Holden Beach, North Carolina is a SHELLER'S PARADISE!

As a result of recent offshore dredging and beach re-nourishment, Holden Beach, North Carolina has been quite the popular destination for sheller's and beachcombers. I have heard quite a bit about this location over the past year, and wanted to check it out for myself! I hope you enjoy coming along for this experience!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

It appears that fossilized Sea Biscuit at 18:31 is referred to as Hardouinia mortonis. Additional information can be found here: www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/122544-age-of-fossilized-sea-biscuit/

[@zhangyu9006]

yes, sea biscuit

[@beckycaudill998]

They are fairly common here in north central Florida on the gulf coast. I love finding them and fossilized sand dollars too.

[@beckycaudill998]

The Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville has a very nice collection of echinoids.

[@Gasp7000]

@@beckycaudill998 I’ve never found fossilized shells on the gulf side, but I have in the east side on Hutchinson Island.

[@jandamc]

I'm so glad others have mentioned the sea biscuits for you - they are the holy grail at Holden. Right after dredging last year we were finding hundreds of them. If you have a chance to go back when it's not so cold, scooping in the water, knee high, provides excellent results! We have better luck there than we did when we went to Sanibel

[@solaceinshelling6552]

I would definitely love to get back to this place sometime in the future - good advice re: scooping in the water! Thanks for watching!

[@genehorton8089]

If you had gone to the East End there is a dip and larger shells roll in. Love Holden shelling. Cindy in NC

[@user-ef7qx6xy5u]

What a beautiful beach

[@janetknight9978]

Thank you so much for taking us to all the great beaches we won't get to. Your videos are great!

[@DebbyCastrillo]

Love the fossilized Sea Biscuit! I've found several fossilized large scallops on SW Florida beaches. Thanks for sharing your NC trip!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@jkperdue1109]

Love seeing your doggy with you, well trained. Great showing today. And really interesting info on the Seabiscuit.

[@marie-sophie4]

This was such a fun shelling adventure in NC ! I was so excited when you found all these olives and the channel whelks ! Also love when Yuki is with you she is the most beautiful friend ! ❤️🐚🐚

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks so much for watching! Yuki is a sweetie, for sure 🐕💙

[@denisesorchidparadise1411]

I just love that little piece of gray coral!

[@wendygamble3935]

Great finds! I enjoyed your walk! Thanks

[@beautifulflorida]

Beautiful shells! Amazing video! Thank you very much for shearing!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thank you for watching, friend!

[@janetknight9978]

Beautiful video and naration. You are one of the best. I lived in Jupiter for several years and just love rewatching your incredible first? video on the east coast. So happy for you to have that bonanza day.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hi friend, your positive feedback means a lot to me. The Palm Beach video you are referencing is apparently a legacy on my channel... I did not intend it to be that, lol! I love shelling in SE Florida! Thanks so much for watching this episode(and the other episodes)!

[@rachelleandrichard]

You take us to some amazing beaches. Thanks for great content. Rachelle, Australia 🐚

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hi friend, thank you so much for watching! I appreciate the solid feedback.

[@robinsegnitz3649]

I love that you visited Holden Beach! That was a Sea Biscuit fossil that you found, a very nice specimen! Thank you for sharing your shell searches with us!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hi friend, thanks so much for watching! I really enjoyed this quick trip to Holden! 🐚

[@lili8367]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful NC beach trip!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@cathyjillard4927]

so fun to walk along Holden Beach, thanks for taking us with you. I was there last summer and found so many beautiful olives, babies ears, fossilized sea biscuits and shark eyes, although the shark eyes were a little damaged. I started my walk at the water tower and went to the point. So beautiful up there and so many shells for my first time back to the ocean to shell since 2019. Thanks for enduring the chill.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hi friend, thank you so much for watching - Holden is a gem for sure!

[@roamingwiththemilligans]

I’ve watched so many of your videos and just saw you were in our town!! We live in Holden and we love watching your videos!!! It was amazing to see you here and finding all our favorite finds! I am going to post a few of my shelling/shark tooth hunts soon on our page and we have some of Cape Lookout also.. you have to make Cape Lookout, NC a stop next time!

[@juliamaul7334]

Love this beach! ❤❤❤ Beautiful!!!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching!

[@fredamoore1743]

Sweet trip to Holden. I love the sea biscuit. Got that one on my bucket list. So many Florida shells, woo hoo! Didn't use to have shells like that on Holden so I'm sure it's from the dredging. My favorite was the bittersweets. Thanks for the adventure.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

I LOVE the Bittersweets, too - I was actually shocked to find them here! Thanks for watching!

