One of the joys of having time to wander along the beach, as we did this morning, is spotting interesting things which have been washed up - like this large vertebra found in the mess of seaweed and other flotsam on the upper beach. It's large, about 3" across, and it's soft, so not solid bone.
It seems likely that it's from the spine of the juvenile basking shark which was washed up a couple of hundred metres further up the beach, below Dunrobin Castle, last September. The picture shows it in mid-October when decomposition was advanced - much, I'm sure, to the enjoyment of the tourists visiting the castle.
One of the joys of having time to wander along the beach, as we did this morning, is spotting interesting things which have been washed up - like this large vertebra found in the mess of seaweed and other flotsam on the upper beach. It's large, about 3" across, and it's soft, so not solid bone.
Yes, that makes sense. Fish have bony skeletons, as do whales and other mamals, however the skeleton of sharks and rays are made of cartilage.
ReplyDelete