Shell Life on the Seashore

by Philip Street

Originally published in 1961, Shell Life on the Seashore is an amateur beachcombing classic. This newly reissued and updated edition includes a new foreword by Philip Hoare and an illustrated fold-out guide to identifying shells on the reverse of the book jacket.

For many, the highlights of seaside holidays are rockpooling and gathering the glorious array of shells left strewn on the beach after the receding tide.

Attracted by the infinite variety of shapes and colors, visitors can never resist making a souvenir collection of their own - but little do they suspect the fascinating lives of the animals who once occupied them.

What if each shell had a story of its own to tell us, if only we knew the language? Mr Street’s delightful, informative guide uncovers the secret history of each common shell, revealing not only which marine creature once inhabited it but the unique challenges of its watery habitat it had to solve.

From barnacles to oysters, cockles to sea slugs, winkles to carnivorous snails, mollusks and lesser-known members of the octopus family, Shell Life on the Seashore is the essential primer for recognizing and collecting both these curious specimens and the "empties" they leave behind - and will greatly increase the old-fashioned pleasures of a coastal holiday for all the family.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Natural History

220 pages, Paperback

Published August 27, 2019

Reviews

[Dirk H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prachtig vormgegeven boek. Soms een beetje droog maar verder vol wetenswaardigheden over het leven van weekdieren. Sommige zitten 500 jaar lang op dezelfde plek op de zeebodem plankton te eten, terwijl andere zichzelf met behulp van waterstralen voortbewegen terwijl ze hun omgeving bekijken met tientallen kleine oogjes. En octopussen, die zelfs visjes vangen om als aas te gebruiken om krabben mee te vangen, zijn helemaal de bom.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living near the coast we have spent a lot of time on the beach because we can. Over the years the children have accumulated a hefty number of different sized and shaped shells that we have been laying out under the front window of our home. I knew what some of them were, in particular the limpets, oysters and the occasional razor clam. We have even found scallop shells before now, but there is a lot of shells that were acquired which I had not got a clue what they were. This book helped with identifying them.

Thankfully this book first published in 1961 has been produced in this new edition with a beautiful fold-out cover with glorious colour artwork of the shells that you can find on the UK shoreline. It is an informative and very interesting book on all manner of shells. There are lots of details about tiny shells that are only a few millimetres long that you might on come across when scouring the sands when the tide is out.

It is a perfect volume to accompany the Pebbles On the Beach by Clarence Ellis that was published a little while back and it is a worthy addition to your shelves.

[AnnaG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does exactly what it says on the cover - it provides a thorough review of British shellfish and a few of their closely related cousins. There are some fascinating gems about the lives of these creatures and their weird and wonderful anatomy.

If you enjoyed this book, or think you would enjoy a less technical book in a similar vein, try Adam Nicolson's The Seabird's Cry: The Lives and Loves of the Planet's Great Ocean Voyagers.

[Alasdair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and fascinating survey of a type of wildlife that most of us know incredibly little about. I suspect many of us give little thought to what lived in the shells we find, and have a better idea of the life of dinosaurs than of the molluscs that live on our own shores. Unshowy, unsentimental, but written with easy authority that shows both mastery and deep admiration for the subject. Lightly updated from 1960s edition particularly with recent environmental information, but only the later dates referred to give this away. Occasionally you can skip the odd paragraph towards the end of a chapter if you're not interested in absolute completism but Street keeps this to a minimum and is conscious his audience is the 'interested layman' and not a zoology postgraduate.

[Matthew Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

For families going rockpooling, or any fans of coastal walks, this is a great book that will help you understand more about the lives and nature of some of the beautiful shells that you may discover when out and about. It is a great read with fascinating facts about these shells that many wouldn’t think twice about.

[Sula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This interesting book goes into the lives of the creatures that live on our shores. It made me realise how little I knew about these creatures, and I really learnt a lot. It is slightly dry, but the unusual subject matter kept me reading. Initially I didn't think the text had been updated from the original edition, as when I looked up a bit more on a topic, the information in the book seemed a bit dated, but then later on in the text there were references to modern studies. This modern version has a fold-out cover with coloured illustrations to help with identifying shells, and while identification is not the purpose of the book, it would have been nice to have some photos/coloured illustrations that linked to the text.

[Kathi Held · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always loved rockpooling and marvelling at the different kind of shells. Only when I came across this book did it occur to le that I know almost nothing about the animals that inhabit them. This was a really interesting read providing a really thorough overview of the subject. I can't wait to be at the beach next to see how much it improved my rockpooling game. Knowing which zones the various molluscs inhabit will make it a lot easier to find them. I found the book really fascinating and over the last few days I kept saying things like"do you want to hear an interesting periwinkle fact?" to my partner 😂

[Gwenaelle Vandendriessche · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot use it as a fieldguide and it wasn't really enjoyable to read (too descriptive and factual for me), but it was instructive.