There's nothing better on a hot summer's day than putting on your swimsuit, packing up the car, and driving down for some fun in the waves. And sometimes, a beachgoer will come across a treasure that becomes the highlight of their day visit or vacation. It could be an unexpected gift from mother nature or a questionable beach neighbor - anything really. Because, as you're about to find out, you never know what you'll find at the beach. So slather on that sunscreen, and let's get going.
Who's Gonna Tell Her Those Aren't Shark Teeth?
The tooth fairy days are magical for any kid. Suddenly, your mouth starts bleeding, you freak out about your missing tooth, and then you have money under your pillow in the morning. It's enough to make anyone smile. But in this case, we've got a young girl who's actually smiling because it happened the other way around. Instead of losing her teeth, which she seems to be the perfect age for, she found a whole new set of teeth!
The little girl and her dad were on a hunt for shark teeth. However, she reported back with someone's lost dentures instead.
Mother Nature Formed These Frozen Sand Columns by the Sea
Even in the coldest winters, you can still go to the beach and see the ocean. It doesn't freeze! Did anyone ever wonder why that is? Underwater currents push warm water around, so waves can keep crashing on your shores even in the coldest temperatures. Still, other weird stuff can happen — for example, these frozen sand columns formed from a good mix of cold and wind erosion.
Apparently, pools of water had gotten down into the sand and frozen. So, what was left as the dry sand blew away was wet pillars of frozen sandy sludge. Pretty cool!
He Just Wants to Talk About Your Straw Use (and Pose for a Selfie)
One of the best things about going to a remote, not-so-touristy beach is that you might get lucky and see some local wildlife! In this case, this woman got the incredible surprise of a beautiful loggerhead turtle walking out to join her and take some selfies on the beach. Most sea turtles come up out of the sand and onto land to lay their eggs, so this cuddly-looking quadruped was probably checking on their nest.
If the turtle wasn't there to check on their nest, then they were probably doing straw patrol on the beach instead. He needs to make sure everyone is using paper or metal straws!
We Swear These Wave-Clouds Aren't Photoshopped
This is one of those pictures where we feel like we found a glitch in the matrix or something. While this person was sitting at the beach enjoying their day and watching the waves, they realized something weird was happening in the sky. All the clouds formed up and created their own wave shapes, all almost identical. We're glad this person wasn't too dumbfounded and quickly realized they should snap a picture.
While the water looked gorgeous, those sky waves definitely got everyone's attention that day.
It Was "bring Your Pet to the Beach" Day
Everyone has their own favorite thing to do at the beach. Some people like to swim, others build sand castles, and others play sports. Some people have the most fun doing something with their significant others. For those people, the best thing to do at the beach (other than lay and sleep) is usually a walk along the shore with their partner and pet. And they get bonus points if that pet is a duck.
These two must always get bombarded with people asking to pet their duck. But that's the price you pay when you buy an uncommon pet.
A Human Heart?! Relax, It's a Shell and Barnacles
There are so many love songs with heart in the name, it wouldn't do us justice to name just one. Still, the only reason we're thinking of those cheesy songs is that this shell that this person found at the beach is totally reminding us of hearts. Don't you see the resemblance? It looks almost anatomically correct, with those barnacles sticking off and creating false ventricles. It probably doesn't look much like a heart flipped over, but from here, it's nice.
You might think barnacles are just like rocks, but they're actually living, breathing crustaceans, like lobsters and crabs. So, be careful not to disturb or harm them if you find a shell like this at the beach.
We Thought These Things Were Just in Movies
Ever since we started watching sci-fi films, we've been curious about the existence of giant squids. And, in the past few years, we've got answers to some of our more pressing questions. Yes, giant squids exist. No, we don't know how big they can get. Yes, as you'd expect, they live in deep, dark water. And no, this is not even close to the biggest one we've ever seen.
We can't even believe this guy is willing to lie down next to that thing. Even if he does think it's dead, we'd still worry it might come back to life and attack.
People Ask Them All the Time Whether They're Related
If you're lucky, you'll never run into your doppelganger because it is a freaky experience. Finding someone who looks exactly like you but knowing nothing of where they came from or who they are (except that they are not you) is a bit creepy. That said, we want to commend the woman in the picture below. She seems to be handling it pretty well.
