Atlantic Coast Shells
Tell blue mussels, moon snails, clams and periwinkles apart by hinge, spire and surface texture.
Read the shell guide
Coastal field reference · Canada
What washed up on the shore?
PlainBasketHouse is a plain-language reference for recognizing the shells, driftwood and small finds that turn up along Canadian ocean and lake coasts — from the Bay of Fundy to the beaches of Vancouver Island and the freshwater shores of the Great Lakes.
The guides
Three starting points for a coastal walk
Each guide focuses on what you can actually observe on the beach: shape, surface, hinge, colour and wear. Start wherever your last walk left a question.
Reading Driftwood
How wood enters the water, what shoreline wear tells you, and how to separate natural debris from milled timber.
Read the driftwood guide
Sea Glass & Beach Finds
Frosted glass, worn pottery and shoreline curiosities — what they are and why they look the way they do.
Read the beach finds guide
How to use this site
Observe first, name second
A reliable identification usually comes from a few steady observations rather than a single glance. Work through the same short checklist on each find before reaching for a name.
- Note the substrate where you found it — sand, mudflat, cobble or tideline wrack.
- Record shape and symmetry: two matching halves often mean a bivalve; a coiled spire means a snail.
- Check the surface for ribs, growth lines, boreholes and the degree of wear.
- Photograph the find next to a coin or finger for scale before returning it.
Contact
Send a note or a correction
Questions about a find, a spotted error, or a regional name we should add? Use the form and include where along the coast you were walking. Identification notes here are general; local detail always helps.
- webmaster@plainbaskethouse.org
- Coverage
- Atlantic, Pacific and Great Lakes coasts of Canada
- Response
- Messages are read in the order they arrive.