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Jekyll Island has endless natural beauty to offer guests. With over 10 miles of stunning beaches, you’re sure to get a glimpse of sand dollars, hermit crabs, and starfish. Please remember to admire these creatures on the beach, but do not take them home. Removing wildlife from it’s natural habitat destroys the fragile ecosystem of our coastlines.
When a sand dollar dies, its skeleton (called a test) will often wash onto shore. At times these tests appear without the velvety coating and have been naturally bleached. This is what you want to collect. Sand dollars do not have legs or fins leading many young minds to ask how they can move. They are able to move around because of the many spines covering their bodies. Next time you gather one; take a close look at the body. If there appears to be fine hairs (called cilia) covering the body, and these hairs seem to move, then you have a live sand dollar. Please do not collect this one, but rather let it thrive.If it is low tide or the tide is going out, you can help this beautiful creature by placing it on the ocean’s sandy bottom. When doing this please be careful to place it bottom side down.