Who do we think is enjoying that sun more, the woman or the sea lion? Our money is on the sea lion because since she's wearing a hoodie, that beach must be cold, cold, cold.
"Get Out of the Sun if Your Skin Tone Matches This Sign"
The government of Singapore probably had to think long and hard about what kind of things they would write on their health warnings at the beach. They obviously want people to follow the rules and also to keep their citizens safe. So, they devised a funny idea to use an orange sign to poke fun at a TV show everyone knows and to keep people from getting too sunburned.
The sign reads, "Get Out of the Sun if Your Skin Tone Matches This Sign - This isn't Jersey Shore. "We think this is a hilarious way to remind people of the dangers of getting sunburned. Although, even if this was the Jersey Shore, if your skin is that color, get out of the sun.
Crystal Clear Water Makes for Incredible Tidal Pools
Going hand fishing in tidal pools is one of the greatest things you can do as a kid. It almost feels like you're cheating the great big ocean as you pick beautiful creatures out of those crystal-clear tide pools out on the coast. Plus, as you can see from this woman's picture below, the more picturesque your environment, the more fun you'll have. We could stare down into those crystal-clear pits for hours.
You'll typically find all manner of animals inside a tidal pool. There could be snails, barnacles, muscles, urchins, and if you're lucky, maybe you'll even find some lobsters. Just make sure to be gentle and put those critters right back where you found them.
Check Out the Wheels on This Guy's Ice Cream Cart
One of the hardest parts of being a street vendor on the beach in the summer is getting all your product across the sand and out to your customers. But this guy put in a little extra effort and wound up with a genius solution to avoid lugging a shoulder tote ever again. We would like to introduce the mobile ice cream beach delivery cart, complete with body armor and tank-like wheels.
Alright, there's no actual body armor on this thing. But it does have tank treads to distribute weight more evenly and allow the cart to maneuver over the sand.
A Genius Way for Beach Walkers to Help With Litter
One of the most frustrating things is going down to the beach and realizing that some disrespectful travelers decided not to clean up after themselves. Then, you spend the whole start of your day cleaning up someone else's trash. Don't you think there should be a better way? Well, there is! First and foremost, clean up after yourself. Second, it wouldn't hurt to put something like this at the entrance to your local beach!
By giving people the opportunity to clean up, this community is trying to win back the balance and keep their backyard clean. No one likes looking at and stepping around garbage, especially on vacation, so we think these baskets are a great idea.
Don't Worry, That's Not a Tsunami - It's Clouds!
We're not sure if we could stay at the beach for the day if this is what we saw. Depending on your perspective, this either looks like there's a giant tsunami wave crashing in, about to obliterate everybody on that beach, or you've got some very dark clouds rolling in low and fast, and this beach is about to get pounded by a storm. Either way, it's not going to be good out there in a few hours.
You can barely even see the water's surface under the clouds on the right side of this picture, so the weather over there must already be pretty bad. So, we hope this photographer left running after taking the shot.
This Family Was Out for a Stroll When All of a Sudden...
If you've ever been one of those people that doubts the strength of the ocean, just take a peek at this image down below. That is the base of a giant tree. No one is sure where it was ripped offshore, but after bouncing around the ocean for a bit, it washed up in Washington state. Do you see the mom and her son sitting inside the tree? The thing is massive, and the ocean chucked it about like a pebble.
The Northwestern United States faces a phenomenon called "sneaker waves," where ocean currents push exceptionally large waves into these coasts without warning. That is probably what forced this tree back onto land.
5-Year-Old Sends a Message in a Bottle, Strangers Find It
This is one of the greatest, most wholesome stories we've ever heard. A young boy in Norway put a message in a bottle and sent it out to sea. By the way, thousands of people do that every year, but it rarely works out like this for them. Two friends in Denmark found the boy's bottle and sent him the sweetest response! They told him how long the trip took and where the bottle landed, and they also sent a bunch of sweets for the boy and his classmates.
Our favorite part of the message is the way the bottle's recipients describe its speed. After calculating the time and distance, they let the child know that his bottle had traveled the same speed as a land turtle walks.
The Stingray Bag of Shame
We've been afraid of stingrays ever since Steve Irwin's passing at the hands of a ray and its barbed, poison tail. But, in actuality, most encounters with stingrays are survivable for human beings. Even if you get stung, there's an antidote that should fix you right up. The one problem with this antidote is that it has to be applied in a bright, embarrassing orange bag that lets everyone know you got stung.
