What in the world is this thing?
We found it on the beach this morning.
It’s extremely light and delicate.
Quite beautiful.
What is it?
![[text]](http://ilind.net/images_2012/thing-1.jpg)
![[text]](http://ilind.net/images_2012/thing-2.jpg)
![[text]](http://ilind.net/images_2012/thing-3.jpg)
Found on the beach…what is it? (photos)
May 8th, 2012 · 14 Comments · environment, General, Photographs
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i L i n d
Ian Lind • Online daily from Kaaawa, Hawaii
It’s one of those egg cases from Alien…put it down.
So that’s where the other half of my Beyonce doll got to….give it back.
Is it glass? Does it appear to be organic?
It’s a swim bladder from a fish.
It’s a swim bladder, which you can buy online for eating.
http://www.ecplaza.net/trade-leads-seller/fish-maw-swim-bladder-gas–6848866.html
It’s from a puffer fish.
http://australianmuseum.net.au/What-is-a-gas-bladder
I actually did not figure this out myself (although, in retrospect, a hollow, swollen, balloon-like organ found lying on the beach would probably serve an obvious function as … a fish’s air bladder).
Instead, I turned to craigslist.
http://honolulu.craigslist.org/
Under the discussion forums, I went to the “pets” section.
It is a valuable, and free forum for getting advice during a pet emergency when the vet clinic is closed. It can also help allay panic in such situations, and prevent overly hasty decisions from being made.
And they know a fish air bladder when they see one.
It’s a pod. Watch out, in case what hatches out of it has a taste for human brain. I seen it on TV.
If the swim bladder is from a fish, was the fish preyed upon to release the bladder?
Wow if that’s a bladder I’d imagine Flomax sales to fish are booming.
Apparently, porcupine fishes’ swim bladders are a lot more decay-resistant than the rest of the fish so the bladders remain after the rest of the dead fish rots away. Who knew?
http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Sea+Life/Queensland+marine+habitats/Beach+flotsam+and+jetsam/Porcupinefish+Swim-bladder
I’m not sure exactly what that thing is, but if I were you, I’d use plenty of lube.
I haven’t seen a fish bladder with two lobes. And they’re usually somewhat leathery, as well as easily deflated. But I’m only familiar with a dozen fish.
The one we found was light, thin, brittle, like a light bulb. Very interesting.