What are you looking at.

[Dave A]

Lets see who can guess what we are looking at here. Hint: #1 is not a volcano


#1



#2

[Manfred M]

Both are shells. The second one defintely looks like a sand dollar to me. The first one looks like it had a barnacle on it.

[Dave A]

Both are shells. The second one defintely looks like a sand dollar to me. The first one looks like it had a barnacle on it.

Correct Manfred. Guess it wasn't too difficult.

Dave

[Manfred M]

As a scuba diver, I've seen plenty of both, close up on dives down south. Definitely not something I would see diving in Lake Ontario or the St Lawrence River.

[Shadowman]

Nice set.

[IzzieK]

Good ones...I like them both.

[Adzman808]

I really like the detail!

I've some fossil shells from the Jurassic that have those barnacle type marks on them, so it goes to show just long these things, and their parasites (is a barnacle a parasite??!) have been around!

The second shot looks like it could be a fossil

[Mike Buckley]

Now that the subjects have been identified, let's not forget that both photos are quite nice, especially the first one thanks to its detail, diagonal lines and color.

[Manfred M]

(is a barnacle a parasite??!)

The barnacle likely attached itself after the mollusk died. The mollusks move around on the bottom of the ocean floor (not all that deep, in the shallow areas near to land) and would scrape and barnacles trying to attach themselves to it off.

The sand dollar is actually a flat type of sea urchin. When spiny urchins die and lose their spikes, they have a somewhat similar took, but are not nearly as flat.