We'd rather deal with the bag than lose a foot. But, at the same time, maybe this guy isn't thinking creatively enough. Why not just bury the bag?
This Master Sand Builder Even Put Fire in the Dragon's Mouth
Whenever we see an artisan at work, we stop and watch them for a bit. There is something incredible about people that work their entire lives improving one craft. In this case, we see a master sand sculptor going to work on a competition piece in Barcelona. He's currently carving the scales of his dragon while the beast slowly seethes and gets ready to breathe fire. No, seriously, this sculpture actually breathed fire.
We'd love to try to do something like this one day, but we'd be afraid that someone might ruin it accidentally. Or, after all that hard work, what if the ocean just comes and washes it away?
Lesson Learned: Don't Cool Your Drinks in the Sea
We have a few tips for you if you're planning on cracking open a few cold beers at the beach this summer. For one, the police usually hate having glass bottles on the beach because if they break, they're impossible to clean up and could hurt somebody. But, if you do have bottles, a great way to cool them down is to bury them in the shallows by your chair. Just keep an eye out for octopi.
When this guy returned to grab his beers from the shallows, he found a thirsty octopus lounging in his new cooler. Sounds like a pretty cool day, though. Who wouldn't want to toss one back with an octopus?
These Accessibility Mats Assure Everyone Can Get to the Beach
For the longest time, the beach was an activity that people with disabilities struggled to enjoy. That's partly because getting a standard wheelchair over sand can be a nightmare. And for people living with other kinds of disabilities, walking on sand can be difficult. Thankfully, this invention allows municipalities to provide disability access at the beach. These accessibility mats, like the one you see below, are a game-changer for wheelchair users and parents with strollers!
If you're headed to the beach and can navigate the sand easily, set your stuff up a little ways away from the mat. That way, if someone who needs it shows up, the space near the mat is open for their use.
Even the Farm Animals Love a Good Beach Day
We've seen a number of people bringing their pets to the beach over the years, with varied results. For example, some dogs love the beach, and some dogs hate it. We've seen a few cats that liked it, but for the most part, cats are not happy there in the sand. And then, of course, there's this cow, who is having quite possibly the greatest day of his young life. Just look at that smile!
With his hat and matching bandana on, this little guy is ready for anything that will come his way. We're just upset we weren't there to pet him when this picture was taken!
The Start of the Alien Takeover
Besides the occasional piece of roe on sushi, we're not sure if we've ever seen fish eggs before. Also, we're not really sure if a squid counts as a fish. But that's what we're looking at here: squid eggs. The person who posted this picture said their brother found a seashell on the beach, and when he turned it over, they found these little guys. Hopefully, they had the decency to put them all back after taking this picture though.
Female squids normally lay their eggs and then anchor them to the ocean floor. In this case, a squid probably thought they were laying eggs on the ground and instead caught that shell, which washed up on shore.
Jurassic Park - Beach Version
Welcome to Jurassic Beach! This unbelievable structure must have taken forever to build, and we can't imagine that it's just driftwood in there and not some modern building materials. Still, the creativity and patience it must have taken to build this gorgeous sculpture are out of this world. Hopefully, this is this person's hobby, and the rest of this beach is dotted with other sculptures of dinosaurs for people to enjoy.
This person is going to need a whole lot of driftwood if they want to try to build a tyrannosaurus rex statue. But we say go for it.
Stunning Driftwood Looks Like a Twisted Rope
As branches and logs get washed off coastal shores and go out into the ocean, they undergo an exciting transformation. The saltwater, the wind, and the constant rolling of the sea help to break the wood down over time. This also wears down the pieces of wood until they're smooth and, in some cases, creates fascinating patterns. Like here, check out this log below that looks like a coil of rope!
We assumed that this happened because the log constantly tumbled over and over through the waves. So, the ocean somehow created this funky spiral pattern, completely naturally!
Ever Seen a Beach That's Tucked Inside a Cave?
This picture looks like something out of a pirate's journal. All it's missing is the buried treasure and all the other pirates. The only way to access this cave is through the water you see on the right side. You literally need to swim over or get a boat to charter you in. But, after that, you can enjoy this incredible oasis of sun, surf, and sand (as long as it's not too crowded, that is).
