As was mentioned a couple weeks ago on Conch-L during the beach
replenishment discussion, intertidal life (of which coquinas are a part) is
generally smothered by the "new" sand.  I would expect Miami Beach to be
one of the prize customers for the environmental rapists known as beach
replenishment companies.
 
As for the oil, isn't Miami a major seaport?  I would not be surprised to
find some noticeable amount of oil to be natural result of that level of
shipping.
 
Peter
 
At 03:55 PM 12/14/98 -0500, ERIKA GOTTFRIED wrote:
>Just a few words of thanks to those who so generously supplied me
>with advice and encouragement about shelling in Miami Beach.
>I do not collect live shells any more,  but found a very satisfying
>assortment of empty shells on the beach.  Considering that the beach
>is bulldozed (!) every day, it is a miracle that anything
>survives--live or empty.
>
>Two comments/questions:  I didn't find any donax variabilis (or any
>donax at all, for that matter).  I've never shelled on Miami Beach
>(my Florida experience is limited to one trip to Sanibel, over 20
>years ago), so I don't know if there were never any coquinas there
>or if there once were and now are not, or what.  (Also, I haven't
>shelled in so many years that I am completely out of the loop.)  I
>remembered the coquinas as being pretty ubquitous on Florida beaches.
>So what gives?  Also, sadly, there wewe of course considerable
>quantities of trash on the beach (although, curiously--at least to
>me--no glass), and also oil.  I didn't recognize it as oil when
>walking down the beach, but I certainly recognized its tarry
>signature on the bottom of my shoes when I returned to my hotel room.
>Has there been a recent oil spill in the area or is this just
>general leakage?
>
>Erika Gottfried
>Curator of Nonprint Materials
>Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives/Tamiment Library
>New York University
>70 Washington Square South
>New York, NY 10012
>Phone: 212-998-2635
>Fax: 212-995-4070
>e-mail: [log in to unmask]