Times of the Islands Spring 2021

will lack this hairy tissue and will feel like a hard bonelike
material. Also, live sand dollars tend to be dark grey,
whereas their tests will be a lighter grey color.
You might also come upon coral skeletons during
your walk. Live coral is always attached to a sturdy substrate
and is covered by a thin layer of tissue, with their
skeleton underneath it. Corals are actually animals and
are also carnivorous! When these corals die, however,
their tissue disappears and all that is left is their skeleton.
Small indentations, or corallites, were the backbone
that protected the coral’s polyps. Oftentimes it is actually
possible to identify a coral species based on its skeleton.
MELISSA HERES
Conch shells can be turned into musical instruments. This conch horn
is being played by its creator, Anna Handte-Reinecker.
Tests & Skeletons
Besides shells, there are a variety of other links between
land and sea that can be found. One example are tests.
Tests are the interior, calcified skeletons that are created
by sea urchins, sand dollars and sea biscuits.
Especially when finding sand dollars, it’s important to
make sure that they’re not alive! Live sand dollars often
have hairy projections, while dead tests of sand dollars
Sea Glass
Sea glass is a common sight on TCI’s beaches. Varying
in color from green to brown and even the occasional
purple, this sea glass is sought-after for jewelry and other
decorations.
As a staff member at The School for Field Studies
Center for Marine Resource Studies (SFS CMRS) on South
Caicos, I’m met with a lot of questions concerning what
students find on beaches, rocky shorelines and in the
water. One of the most fulfilling aspects of this job is
watching these students grow. As the semester progresses,
students become more aware of what they might
find in the marine environment. Not only are they learning
about what they find, but they are becoming invested
in preserving the wonderful world that lies beneath the
waves and they begin educating each other about marine
life. My hope is that they take the knowledge they’ve
gained from the small island of South Caicos and spread
it back home to their family, back at school to their peers,
and around the world—just like ocean currents would
carry a shell.
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