What is a Sand Dollar?

Don’t you just love Sand Dollars?  It is such a treat to find a “whole” one while walking on the beach hunting for sea shells.  We all know what the sand dollar looks like, they are usually small, white and round, unless they are broken.   So what exactly is a sand dollar?

Before you find them on the beach, when they are alive they are a dark color covered with short dark spines.  The spines on the sand dollar are movable and the sand dollar uses the spines to move around the sea bottom or to push food into their mouth.  

Photo credit TerryMcT photo stream

Sand dollars belong to a family of marine animals that are known as echinoderms, which inhabit all the world's oceans and can live in both the shallow and deep-ocean floor.  Other marine animals in this family are the (starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and feather stars).  They are invertebrates which mean they do not have a spine.  

According to Starfish.ch “Echinoderms are characterized by radial symmetry, several arms (5 or more, mostly grouped 2 left - 1 middle - 2 right) radiating from a central body (= pentamerous). The body actually consists of five equal segments, each containing a duplicate set of various internal organs. They have no heart, brain, nor eyes, but some brittle stars seem to have light sensitive parts on their arms.”

Sand dollars like to live on smooth sandy or muddy ocean bottoms.  They prefer to live in shallow areas near land.  They like to burrow in the sand in heavy currents and even eat sand grains to increase their weight so they don’t get washed away. 

If you find a sand dollar on the beach and it is white then it is a safe bet that the sand dollar is no longer living.  It is best to take the steps to preserve the sand dollar so it will last you for years to come and you won’t have an odor associated with them.

To Preserve and Harden a Sand Dollar:

1- Soak them in fresh water. The water will turn a brownish color and possibly even smell.  It is best to change the water frequently.   Do not go onto step 2 till the water remains clear. 

2- Next soak them in a solution of bleach and water. Let them soak for about 10 minutes.

3- After you remove them from the bleach water, rinse in fresh water and air dry in the sun.  The sun will help bleach the sand dollar. 

If you soak the sand dollars too long in bleach they can crumble.  Bleach weakens a sand dollar so it is best not to soak them more than twice. 

To Harden a Sand Dollar: Mix together white glue and water in equal portions. Take a sponge brush and completely cover the sand dollars with the glue mixture. Then let dry.  After they are preserved and hardened then you can use your sand dollars for decorations or even craft projects.