This is actually the village of Benagil in Portugal, which has unfortunately become a major tourist destination in recent years. It's great that everyone gets to see the beauty of this place, but if you plan on going, make sure to leave the environment how you found it.
When You Unexpectedly Come Across an Artistic Masterpiece
If we told you that we went to the beach and saw a stone eagle, chances are you'd think we were talking about some special species of eagle. Or, maybe you'd think we were talking about a big rock that had the shape of an eagle. But would you be expecting a color (and size) coded bald eagle made out of pebbles and shells? We didn't think so. Though, to be fair, we weren't expecting to see this either.
This must have taken hours for this person to complete. We're not sure if we would've had the patience to gather all the materials needed to put this beautiful creation together.
Sand Carving Is a Real Art Form
A California artist created an incredible invention recently that allows them to cut into and scoop out sections of sand in one fell swoop. This prevents holes from collapsing in on themselves and also allows the artist to create these incredible designs. Can you imagine you're just walking along and you see something like this? To be honest, we'd probably assume it was actually aliens and not just some artist with a fun new shovel.
What we love most about these pieces of art is how oceanic they look. These sculptures fit perfectly on this beach as if they were seaweed or creatures from the ocean.
These Colorful Stones Were All Found on the Same Beach
All of the different pebbles making up this rainbow wheel, if you can believe it or not, actually came from the same beach. They're probably not all different types of rocks, though. Over time, as different rocks erode, get tossed about by the waves, become interred in the sand, and generally change, they'll develop different colors and hues, like all of these here. It's incredible to see the entire color spectrum laid out naturally like this, no?
We hope this woman at least kept a few of the cooler stones after making this creation. If she left it, then we're pretty sure the sea has already swallowed it.
These Specialized Wheelchairs Make It Easier for Everyone to Enjoy the Sand
Have you ever tried dragging a stroller across the sand, only to get exasperated as it continually digs in and gets stuck? With thin profile tires, weight is barely distributed, and a vehicle will sink into the sand almost every time. That's why off-road racers bleed air out of their tires before most races. It provides them with more traction. It's also why these fat tire wheelchairs are the perfect accessory for someone with limited mobility that wants to hit the beach.
The width of these tires will stop the wheelchair from sinking into the sand, and the positioning of the wheels will stop it from tipping over.
Can You Spot the Little Starfish Fossil?
When we were younger, we always dreamt about digging up a dinosaur and finding all the fossils. So, while this girl didn't exactly find a stegosaurus or a tyrannosaurus rex, it's still an incredible find. This is thousands of times more fossils than we've seen in our lives, and it's a cool one that we'd never expect to find because this minuscule little rock contains a tiny little baby starfish fossil.
If you ever find a fossil like this while you're out shell hunting or rock gathering, take a lot of pictures and be sure to send them to your local university. Maybe they could use those fossils for their research of the area!
This Beach Restaurant Gives Drinks on the House if You Pick up Trash
This beach pub had a fantastic idea to keep their property and community clean and promote the business. They'd provide buckets to customers and offer a free hot drink if they returned with a whole load of garbage. So, these customers are probably getting their first drink, taking a stroll to clean up, and then returning for their second free one. Everyone wins! Just one problem: is it still hot drinks in the summer?
Since they're offering hot drinks, we have a feeling this was a winter offering. If they can clean the beach up before spring, then it'll be nice and trash-free for everyone come summer.
Have You Ever Seen A Cooler Sand Sculpture?
This sand sculpture was entered into a popular sandcastle contest in British Columbia, Canada, and we're not sure if it won first prize. Still, it won fan favorite in our book. First and foremost, the line work on the outsides of both figures is so clean. They somehow created a razor's edge out of the sand. Not only that, but they went ahead and sculpted real, realistic human facial features on both figures too.
We love the satirical nature of the piece and the author's interpretation of the characters too. He left them holding hands and called the piece "My Better Half" to show that the two truly need each other.
Old Christmas Trees Put to Good Use
A tradition unique to parts of North Carolina comes in early January every year. Residents in beachside homes are asked to drag their Christmas trees out the back of their homes and to please dump them at the edge of the seawall. A few days later, the authorities came and covered the trees with sand to further bolster the seawall and hopefully help prevent coastal erosion.
