Sand Dollars: The Living Coins That Help Shape Our Oceans

Chris and Angie return after a National Geographic event with photographer Amy Vitale and introduce an episode on sand dollars, prompted by Angie finding live sand dollars with her family and wanting answers to her kids’ questions. They describe sand dollars as flat, burrowing echinoderms with an internal calcium-carbonate “test,” tiny spines and cilia, petaloid patterns with tube feet for respiration, slow movement and burrowing. They also discuss global distribution, size variation, feeding as deposit feeders. Major threats include bottom trawling/dredging and ocean acidification; they suggest using Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch and highlight the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and practical pollution-reduction steps. Timeline 00:00 Welcome Back Nat Geo 00:55 Why Sand Dollars 05:09 What They Look Like 09:20 Sizes And Range 11:43 Why They Matter 17:16 Threats And Trawling 25:06 What You Can Do 28:18 Evolution And Classification 33:40 Movement And Lifespan 37:00 Sand Dollar Skeleton Test 38:37 Top View Flower Pores 42:11 Tube Feet Water Vascular 44:28 Missing Eyes Brain Blood 48:18 Predators And Defense 50:08 How Sand Dollars Eat 54:28 Poop And Nutrient Cycling 56:41 Behavior Chemical Cues 01:00:53 Reproduction Life Cycle 01:09:44 Conservation And Curiosity == Another thank you to all our Patreon supporters. You too can join for one cup of "good" coffee a month. With your pledge you can support your favorite podcast on Patreon and give back to conservation. With the funds we receive each month, we are have been sending money to conservation organizations monthly. We now send a check to every organization we cover, as we feel they all are deserving of our support. Thank you so much for your support and for supporting animal conservation. Please considering supporting us at Patreon HERE. We also want to thank you to all our listeners. We are giving back to every conservation organization we cover and you make that possible. We are committed to donating large portions of our revenue (at minimum 25%) to every organization we cover each week. Thank you for helping us to grow, and for helping to conserve our wildlife. Please contact us at advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices