One of my favorite beach activities, besides swimming and body surfing, is beachcombing. Shells are the greatest gifts from the sea, but many people also enjoy collecting other bits and pieces thrown up as flotsam and jetsam on the beach. While seaweed is considered a negative in my survey, such accumulations often contain sea beans that have drifted hundreds or even thousands of miles through the ocean to reach the shore. Beautiful specimens such as sea hearts, hamburger beans, sea purses, and nickernuts can be found on the Atlantic coast of Florida, especially during the prime season of October to January.
Coastal storms produce the greatest bounty of seashells and sea beans.
There is even an organization whose members avidly collect these drifting seeds, holding their annual International Sea Bean Symposium. For further information, write Cathie Katz, Box 510366, Melbourne Beach, FL 32951. Far more people collect sand samples than sea beans during their travels. Anyone who has ever seen a red or black sand beach is tempted to take some of this exotic sand back home. Sand varies by color, mineral content, size and sorting, producing a dazzling array of combinations around the U.S. coasts.