Do you know Georgia’s official state seashell? It’s the shell of the knobbed whelk, a large sea snail common in coastal waters along the state’s seashore. Its beautiful, spiraled shell is a familiar ...

Delaware has a state bird, a state bug and a state fish. But until last year, there was no state sea shell. Then, 13-year-old Allyson Willis, a seventh-grader at Redding Middle School, came along and ...

This week, the Texas coast has seen an influx of lightning whelks washing up with the tides. Recognized as the official state shell of Texas, the lightning whelk is a fascinating marine predator that ...

If all goes to plan, an oyster colony will thrive in the Barnegat Bay off Good Luck Point in Bayville, experts say. Thousands of whelk shells were added Thursday to over a half-acre of Barnegat Bay ...

To modern-day beach-goers, they may not be the most flamboyant species lolling along the tide line. To the ancients, however, the lightning whelk seemed to hold a prolific prominence in everyday life ...

For years it had stumped thousands of Quarry Hill visitors, and thousands more when we took it to the Olmsted County Fair, where Quarry Hill once had a booth in the Conservation building. But then, ...

What is a “mermaid’s necklace”? The beach comber’s find commonly called a “mermaid’s necklace” is actually the egg case of an aquatic snail known as a whelk. In this area, whelks lay egg cases twice a ...

When we hear the word whelk, large, graceful spirals quickly come to mind. But there's another group of whelks, smaller but no less lovely, bearing the whelk name. You can call them basket or dog ...

FRANKLIN — For three years, Katie Loder, 63, was reminded by doctors that she would probably die soon. But they also didn't know exactly what was wrong with her — and still don't, said Loder, who also ...