An innate part of life as an Islander is an undeniable obsession with hunting for treasure. Our minds are enraptured by the tales of Jean Lafitte--minted by time and burined by history. They are saturated with the endless mysteries and enduring promises of an ever changing seascape.
But as the tide rolls in, the veil is lifted ever so slightly, and at the water's edge is found a portal to far-off times and distant places. Beachcombers journey tenaciously along these miles of shifting sands for the reward of a brief but intimate glance into the secrets of the sea.
SHARK TOOTH HUNTERS
Sharks lose their teeth naturally throughout their lifetime,which means there are billions of them in every ocean.Yet Galveston is one of only a handful of beaches in theUnited States where fossilized shark teeth find their way tothe shore after traversing the oceans for thousands—evenmillions—of years.
During fossilization, the teeth absorb sediment thatchanges the tooth from white to gray, black, or brown. Thesediments in the Gulf of Mexico can also add interestingcolor combinations or patterns made from several colors.Shark teeth are typically found in the “shell hash,” theaccumulations of smaller shells and larger pieces ofsediment that are deposited by the tide in noticeable rowsalong the shoreline.
Sharks have five or six rows of teeth that push forward asthey grow. The teeth in the front fall out and are replacedby the row behind them, and this continues throughoutthe shark’s lifespan. This ensures that sharks have newsharp teeth for ripping and shredding prey.
The front teeth often break off from biting into bones,which is why many teeth are found with the tips missing.It takes ten thousand years for a tooth to fossilize, andthe teeth found in Galveston can be anywhere from ten thousand to two million years old.
The most common species of shark tooth found locallyis Carcharias, which includes Bull sharks, Duskies, andBlacktip, although the teeth of hammerheads are notunusual. Among the nine total species of hammerhead,the ones most often found are from Great Whites,Snaggletooth, Mako, Sand, Lemon, and Tiger Sharks.On rare occasions, a Megalodon will appear, but those aremore likely to be found along Florida coasts. Most sharkteeth species can be identified based on the shape, size,root shape and serrations.
Shark teeth are the most common fossil found on theplanet, although they still do not cease to remain amost valuable find of local beachcombers. Many peoplesearch in vain for years for the elusive shark tooth, oftenpostulating that the whole concept is a myth.
For this reason, hunting for shark teeth is viewed by manyas far more than merely a beach find; for some, the huntit*elf is a unique experience of its own, underscored withspiritual elements and an opportunity to see from broaderperspective.
Jane Young, one of the Island’s most prolific collectorswhose personal record is 165 teeth in one day, says, “It isa state of mind, like transcendental meditation, you don’tsee anything else.”
“It really healed my heart,” says Karla Klay, director ofGalveston’s beloved Artist Boat, who took to the beachafter the loss of her father and grandmother several yearsago. “Every time I found one, it was as if the Universe wassaying, ‘We are with you.’” Karla refers to finding sharkteeth as a “Zen art… At first I was so obsessed with lookingfor them, I couldn’t find them.”
Fellow hunter Beth Thomas agreed. “You have to be fakedout many times, and then right at the time you let go, youfind one,” Thomas says.
Shark vertebrae fossils are also a good find. They also absorb sediment while fossilizing and are predominately grayish to black in color.
They are generally about one-inch diameter round discs,a quarter inch thick on the outside and thinner toward thecenter. They can be larger or smaller depending on thesize of the shark. They resemble a large coat button. Lookfor them in the same place as shark teeth or closer to thedunes in the large shell hash.
SEA BEANS
Sea beans are one of the easiest and most popular thingsto find on the beach during spring and early summer. Thebeans come in many shapes, colors, and sizes. As with allbeachcombing prizes, once the first one is found it getseasier to find them more frequently.
Sea beans are seeds and fruits from tropical plants andvines of coastal areas around the world that fall intorivers and then drift into the ocean. Once in the ocean,the currents can carry them for thousands of miles andmany years at sea before landing on beach. The currentsin the Gulf of Mexico bring many species of these beansto Galveston area beaches at about the same time as thesargassum (commonly known as seaweed) arrives.
The sargassum corrals the beans at sea and they bothfloat in together. The sea beans do not originate from thesargassum, but the best place to find them on the beachis within these washed up beds. Avid beachcombers loveit when the seagrass arrives. The typical sargassum seasonfor Galveston is May through September.
Check the new sargassum as well as the older dried outseagrass closer to the dunes. Often the beans have beenburied in the thick grass and when it dries out hiddenbeans show up. After a good rain is the perfect time to lookfor them because the wet beans are shinier and contrastwith the dull seagrass.
The beans come from all over the world, which is whatmakes them so fun to find, and the most common sea beanfinds to Galveston fall within four categories. The heartshaped Entada gigas, appropriately dubbed Sea Hearts,are from a Monkey Ladder vine native to Costa Rica.Hamburger beans, which come from several species ofMucuna native to the West Indies, are flatter and circularand feature striations of beige and brown that resemble ahamburger patty between two buns.