[@lisasparkman2924]

I was wondering what it would be like up a little farther north and obviously it is great! Thanks for another great trip

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching!

[@marykimbrough3584]

Very cool finds. I live in NC and have been shelling at Topsail beach for over 20 years, I have mostly scallops and lots of shark teeth.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching!

[@rremm4917]

I live in NC and this is so cool. Love the video

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks so much for watching, friend!

[@shellstories]

Amazing finds! I'm not too surprised that you found that there were already so many people out there so early in the morning, considering how much attention that beach has been getting. I did some shelling further up the coast on the crystal coast recently and had the beach all to myself before sunrise every time. I guess all the NC shellers went to Holden, LOL. From my understanding, when they were doing the dredging a fossil layer was hit and that's helped all those really cool sea biscuits wash up there. Man, that true tulip would have been a stunner, but it's still cool to see evidence of their existence so far north. Well done as always!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

I LOVE your NC content! Honestly I'd love to get to the Outer Banks area sometime, but just have to find a way to fit it all in, haha! This trip to Holden was somewhat impromptu(driving back from Florida during the holidays), but I had to make a stop, because of all of the hype I've heard, lol. Agreed on the Tulip - it was like, red! Thanks for watching, friend!

[@DeborahHiggins-iu7hv]

I LIVED in Avon NC several years ago on the beach front , I loved going down ever day, morning, noon and night. I found d my soul, looking for shells and driftwood. I now live in New Hampshire a few miles from the beach. I go often, but of course the finds arent even close to Avon North Carolina. Wish I could go. Back for a great shelling week.

[@glendabadders5714]

Can’t believe you didn’t get any of the sea biscuits. They are so cool. You will have to go back.😊 glad you had a good time. NC beach’s are beautiful. Enjoy your channel.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Interestingly, I didn't realize what they were, and how old they are until I returned home and did some research. They are amazing! I wish I would have grabbed more, lol!

[@tonistephic]

Thank you for sharing all the beaches you so us. Beautiful limpet, the olives vary in sizes. Looks like you had a good time. The one shell looked a lot like a sanddollar but it will be nice to find out the name of it. Thank you and have a great day.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

It was such an exciting beach walk - thanks for watching!

[@user-dx4xu9oq5u]

My uncle lives on Holden, and i just got back from there celebrating his 95th birthday. It is true what you say. I found tons of sea biscuits along with whelks, scallops, olives, and shark teeth. The only other beach that surpasses this was Sanibel Island.

[@user-kc2vp1gw5w]

Να ν

[@RHODOAN]

The East end of Holden at low tide is likely the best place to find unbroken, perfect shells.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Will definitely have to check this area out, if I can make it back! Thanks for watching!

[@dianesalvato3078]

Thanks for taking us to a new beach. Those channel whelks are so pretty. Did you pick up that baby’s ear that was next to the nutmeg?

[@felixzapata9058]

...instantly recognized the sea biscuit but now my head is full of horse racing trivia...lol...not a matter, though...but, thanx for letting me tag along on another wonderful adventure shelling!!!...in 4k, of course....lol...

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for coming along, friend! 4K is the way to go 🤣

[@guadalupeknippen528]

The shelling is nice where you are. The sunrise 🌅 at 7a.m. is beautiful. 🥰🐕

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks so much for watching! 🌅

[@Wentletrap213]

5 of 7 in the morning. Yes, NC is VERY competitive. Holden is awesome!

[@cathyjay2569]

What a gorgeous haul! But the prettiest thing on that beach, hands down, was Yuki! I’m in love with your baby!♥️TN Nana

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Aww, melting my heart! Thanks for watching, friend! 🐕🐚

[@Monicacride]

@Solace, That was so beautiful! Great finds! What kind of dog do you have?? She’s so precious 😍🐚🐚 Thanks for sharing. I know you’re enjoying your trip. Zig zagging along the coasts. 🥰

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hello! Yuki is an American Akita 🐶 Thanks for watching!

[@joycebarbour1602]

This was my childhood haunt during the summer one week every August. My perfect retirement place now.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

It is so beautiful here. Thanks so much for watching!

[@user-ho6gn9kd7k]

If you like finding Bittersweets, head up to Navarre Beach. We normally do our shelling in Southwest Florida from Siesta Key to Marco Island. At Navarre we found several shells in abundance that we don't usually find down south -- Bittersweets, Imperial Venus, Queen's Helmet, Scotch Bonnet, and some of the largest Augers I've ever seen.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Someday I'll get up to the panhandle! Thanks for watching!

[@merriezahra8747]

How fun was that. Love the sea biscuit.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching!

