Dear Linda;-
        I don't like to second guess (although I do it all the time), but I think Tucker believed that a mollusk found on a beach that didn't belong there was a pretty sick puppy to begin with. I don't think he considered that beaches change and sometimes just get in the way of normal travel routes, or that water changes or contaminents might force
shells to get-away from the change. Just like we come inside when it rains. Such animals will probably do alright if returned to their "normal" habitat. Fer sure, being on the beach isn't going to help them much.
    Art

Linda Bush wrote:

> Hi, All!
>     Nice to be back after 8 days of no e-mail (at least I got my cable company to knock something off the next bill; I didn't lose any data, but my sone lost his saved e-mail).
>     All the discussion re Strombus has led me to question an all-encompassing statement the Tucker Abbott once made to some of us in our club, viz., that shells thrown up on the beach will not loive if returned to the water.  It seems from the dicussion that this may not be true, and unfortunately we don't have Tucker available to clarify.  Comments?
>                         Linda