# What was this thing on the beach? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514 "2008-03-16T01:37:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/21 "2008-03-18T03:31:02Z")
[QUOTE=runner pat] Whatever you do; [DON’T pick it up!](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/phil-harris-the-thing-lyrics.html)😃 [/QUOTE] My Spysweeper blocked access to that website. That almost never happens, so I regard it as a bad omen. Does that make the above a bad post? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/22 "2008-03-18T04:07:22Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Sort of, take those, make the body narrower and white instead of black, make the rooty fringe pale brown and you’re close too. I like saying rooty fringe. [/QUOTE] [This is kelp](http://www.mortalspaces.com/illuminations/textureproject/texturejpgs/kelp.jpg), too, but you can’t see any “rooty fringe.” I just can’t google-fu anything else that matches your description. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/23 "2008-03-18T12:42:57Z")
I think I may have seen what you’re talking about. When all dried out, it looks kind of like a bunch of poker chips on a string or something. If that’s the case, I believe it’s the vertebrae of some sea creature who’s name escapes me. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/24 "2008-03-18T13:27:46Z")
[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl] [This is kelp](http://www.mortalspaces.com/illuminations/textureproject/texturejpgs/kelp.jpg), too, but you can’t see any “rooty fringe.” I just can’t google-fu anything else that matches your description. [/QUOTE] That’s much closer! Does kelp have a skeleton like inside? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/25 "2008-03-18T13:40:33Z")
Could they be [conch eggs](http://globalflyfisher.com/slideshow/run.php?c=mexico3003mj&s=10) ? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/26 "2008-03-18T13:53:30Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] The normal English plural, FWIW, is _penises_. There are a few technical usages for which _penes_ is preferable, but either is normally correct; in common speech _penes_ appears affected, as if showing off pedantry. [/QUOTE] But _penii_ is never correct. And neither is _octopi_. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/27 "2008-03-18T14:34:41Z")
[QUOTE=Crotalus] Could they be [conch eggs](http://globalflyfisher.com/slideshow/run.php?c=mexico3003mj&s=10) ? [/QUOTE] Nope, but I’ll say that those are pretty cool looking. I’m beginning to think that I got all excited over normal everyday kelp. Sometimes they shouldn’t let midwesterners travel. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/28 "2008-03-18T23:36:38Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] And neither is _octopi_. [/QUOTE] Noooo! That is my favorite! Can I still say hippopotami? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/29 "2008-03-18T23:54:50Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Nope, but I’ll say that those are pretty cool looking. I’m beginning to think that I got all excited over normal everyday kelp. Sometimes they shouldn’t let midwesterners travel. [/QUOTE] Actually, I’m not too sure it was kelp either. My guess is it was likely some type of seaweed, quite possibly Sargassum (washed in from the Sargasso Sea in the middle of the Atlantic), but I’m not sure. And just because it’s ordinary algae, doesn’t mean it isn’t fascinating. Biological diversity is such an interesting topic to start with. I enjoyed trying to figure it out, though; sort of like a Google treasure hunt. _quietly wishing I’d stuck to it in school and followed my youthful dreams_ ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/30 "2008-03-21T15:06:44Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] But _penii_ is never correct. And neither is _octopi_. [/QUOTE] You mean that _pi_ is not the plural of _pus_? And \*i \* is not the plural of _us_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514.md?page=1)