[@Gasp7000]

Since that “sea biscuit” urchin is heavy, then it is possibly a fossilized one, fossilized, meaning, the shells get filled with sand and harden into rock over time. Down at the cliff wall 1/2 mi north of the “dog Beach” on Hutchinson Island just south of the nuclear plant (which is just off of the beach) a lot of fossil shells are found. It’s a bit of a hike up from the dog beach parking lot, but you can shell the water’s edge all the way up the shoreline, so it’s pretty fun. There are restrooms at the parking lot and a hose for washing sand off. My husband and I really enjoyed digging fossil shells out of the cliff wall, which can get as high as 10’ in most spots. The wall is about 1/2-mi long and it is not really a populated spot on the beach. North beyond the plant, there is no more wall, so our guide-friend said, so we didn’t venture beyond that.

[@nikoletastavropoulou5515]

Beautiful beach with lot a beautiful shell.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thank you for watching, friend!

[@nikoletastavropoulou5515]

@@solaceinshelling6552 you're welcome

[@sandierads4223]

Those are sea biscuits and they are millions of years old. That’s why everyone flocked to Holden Beach last year because the biscuits were coming in. I hope you kept it! We drove from Massachusetts last year to get down there before I can’t walk anymore and we were able to find a few, and I fell in love with that beach. Hopefully someday I will be able to figure out my health and how to get back to doing what I love…shelling!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hi friend, thanks so much for sharing your insight. I was super stoked to find out that these biscuits were so old, and part of an offshore fossil bed - it's really so cool! I hope you are able to find a way to get back to Holden and enjoy a wonderful shelling experience! 💙

[@sandierads4223]

@@solaceinshelling6552 thank you for your kind words. Your channel has truly brought me solace as I battle these diseases in my spine and long term Covid. I’m forever grateful to be able to come along on your adventures. Thank you for taking all of us along, I’m sure I am not the only one that you have helped get to the beach when we can’t do it ourselves. Any ocean is definitely my calm place.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

@@sandierads4223 🐚🌊

[@Gasp7000]

Sandy Rads…I am going through Long Covid as well, plus Shingles and profound fatigue and it’s so hard that it interferes with my greatest joys at the beach, shelling. I’d do anything to get back to the beach and never leave again. I really appreciate these wonderful videos for that reason as well, such great beach therapy! I’ve learned about F. prausnitzii damage from Covid helps and am hoping restoring it will help restore my strength again-I just hate being away from the beach to shell! God bless you in your healing!

[@deniseyoung5385]

The heavy thing is a fossil! It’s a type of sand dollar. I think it is called sea biscuit or something like that. I have seen them for sale in rock shops. I’m putting this beach on my list. Looks great! North Carolina was really nice when I was there.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thank you so much for watching, friend!

[@Katherine-rq8mk]

Imagine my surprise when I saw you visiting Holden Beach NC! Family summer vacation for many years (up to my teens in the 70's). Didn't like it much then cuz not much to do for a teenager except smoke weed and shell with my yearly friends. It's where I found most of my wentletrap

[@solaceinshelling6552]

This place is spectacularly gorgeous. Thanks so much for watching!

[@SWFBeachLife]

I have to get up there. I’d fill my bag with shark eyes and baby ears! PS - I’m loving the new intro!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hi friend, you would love this place... I am sure! Thanks so much for the great feedback on the intro, I appreciate that. Thanks as always for watching!

[@kozlinda]

solace indeed. thank you ❤️

[@solaceinshelling6552]

🐚💙 Thanks for watching!

[@graciehood2308]

The shells today are beautiful and of course a hello and ear scratch to most beautiful Yuki love seeing her

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Yuki says, woof!

[@abbybristow2025]

Awesome video. I love shelling and digging through piles of shells just like you did here. What part of Holden Beach did you venture to? I hear the East End is prime for shelling.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

I started walking at the Pier and headed north. It was my first time visiting, so I just headed out and explored! Thanks so much for watching!

[@tracyp69]

I would LOVE to be able to find smaller moons and shark eyes here on my beach in MA. They're all huge.... which isn't a bad thing, but I wish there were a few smaller ones here and there!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Interesting observation re: Mass shells - I find smaller Northern Moon snails occasionally in Maine, so I know they are out there!

[@sgbarton6308]

LOVE your videos!! Have you ever shelled on Cape Cod, MA?? I’m heading there this summer & would love to know where to go to find shells (& sea glass?). Thanks!!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

I have never shelled on Cape Cod so I am not sure of the best spots there, but I have heard shelling can be good, especially after a storm. I have shelled once in Nantucket Bay, and it was pretty good! Good luck on your adventure, and thanks for watching!

