Mermaid Purses

As we walked along the beaches in Rhode Island, we saw hard, black sharp things lying in the sand. I picked up a couple of them. They were hard like plastic and sharp enough to tear my skin. I wondered if they were part of a plant or an animal. We probably saw a hundred of them near the high tide mark on the shore. Later we went to a US Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Inside the museum was a children's table with stuff found on the beach and a book to look up what each item was. Turns out these sharp, hard plastic-like things are fondly called mermaid purses. Actually, they are an egg case from a skate, a ray, or a shark. The mermaid purses we saw are from a skate. I didn't know what a skate was so I had to look that up. Skates look like rays. I picked up the mermaid purse (egg case) again. I looked at it closely. As a mother, all I can say is, "OUCH!"