The three sea urchins
shown in the photo were found within a hundred metres of each
other
- the tenuous link with birds being that that the urchin with the hole
(left) is in fact modern and was among 50
or more "Sea Potatoes" being eaten and
swallowed by ravenous Oystercatchers on the foreshore at Waterlow Cottage (a mile north of Larne) last Wednesday.
The other two are fossil sea urchins " Echinoids " one is almost identical in structure and shape to the Sea Potatoe the other more conical. They both are c.135 million years old and originate from the Upper Cretaceous Geological Period when Ireland was covered by a shallow sea. They can be found on the same rocky shoreline if you look hard enough.
