Why San Diego beaches have few shells

Dear Mr. Alice: Please answer these two questions that are keeping me awake nights: 1. Why are there no shells on our local beaches? 2. How come you know everything? — John d’Escondido

Which local beaches are you going to, John? Pick a nice sandy one like Coronado, and you’ll find shells. Not the fancy ones you buy in the stores. People dive for those in waters warmer than ours. Even in the Caribbean, it’s rare to find a perfect shell washed ashore. We mostly have the drab kinds that house animals that cling to rocks or bury themselves in the sand. Humble though they are, they still qualify as shells. Our coast isn’t a nice gradual, sandy slope that gives shells a gentle ride to the tide line. We have a lot of rocky shelf that drops off into a big pit not too far offshore. Shells tend to get smashed on rocky beaches or fall into the trench with the beer cans and old beach towels. And your question number two? Well, somebody has to.