Countless Giant Conch Shells Wash Onto Atlantic City, NJ, Beach

This is the Jersey shore. Well, here in Atlantic County, our beaches are an extension of it, anyway.

It's not a huge shock when you find random shells, debris, and other weird items wash up along the beaches here in the Garden State. Usually, they're all easily identifiable. Shells wash up by the dozen, if not hundreds at a time. You might spot a few hermit crabs. You might even come across a horseshoe crab occasionally, too.

There are, however, certain occurrences in which something will wash ashore that can't be identified right away. I can't speak for anyone else, but I didn't go to college for that. I'm that last one to consider myself as knowledgeable as a marine biologist. So, what do we do if we discover something weird or odd has washed up onto our favorite NJ beach? Well, we head to social media, of course!

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It seems we have a situation over on the beach near Convention Hall in Atlantic City. There are countless conch shells in the sand at the moment, along with the remnants of quite a few horseshoe crabs.

To spot one of these every once in a while isn't exactly newsworthy, but a scene like this is a different story.

According to the Facebook page "Scan AtlanticCity," the shells run all along the beach beginning at Convention Hall and continue all the way along the beach in front of the Tropicana. That's a decent stretch of sand.

I can't speak to what phenomenon occurred to make them wash up along the beach like that. My best guess is it's probably because of the harsh waves and the weather patterns we've been experiencing lately.

What I can say with confidence, however, is that these are likely whelk shells rather than conches. Whelks, although similar, are not actually the same as conches. In fact, after doing some research, you'll discover that New Jersey doesn't actually have any conch shells at all. Those big shells that wash up on the beach may resemble conches, but they're actually whelks.

Take a look at the pics and let us know what you think!