[@thebexcomplex]

Nice sea biscuit score!!!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Sweet score! Thanks for watching!

[@ashxkitty8332]

im going there today!

[@pennycox2658]

We have had a house on Holden Beach since the early 1980’s. We are on Seaview Drive on the West End.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

This place is really beautiful. I throughly enjoyed my quick stop here!

[@barbridingsTheResinator]

Yay! Hi Yuki!! woof

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Woof! Thanks for watching! 🐶

[@graciehood2308]

The heavy shell you found is extremely old it is a fossilized Sea Biscuit sand dollar family they did some dredging on Holden beach about a year ago there were thousands of them on the beach very nice find and in decent shape

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks so much for the ID! It's so cool to be able to see these here 🐚

[@bebofrazier5690]

Fossilized Seabiscuit for that heavy one! ❤

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching!

[@rickshannon2044]

That's an ancient petrified sea biscuit, and are one of why Holden is famous. People dig for them.

[@Merlijnvv]

The camera is moving a lot, but besides from Lamarcka imbricata shells, it looks like Anadara brasiliana valves are everywhere on the beach. Anadara brasiliana is north Caribbean. And the species in Brazil, South Caribbean, is called Anadara corrugata. Much confusion in the past, even nowadays identification often goes south... yes, Anadara brasiliana at 8:33. And 9:07 for two seconds you can see Lunarca ovalis, the oval grey valve. Lunarca ovalis also 9:52 the largest valve on the screen. 18:39 looks like a fossil sea urchin. The entire state of Florida had been a coral reef for millions of years, until the Pleistocene. Then it dried up. Meters of piled up reef fossils.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hi friend, thanks so much for the valuable historical insight here, and the ID's! And, thanks for watching!

[@cdog71593]

I found a bunch of ww2 45 caliber shells last time I visited back in 2018 now I’m here currently in 2024 and haven’t found any but have found many sea biscuits haha

[@connieheitz8982]

My mom's favorite was the olives.

[@cindywhite9115]

that big heavy round thing is called a sea biscuit

[@trishbrown6026]

I am currently at Holden Beach, facing the water , did you travel to the left of the pier?

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Hello, I hope you were able to find your way here and get some goodies! I went left from the pier and walked a couple miles. Thanks for watching!

[@graciehood2308]

I hope you kept your sea biscuit they are prehistoric they are if I read correctly 300 million years old

[@solaceinshelling6552]

I did!

[@pamdennis1007]

The thing that looked like sand dollar, is a sea biscuit.

[@niaid3711]

i am from indonesia, this is have very very muchs

[@patifagan6774]

Kool you brought your dog

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching, friend! 🐶

[@cindywhite9115]

They look for the big welk shells

[@abigailhowes5944]

You found what we used to calla sea biscuit, and it is fossilized. That is why it is so heavy.

[@monicaeaton8860]

Everyone is going to holden for the sea biscuits!! People are traveling near and far just for them…

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Agreed, and those biscuits are just sooo cool! Thanks for watching! 🐚

[@christinamoore2790]

Its the sharks teeth and sea biscuits that draw people early.....the teeth are a plenty!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Great info to know! In the time since I have visited Holden, I have discovered just how unique and ancient those Sea Biscuits are - amazing!

[@theoasis6095]

hey somewhere I live.

[@justBEingjada]

We call those things sea biscuits the one you were saying was heavy

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching, friend!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching, friend!

[@callicordova4066]

I find solace in shelling.

[@solaceinshelling6552]

We share this. Thanks so much for watching!💙🐚

[@JanetShephard]

Very old fossil seabiscuit every one looking for them

[@JoAnnSmith-bu9nl]

sea biscuit

[@debbiegolomb704]

Sea Biscuit

[@gaylescovel7308]

Yt failed to notify me! Shame on them!

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Haha! Thanks as always, for watching! 🐚

[@cathyscism1817]

It's a Seabiscuit

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching!

[@jodeerochelle3370]

You all do know there are other beaches to go shelling at. Why do you all need 5 million sea biscuits?

[@lisapolk5263]

Sea bidcuit

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thanks for watching!

[@jodeerochelle3370]

Also people COVER UP YOUR HOLES!!!

[@ashxkitty8332]

i want to find shark teeth

[@AIGeneratedBITCoinApproved]

Seashells are very bad luck, I hope you leave them on the beach and sea where they belong, you should never bring them into your home.

[@dottiehelton2975]

It’s a Seabiscuit

[@solaceinshelling6552]

Thank you so much for watching!