Mobile Menu

  • Destinations
    • Canada
      • British Columbia
        • Vancouver Island, B.C.
        • Okanagan
        • Lower Mainland, B.C.
        • Northern B.C.
        • Interior B.C.
        • Kootenays/Rockies
      • Alberta
      • Yukon
      • Northwest Territories
    • U.S.A.
      • Alaska
      • Washington
      • Oregon
      • California
    • West Coast Galleries
  • Experiences
    • Things To Do
    • Staycation Secrets
      • Canada
      • U.S.A.
    • Adventure
      • Adrenaline
      • Beaches
      • Biking
      • Camping
      • Fishing
      • Hiking
      • Hunting and Fishing
      • Rafting
      • Skiing
    • Sip & Savour
    • Family Activities
    • Indigenous Tourism
    • Accessible Travel
    • Travel Tips & Advisories
  • West Coast Galleries
    • Nature Photography
    • Wildlife Photography
    • Cityscapes
  • Contests
    • Hotel Zed Contest
    • It’s A Shore Thing Summer Getaway
    • Camel’s Hump Guest Ranch Getaway
    • Raft. Relax. Recharge
  • About
    • The Armchair Traveller Newsletter
    • Explore our travel guides
    • Impressive West Coast
    • West Coast Partners
    • West Coast Traveller Directory
    • Join Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Explore West Coast Traveller on TikTok
  • Search
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon
  • Flickr Icon
  • Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon
  • Flickr Icon

West Coast Traveller

  • Destinations
    • Canada
      • British Columbia
        • Vancouver Island, B.C.
        • Okanagan
        • Lower Mainland, B.C.
        • Northern B.C.
        • Interior B.C.
        • Kootenays/Rockies
      • Alberta
      • Yukon
      • Northwest Territories
    • U.S.A.
      • Alaska
      • Washington
      • Oregon
      • California
    • West Coast Galleries
  • Experiences
    • Things To Do
    • Staycation Secrets
      • Canada
      • U.S.A.
    • Adventure
      • Adrenaline
      • Beaches
      • Biking
      • Camping
      • Fishing
      • Hiking
      • Hunting and Fishing
      • Rafting
      • Skiing
    • Sip & Savour
    • Family Activities
    • Indigenous Tourism
    • Accessible Travel
    • Travel Tips & Advisories
  • West Coast Galleries
    • Nature Photography
    • Wildlife Photography
    • Cityscapes
  • Contests
    • Hotel Zed Contest
    • It’s A Shore Thing Summer Getaway
    • Camel’s Hump Guest Ranch Getaway
    • Raft. Relax. Recharge
  • About
    • The Armchair Traveller Newsletter
    • Explore our travel guides
    • Impressive West Coast
    • West Coast Partners
    • West Coast Traveller Directory
    • Join Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Explore West Coast Traveller on TikTok
  • Search
You are here: Home / Travel / The peculiar life of Vancouver Island’s Pacific sand dollar

Pacific sand dollars are a local species which belong to the same group as sea urchins. While alive, they are covered entirely by thousands of densely packed, short and slender spikes. (Photo courtesy of Louise Page)

The peculiar life of Vancouver Island’s Pacific sand dollar

May 18, 2021 //  by Black Press Media Staff

Share this:

Sand dollar exoskeletons are often collected along the beaches of Vancouver Island, but one might not realize that prior to washing up on shore came an entire curious lifetime.

Pacific sand dollars are a local species which belong to the same group as sea urchins. While alive, they are covered by thousands of densely packed, short and slender spikes. Unlike their sharp, unapproachable, long-spiked sea urchin relatives, sand dollars have a more velvet-like covering.

“The entire surface of a sand dollar is covered by its skin, all of the spikes even have a very thin layer of skin,” said Louise Page, who teaches invertebrate biology and marine biology at the University of Victoria. “When they die, the skin decomposes, the muscles attaching the spines decompose and the spines fall off. So when you pick a dead sand dollar up on the beach, it’s a white disk and you can no longer see the little spikes.”

The spines of a sand dollar allow them to move, and bury themselves under sand and mud. The spines wave back and forth, which pulls their body in and out of the sand.

READ MORE: Long-lost BC orca pod returns home for first time in more than 20 years

The beautiful flower shaped pattern you see on a dead sand dollar, is a pattern revealing where specialized gills once attached.

“The flower pattern marks the point where specialized gills extend to the surface for gas exchange. It’s how they breathe,” said Page.

Pacific sand dollars are a local species which belong to the same group as sea urchins. While alive, they are covered entirely by thousands of densely packed, short and slender spikes. (Photo courtesy of Louise Page)

Sand dollars have a rather bland diet – in a human’s opinion – feeding primarily on, you may have guessed it… sand. To be more specific, they eat and digest grains of sand, but each grain is coated with a film of organic matter, which provides nourishment for their little bodies.

“An interesting thing about Pacific sand dollars, which is very unusual, is that they will also stand up… and then when water flows past them, they can capture small zooplankton in the water and feed on it,” noted Page.

