discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 37not an egg, as is often thought, but an egg
case. At this time of the year, many get
torn from their anchorages and it’s often
possible to find an egg case containing
living occupants (live egg masses tend to
have a more yellowy colouration).
Hold an egg case up to the light (or use
a torch to backlight them) and you should
be able to make out the silhouettes of
the developing snails within. Each case is
packed with minuscule eggs and, depending
on the size of the snails that laid them,
can contain anything from 80 eggs up to
several thousand.
Only about one per cent of them hatch
into snails. Within each egg case they go
through the various larval stages, safe from
the outside world. Once the juveniles are
1-3mm long, they’re close to hatching and
can easily be seen in the eggs. The surplus
eggs aren’t wasted; they’re ‘nurse eggs’ to be
consumed by the baby snails – an important
part of their nutrition that allows them to
hatch as fully formed, active snails.
Most egg cases washed up on the
shoreline contain dehydrated juveniles and
give a rather sad rattle when shaken. If
you do discover a wash ball containing live
whelks, however, give them a chance and
return them to the sea!“Hold an egg case up to the
light and you might make
out the silhouettes of the
developing snails within”
LOOK CLOSER
There are several other related members
of the whelk family whose eggs can be
found on the shore. With a bit of scrutiny
in some of the darkest crevices you can
find the egg masses of sting winkles.
These are laid individually but in clusters,
each egg case looking a little like a
golden ampule or flattened, translucent
hip flask. Dog whelk eggs can also be
found. They’re yellowy white and bottle-
shaped, and are also laid in clusters,
usually on rock overhangs.Identify the eggs you
find on the beachWhelks are carnivores and hunt a variety of
molluscs and worms. They also scavenge.
Both behaviours are exploited by fishermen.ILLUSTRATIONSBY^ PETERDAVIDSCOTT/THEARTAGENCYThe golden eggs
of the sting winkle
or oyster drill