These marine organisms breathe through their petaloids, a series of holes from which tube-like, breathing feet emerge.
Hence, the presence of thousands of sand dollars washed up on the beach is a matter of concern. The Facebook post mentioned that the sand dollars were alive when they were stranded but were unable to make it back to the water once the tide receded. The post further mentioned that since the sand dollars were stranded on the shore for a long time, it resulted in them drying up and eventually passing away.
The Seaside Aquarium mentioned that they do not know what has caused this development, and “these types of incidents usually have several contributing factors.” The social media post also read that they are unaware if this is a stand-alone incident or if it is happening on other beaches as well It is not known how many sand dollars are washing in as the Facebook post mentioned.