Life out there as a larvae in the big ocean is risky, to say the least. The larvae of sand dollars don’t look anything like their adult self, said Page, and the time until metamorphosis generally takes about four to six weeks.

READ MORE: Divers make their mark on the Alberni Inlet

When it comes time to undergo metamorphosis, the larvae will settle on the sand, and from there, a sand dollar pops out of the left side of its juvenile body. The rest of the larvae body then degenerates.

Essentially, after being whisked around in the ocean for weeks, the fortunate larvae will smell adults of the same species, and then settle at that site.

“Where adult sand dollars are living is a great place for the juniors to recruit into. This is because there is a species of tube-dwelling crustaceans called ‘tanaids’ in the sand, which feed on newly metamorphosed sand dollars,” said Page.

“It turns out that the burrowing activity of adult sand dollars, who tend to live in beds, break up the tubs of these tanaids – and exclude the tanaids from that area. So now it’s a much safer place for little juvenile sand dollars to survive.”

Plan your future adventures throughout the West Coast at westcoasttraveller.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @thewestcoasttraveller. And for the top West Coast Travel stories of the week delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our weekly Armchair Traveller newsletter!

Share this:

Category: TravelTag: British Columbia Destinations, Salish Sea, Things to Do in Vancouver Island, Wildlife

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Life-sized sculptures bring ‘the wild’ to downtown Victoria

Things will get wild on the streets of Victoria this month with life-sized driftwood animal…

Life-sized sculptures bring ‘the wild’ to downtown VictoriaRead More

Travel on the Fly: Snowbirds, beautiful blooms + other spring delights

Spring’s arrival brings more than longer, sunnier days coaxing leaves from the trees. It’s the…

Travel on the Fly: Snowbirds, beautiful blooms + other spring delightsRead More

Where is California’s ‘hardest to book’ campground? Not in a famous park

California has one campground among the nation’s 10 most difficult to book, according to a…

Where is California’s ‘hardest to book’ campground? Not in a famous parkRead More

Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to go cashless on entry fees and camping

By Jared Gendron, The News Tribune Beginning May 26, Mount Rainier National Park will only…

Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to go cashless on entry fees and campingRead More

What to bring on a hike: WCT Travel Guide

Knowing what to bring on a hike can make all the difference between a wonderful…

What to bring on a hike: WCT Travel GuideRead More

You could spend a lifetime paddling here! Endless kayaking adventures await on southern Vancouver Island

Southern Vancouver Island is a world-class kayaking destination, with options along its endless, meandering coastline…

You could spend a lifetime paddling here! Endless kayaking adventures await on southern Vancouver IslandRead More

Travel on the Fly: A slushy good time spring skiing; Mountain-top beer festivities+ more!

From a Kootenay Beer Festival to a slushy end to a long, snowy spring ski…

Travel on the Fly: A slushy good time spring skiing; Mountain-top beer festivities+ more!Read More

Golden’s boy Boo boogies out of bed

The first day of spring isn’t officially until March 20, but for residents of Golden,…

Golden’s boy Boo boogies out of bedRead More

Take an Alberta roadtrip in the footsteps of ‘The Last of Us’

The HBO TV series The Last of Us has not only made many Albertans proud…

Take an Alberta roadtrip in the footsteps of ‘The Last of Us’Read More

Previous Post: « Mama duck thwarts eagle’s dive for duckling dinner
Next Post: Donations fuel successful Lonesome Lake purchase by BC Parks Foundation »

Primary Sidebar

Things To Do

Life-sized sculptures bring ‘the wild’ to downtown Victoria

March 22, 2023

Travel on the Fly: Snowbirds, beautiful blooms + other spring delights

March 21, 2023

Where is California’s ‘hardest to book’ campground? Not in a famous park

March 21, 2023

Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to go cashless on entry fees and camping

March 21, 2023

Recent Posts

Life-sized sculptures bring ‘the wild’ to downtown Victoria

March 22, 2023

Travel on the Fly: Snowbirds, beautiful blooms + other spring delights

March 21, 2023

Where is California’s ‘hardest to book’ campground? Not in a famous park

March 21, 2023

Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to go cashless on entry fees and camping

March 21, 2023

Footer

The West Coast Traveller has an immense social media footprint, with eight social media sites and and 125,000+ social followers.

Join us on social media and Join Our Community by sharing your stuff!

Get Inspired

News Media Groups

Black Press Media
Sound Publishing
Oahu Media Group
Alaska
Boulevard Magazines
Used.ca

Let’s Get Social

West Coast Traveller
I Love British Columbia
I Love Alberta
I Love Yukon
I Love Northwest Territories
I Love Washington
I Love California
I Love Oregon
I Love Alaska

Visit Our Companion Sites

I Love Saskatchewan
I Love Manitoba
I Love Nunavut
I Love Ontario
I Love Quebec
I Love Newfoundland and Labrador
I Love Nova Scotia
I Love New Brunswick
I Love Prince Edward Island

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon

Copyright © 2023 West Coast Traveller and · All Rights Reserved