Japanese Star Sand

"The tiniest of stars beneath our feet can reveal the greatest mysteries of deep time." ~ from the Second Edition of the Mini Museum

Foraminifera are single-celled creatures which produce a diverse range of beautiful and tiny protective shells. These shells appear in the fossil record as far back as 550 million-years, and in some locations, entire beaches are made up of these so-called "foram sands."

Above: Macro image of Foraminifera "Star sand" Hatoma Island - Japan (Source:  psammophile Microphotographie personnelle)

The islands of Okinawa, Japan are home to several foram sand beaches. A folktale from Taketomi-Jima describes the star-shaped shells as the children of the Polar Star and the Southern Cross, devoured and spat out again by a giant serpent which served the Seven Dragon God of the Sea.

The Japanese Star Sand specimen comes from a private collection obtained many years ago from Hoshizuna-no-Hama ("Star Sand Beach") on the island of Iriomote in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. This specimen was featured in the Second Edition of the Mini Museum and we are happy to offer it once again as a single specimen.

Above: Hoshizuna-no-hama ( Star Sand Beach ) in Iriomote Island, Taketomi Town, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. 日本語: 星砂の浜。所在地は沖縄県竹富町の西表島。(Source: http://bit.ly/1opq5ZN)

Please Note: Foram sand beaches contain many billions of foraminifera remains along with other debris one is likely to find on many beaches. To prepare this specimen, we had to begin by separating forams from actual sand and tiny bits of debris, and because the sand and the shells are essentially the same size, this had to be done by hand with tweezers. It is possible that some common beach debris may be included in this specimen but we've done our best separate the forams from the sand and other bits one is likely to find on a beach.

To make it easy for you to handle the specimen (and to include more forams), we've opted to showcase this carefully prepared specimen in a small glass vial complete with a cork stopper. The vial is enclosed in an acrylic specimen jar and displayed in a classic, glass-topped riker display box measuring 4x3x1 inches. A small information card is also included.