age 
NORTH CAROLINA FIELD TRIPS yore Sal 
Friday, July st, a 
ting had arranged for : 
dusbae aa Butt? tips ror a to choose from yond ge a Be 
est: land, freshwater, marine, fossil, or 4 
sities soa i field trips was Lea Island 
i the marine-collecting i1e aay 
ch'the cuter edge of the Intracoastal Waterway, northeast of Wilming 
ton, N.C., and just southwest of Topsail ann ee ak Sous +he 
a bus ride to the Municipal Dock at Wrightsvi ler fot an eal 
party of about a dozen boarded a small shrimp brawn ee ee both 
run northeast along the Waterway, with ain yee ree Meee. | 
port and starboard. For the final shallow-wa ie si Leia 
we transferred, in two groups, into the outboar - P 
nied us. 
The island is small enough to be uninhabited, and barren ox Me 
high grass and low shrubs, but Hae eo we Re ad aE, woe eae a 
ch. r four hours of our stay. oo big, a A 
Stodp ybes who had to return to point A when hunger brought to mind 
the box lunches in the ice chest. 
clear, the sun was high, and one tenderfoot got a lesson 
pagar ‘Me color tones of sand can signify. The bright grains near 
the water were hot but not uncomfortable. In the higher tidal area 
the surface was faintly marbled with streaks darkened by black 
grains. It was as hot as the hardware of Hades. Excruciating. One 
could be astonished even while executing a frenzied fandango with 
vocal accompaniment. Over the long haul, one could also get redder 
on the tops of the feet than elsewhere, despite occasional wading, 
and the employment of protective concoctions, shoes, and heaps of 
sand. 
Unfortunately, the area had not recently been lashed by a devastat- 
ing storm, so the mollusks were-carrying on much in accordance with 
their natural, inconspicuous preferences. Some, notably Terebra 
dislocata, began to pop out of the sand with the dropping of the 
tide. The Homo sapiens who happened to be in the right place at 
a 

the right moment ime for a few quick grabs before running for 
the last boat. 
So almost all of the loot came from the beach, most of it was bi- 
valves, and most of them were represented by single valves not in 
mint condition. My pickings added up to these 18 bivalves and four 
gastropods; 
Anadara brasiliana Noetia ponderosa 
" ovalis Semele proficua 
Argopecten irradians concentricus Spisula solidissima 
Barbatia candida Tagelus plebeius 
Chione cancellata Tellina alternata 
Crassostrea virginica " 
Dinocardium robustum 
Divaricella quardrisulcata Crepidu fornicata 
Donax variabilis (live) tao s OFRh ve 
Dosinia discus 
Ensis directus 
mera (7) 
Trachycardium egmontianum 
plana 
Polinices duplicatus 
Terebra dislocata (live) 
One of the group, who evidently moonlights as a bird-watcher, men- 
