I will be going to the seashore in a few months and I’m wondering if posting pictures of seashells is ok. I mean there isn’t life, but there was once lived in them.
I think its perfectly fine to do so. I have a few observations of bivalves and the like. eg. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30366984
Subtle differences in the shell colours, patterns, textures etc can help to distinguish different species I think.
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Absolutely fine - as are eggshells, nests, dead plants, animal tracks, scat, snakeskins - all recent evidence of an organism.
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It helps a lot to get photos of both sides.
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absolutely. just like its okay to post bones. obviously only post shells that you find in the wild, or mark tourist store shells as captive/cultivated if you do post them. but yeah thats totally valid, i try to do it every time im at a beach.
try to get detailed pictures, multiple angles.
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Oh, I forgot bones in my list. Agree!
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I record empty shells regularly. Sometimes a hermit crab might’ve taken up residence inside, especially if the shell is in a rock pool, so you can add the crab obs as well :-)
If you record the shell species (no animal inside), you can add the Observation Field: ‘Animal Sign and Song’ and choose shell/exoskeleton from the drop down list.
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Not only do I post thousands of iNaturalist observations of empty seashells, but I have published many papers in malacological journals based entirely or almost entirely on empty shells.
When on a beach, also be sure to make observations of all the different seaweeds, crab shells, and whatever else you can find that has washed up.
Enjoy!
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Thank you all!
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