Sunday 28 February 2021

Misty Mysteries

WARNING: This post may contain poo!

 As the second day of the weekend also turned out sunny (but not as balmy as yesterday), I had no choice but to go outside again.  But this time down to the beach where some misty mysteries lay in wait:

While most of the beach was basking in sunshine, the wet bits and the cliffs weren't

The blazing sun was evaporating water from the moist sand and cliffs at a phenomenal rate

The mist cast an eerie pall as it rolled up the cliffs

I thought it looked like an incoming dust storm in this photo

It didn't look quite as dramatic back west
 
The End-of-the-Line stuck out far enough to be seen

Ack!  People!  I wish they'd been swallowed up by the mist

However, within about fifteen minutes, the mist had pretty much dissipated

At this point, the tide was out about as far as it goes, leaving the chalk beds exposed

Amongst the chalk are numerous fossils - like this belemnite
(that's my index finger, for scale)

There are also plenty of fossilised impressions of skin/scales, sea sponges or sea weed
For scale (because I couldn't be bothered to keep pointing), the belemnite is 4.5cm long
(that's about an inch & three quarters for those of you still living in an imperial world)





This is not the poo.  It's iron pyrite - otherwise known as fool's gold

Here's a close up

A load of belemnites

A fossilised something or other  (vertebrae, maybe?)

Or it could just be a bit of chalk with thousands of little holes in it...

Could this be coprolite?  AKA fossilised poo!

With the mist totally gone by the time I'd finished poking around, this is how Overstrand beach looked

The sea was VERY calm

It could almost be a summer's day - except for the temperature (or lack thereof)

 Previous fossilisation (and less poo) - and a seal! - can be found here.  I hope you all had - and are still having in many cases - a splendid weekend!

13 comments:

  1. Fossil poo! You know how to live the high life.

    It was misty here till after lunch, too, and certainly wasn't sun-on-skin weather like yesterday, unfortunately... Jx

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    1. At least we got the sunshine at the weekend, for a change. Today has been misty, and dull, and cold, and drizzly all day.

      Unlike some of the belemnites (and a shell), I left the poo down on the beach. It wouldn't have gone with my decor, here.

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  2. Those belemnites look like chopped off fingers! That beach looks tempting - well, once the mist burnt off, it did.
    Meanwhile, have you changed your blog font? Something looks different.
    Sx

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    1. Fossilised fingers. How macabre. Still, the beach more than made up for it - it was glorious!

      As for blog fonts, the only one that I've changed recently is the font for photo captions. It's been Spectral for a couple of months or so (when I remember, anyway), otherwise, it's Trebuchet all the way (although, I'm starting to go off it...)

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    2. I had the same thought Ms Scarlet!

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  3. I actually didn't know that was fossilized poo. You are so instructive.
    Although now I have this vreepicr suspicion that bellendites are fosdifossi fingers and not what we thought.
    I won't ask whu you take a tape measure to the beach with you 😘

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    1. Informative and educational - well, occasionally.

      It appears that your dictaphone thingy is on the fritz. Either tha or your fingers have fossilised while you were typing your comment?

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  4. Is that coprolite? If so, from what? (And don't anyone say the obvious!)
    Some of the exposed chalky bits are no unlike the ancient writing of places in the Olde World, like Mesopotamia, Babylon etc.

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    1. Uranus!!!

      Hee hee hee!! (Sorry, I couldn't help it)

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  5. I have missed the ocean among so many things that I've booked a place on the coast to take the family next week. Since the pandemic started we haven't traveled more than five miles from the house. The Covid numbers are fairly low right now and our brains really need the break. I hope to have some fresh new pictures when I get back. I wonder if anything will wash up from Japan. It happens sometimes.

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    1. Oh, I hope you have a wonderful time away from it all! I'm looking forward to seeing your photos already.

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  6. All very 'Billy Budd' with a bit of Mary Anning thrown in.
    Fab photos as always Mr. D.

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Tickle my fancy, why don't you?