Toxic

[tkerr]

This could ruin your day.

Geographic Cone Shell.

[canonloader]

Geographic, as in North America without Florida? :)

[tkerr]

Geographic, as in North America without Florida? :)

Conus Geographus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conus_geographus), often refered to as Geographic or Geography cone.
Not as in North America without Florida. Without California! :shock:

Actually this one is from the South China Sea (Okinawa). :cool:

[CamDiver]

And it possesses one of the strongest neurotoxins know to man, with no antidote! They have a small harpoon that they use to inject passing fish, dead within seconds. They live in the sand by day and venture out at night time. This is why so many beaches in Indonesia are deserted!!

[lbenologa]

Wow. I didn't know this. I lived in Okinawa for two years and have at LEAST one of these shells in my "seashell collection" (?). Glad I never got stung, otherwise I would have never realized how lethal the sting was, until it was too late. :]

[tkerr]

Wow. I didn't know this. I lived in Okinawa for two years and have at LEAST one of these shells in my "seashell collection" (?). Glad I never got stung, otherwise I would have never realized how lethal the sting was, until it was too late. :]

That's not something they usually tell you, other than there is a lot of dangerous sea life around the island. Some of the hazards are exaggerated, while others aren't emphasized enough. If you were a Civilian/Military Dependent you were not told anything.
Most of the time you won't see those shells unless, like this one, they were already dead, then they are harmless.
The most Hazardous life in the waters surrounding that Island were Homo-Sapien Americanas.:)