Cute Sea Shells Collections

Amazing Shell Beaches Around the World

Seashells, which are usually the dead empty shells of marine mollusks, often wash up on the shores but there are certain beaches that routinely have an unusually large accumulation of seashells washed up on them. Most beaches in the world are primarily composed of rock particles such as sand, grit, gravel, pebbles, etc, but in rare cases the beach is composed entirely of seashells, both broken and whole valves.

Here are 4 such unusual shell beaches in the world.

Shell Beach, Western Australia

Shell Beach is located 45 kilometers south-east of Denham in the Shark Bay region of Western Australia. Stretching for over 120 kilometers, this beautiful snow-white beach is made up of millions of tiny shells and they go up to 10 meters deep!

The seawater in the L`Haridon Bight has a high salinity due to both the geomorphology and local climate of the area. This high salinity has allowed the cockle to proliferate unchecked, since its natural predators have not adapted well to this environment. When the cockle die of natural deaths then are washed ashore, and this has been going on for thousands of years completely covering the entire beach.

The shells also forms the sea floor, stretching for hundreds of yards from the shoreline. On the upper parts of the beach, away from the water line, many of the shells have become cemented together, in some areas leading to the formation of large, solid conglomerations.

The shells are mined under special license nowadays for production of calcium for poultry feed and exotic mulch for gardens and planters. In the early years of Denham, blocks of the solidified shell deposits were mined and used as materials in building constructions.