Calling All Bone Collectors
I was hiking the Basin Trail yesterday afternoon and found what I believe to be a set of weird bones.
The Basin Trail is an out-and-back that takes you on a nice walk through the marshland near Fort Fisher and Kure Beach.
The first part of this trail is heavily canoped and takes you through a swampy area in the shadow of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.
You then emerge into some nice open marshland where you can spot plenty of sea birds like egrets, pelicans, and herons.
It was interesting to see the effects of Hurricane Matthew in that the marsh reeds and beach grass were aligned in the way the water flowed. I'm quite certain that the entire trail was fully submerged during that storm! And there were all kinds of items mixed in with the ubiquitous piles of reeds. Bottles, plastic, flip flops, firework rocket tops, shoe inner soles, and many other items.
After passing by and photographing the old WWII bunker made famous by Robert Harrill - the The Fort Fisher Hermit (look for my upcoming Steemit post on this topic), I found some strange bones.
Well, at least I think they are bones.
First, I found this one:
Then this one:
And finally this grouping:
I've spent a fair amount of time Googling to try and figure out what they are, but to no avail. Hopefully a fellow Steemian will be able to solve this mystery!
All images, except the first one, @cognoscere (Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS)
Those are all parts of a sea turtle. The fan is a scapula, or shoulder bone. The paddle is a rib. And those spiky things are the plastron, the part that makes the shell underneath the turtle. Goodbye, sea turtle.
Thanks @haphazard-hstead, 1 SBD headed your way. Mystery solved!!!
oh that's so interesting!!!! A turtle....how'd have known?
Glad I could help solve the mystery, @cognoscere. Thanks for your generosity, too. They are certainly cool-looking bones!
Thanks @haphazard-hstead and Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.
Wow, very interesting. My guess is this is how space alien conspiracy theories start forming, LOL. ;) My first inclination was moose bones but who knows. Nice photography, thanks for sharing!
Haha, they sure looked a little alien to me @lightsplasher ;-)
they're not human. so consider yourself fortunate --if they were and you found them in your backyard, they'd forensically excavate at your expense!
True @johnjgeddes, I was thinking of taking one of them, but decided to leave them be. I don't need an extra bad mojo!
The bone with the fan shape looks familiar - maybe a pelvic bone - one side that is. The other bones....don't know....strange looking things. If you find out, please let us know!
Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner, @haphazard-hstead solved the mystery!