Sea Coconuts, or Manicaria saccifera, are from Centraland South America and are perfectly spherical whichmakes them look like miniature coconuts. Mary’s Beans(Merremia discodesperma) grow in Mexico, CentralAmerica, and the Caribbean basin; the seeds appear tohave the image of a cross impressed upon them.
Other, rarer beans are highly sought-after and includeLittle Marbles, also known as Oxy’s (Oxyrhynchus volubilis),and two specific species of Hamburger beans: The Mucunaholtonii nearly black in color, much darker than the morecommon hamburger beans, and the Thick-Banded Mucuna(Mucuna elliptica), which features an oblong shape asopposed to circular. Locating one of these three makes fora unique beachcombing endeavor.
Sea beans can be cleaned and polished then madeinto beautiful jewelry or just displayed in a bowl as aconversation piece. Once claimed, rinse them in cool waterand allow to dry completely. For easiest results, use a rocktumbler to bring the beans to a brilliant sheen, or polishthem manually with fine-grit sandpaper.
Overall, Galveston shores boast between 30-40 speciesof sea beans. For more information on sea beansidentification, SeaBean.com provides an excellentreference, as does the book Sea Beans from the Tropics byEd Perry IV and John. V. Dennis, an invaluable resource forany beachcomber.
SEA GLASS
Easier to spot but no less valuable are the small, frosted pieces of glass found in the same areas as shark teeth, in the shell hash. To be considered real sea glass, the piece must be completely frosted, nearly opaque, and have no sharp or jagged edges. When a piece like this is located, rest assured it is quite old as it takes longer for sea glass to become conditioned on Galveston beaches because the sand is very fine.
The most advantageous recipe for sea glass is very coarse sand and lots of broken glass in an area of rough water to naturally agitate it and sand it down. However, Galveston does have certain locations that produce nice pieces.
One area is the beach by Woody’s Bar along FM 3005 at 7 1/2 Mile Road, just after the Seawall ends. Back in the 1950s, a bar on the beach burned down, and in addition to sea glass other fun finds from this area include co*ke, Pepsi, and liquor bottles from the 50s and 60s.
Another premium location for sea glass is along thebeaches on the far eastern end of the island that run alongthe mouth of the Houston Ship Channel, but in truth, thepossibility of finding sea glass is there for any Galvestonbeach, thanks to a 150-year history of hurricanes that hasdemolished homes and strewn an innumerable amount ofdebris (including glass) out into the Gulf.
The most common colors to find are white, from clearglass, as well as varying shades of green and brown. Thesecolors of course coincide with the colors of beer and winebottles that have been tossed out or left on the beach tobe washed out to sea. But they are by no means the onlycolors to be found, and they can represent any facet of theentire color spectrum.
Cobalt blue and turquoise can be found in smallquantities, but the rarest colors are orange, yellow, red,and purple since few bottles were manufactured in thosecolors. A nice frosted piece of glass in any of those colorsrepresents the most valuable of beachcombing bounty, butbesides color, any identifying marks on the glass that canhelp tell the age of the bottle can also set it apart. The sizeand anything that adds interest to the piece will add valueto it.
Sea glass can easily make its way into your home or yourwardrobe, as it is often used in the crafting of handmadejewelry, or assembled like a mosaic into a work of art. It isalso beautiful all by itself and can be displayed simply in aglass jar or vase.
A History of MysteryPerhaps the most intriguing secret kept by the world’svast expanse of oceans is the number of souls whose fatewas ultimately determined by the mood of Mother Nature.The history of man attempting to conquer the high seas isnearly as old as man itself, and Galveston’s history recordsa 19th century beach find that points not only to the infinitecycle of lost at sea/found on shore, but also the chillingmystery of those fated souls claimed by the deep blue.On July 23, 1883, the Galveston Daily News printeda notice sent in by a Mr. Theodore C. Becker. Hiscorrespondence stated that the morning prior, he found asoda water bottle floating in the water near the shorelineby the Pagoda Bath House (where Murdoch’s is today).Inside was a slip of paper which he sent to the newspaperalong with his letter. It read simply, “July 8, 1883—Schooner Tilly, Gulf of Mexico—Wrecked off Pass Cavallobar in heavy southeast gale.”
It is unknown whether the desperate message savedany lives, although it appears unlikely since news of thedeath of the schooner’s captain did not ascertain thecirc*mstances that caused it. On December 28, 1883,a local steamship captain testified that Captain Weeksof the schooner Tilly had drowned in the Gulf when hefell overboard twenty miles into the Gulf from AransasPass. However, the particulars of his death were reported“unknown.”
The only clue that the sea left of his undoing was thebottle’s message from six months prior which indicated complications from rough waters.