We see these seawalls every time we go to the beach. But we never had any idea that we were standing on a massive pile of years of Christmas trees!
Glass Ball Lost at Sea Turns Into a Miniature Ecosystem
As the person who posted this picture and their wife strolled along the beach one day, they stumbled upon this mysterious glass orb in the sand. The piece wasn't natural; someone had lost it somewhere. But, in that interim, this little glass ball had developed a life of its own, multiple lives. Somehow, this glass ball became a marine terrarium that barnacles and seaweeds started calling their home.
We definitely see some algae inside the ball. It also looks like we've got a mix of barnacles and razor clams stuck to the outside.
Beware, Beach Hippos Are Hungry
We're not going to lie; at first glance, we thought this was a real hippopotamus rising out of a mud lake. It's not; it's just a sand hippopotamus rising out of a lake of sand. How many hours do you think a sculpture like this took to make? It definitely can't have been quick. However, the fact that they knew to make the hippo come halfway out, and since it looks so good, we doubt this was their first time.
How does one even become a master sand sculptor like this? Do you need to build an adult-sized sandbox in your backyard?
Is That A Smooth Pebble or The World's Smallest Golf Ball?
Science teaches us that nothing in nature is perfectly straight, perfectly round, entirely white, or completely black. We know this all to be true. But our eyes still tell us that this pebble is perfectly round, and you'll have difficulty telling us otherwise. This thing must've tumbled around the waves for a while if it's been eroded to become that smooth. Either that, or it's a stale piece of candy.
To be honest, we're not convinced this is a pebble. It looks a suspicious amount like the core of a golf ball run over by a lawnmower, but we can't be sure either way.
Poor Guy Still Looks Happy, Even As A Skeleton
While on the beach in Mexico, one lucky guy found this blowfish skeleton still intact in the sand. He didn't step on it, and the scavengers had already done a pretty good job of cleaning his new friend up. So, this guy could grab a nice, bleached white, still smiling skeleton of one of the ocean's coolest fish. Most people have never seen one alive, let alone their skeletons, so as we said, we think this is a really cool find.
Blowfish, or pufferfish as you might have heard them called, has more nicknames than almost any other fish in the ocean. They're sometimes called puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, sugar toads, or other fun things.
Bringing a Magnet to the Beach Is Always Interesting
When this woman went down to the beach wearing a few pieces of jewelry, her only worry was whether or not she'd lost anything. She didn't expect her jewelry to start attracting iron flakes out of the sand! But because her bracelet was magnetized, that's exactly what it did. She was shocked because she didn't realize the magnet on her bracelet was so strong. We were shocked because we didn't realize beach sand had that much iron in it!
This beach is not to be confused with an iron sand beach or a black sand beach, which has a much higher composition of iron than this.
This Thing Would Look Incredible Polished Up
We're not sure where these people are swimming, but we want to visit because they seem to find the most incredible things buried in the sand. Here, we see some type of statue holding what looks to be a fish and a snake. We can't be exactly sure about all the rust on the piece. But, hopefully, this person took that thing home and polished it up nicely. It probably was worth a pretty penny after that.
Does anyone have any ideas where this statue could have come from? It was probably being kept near water and then was washed away and into the ocean.
Fossils Found on the Jurassic Coast
The coast of England around Dorset is one of the most geologically important regions of the world. The rocks, sands, and cliff face to be found there showcase millions of years of the earth's history, which is how this region on the channel coast in Southern England earned itself the nickname "The Jurassic Coast." Plus, with everyday hikers showing up and finding fossils like this one, it's pretty easy to see why.
What you see in this picture is the fossil of an ammonite. These marine mollusks are extinct now, but their fossils can be found in many different regions across the globe.
These Natural Stones Can Be Found Around Lake Michigan
We know where these stones came from: it was Lake Michigan. But can anyone explain why they're showing up fluorescent under UV light? That's probably something we should've learned in earth science back in the day, but now we're drawing a blank for what could cause this. Regardless, it's an incredible view and a cool find for these amateur rock hunters. But could those really just be normal rocks?
We did some research, and yes, there are a number of types of rocks that glow under UV light in any number of colors. Are there any geologists out there that can identify these, though?