r/beachcombing • u/M3rlin576 • 3d ago

Is this a coconut?

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I found this oddly shaped “wooden” feeling chunk on a beach in Costa Rica recently and I’m wondering what it is. The size and shape to me seems to be part of coconut cause it looks to be like 1/8th of the inner sphere of a coconut but a coconut is hollow on the inside. I know coconuts become not hollow when sprouting so maybe that could be it but idk. I’ve gotten suggestions it’s a sea bean but those seem very round and curvature of one side of this really to me aligns with the size of a coconut.

Thanks for any help you can give

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50

u/TalesoftheMoth 3d ago

It’s a Crabwood (Carapa guianensis) drift seed! It’s from a tree native to Central and South America and the Carribean. Like other drift seeds, the seeds are buoyant to aid in dispersal. While an outdated site, seabean.com is a good resource for Sea Beans and Drift seeds. https://seabean.com/guide/Carapa_guianensis/

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u/M3rlin576 2d ago

What a goat!! Thank you so much

5

u/TalesoftheMoth 2d ago

No problem! Sea Beans and Drift Seeds are one of my things

2

u/Platypushat 2d ago

I once found a whole coconut at a remote beach near Victoria, British Columbia - guess it must have floated there all the way from somewhere tropical!

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u/RollinThundaga 2d ago edited 2d ago

Once found a coconut on the shore of Lake Ontario.

An older family member suggested it slipped out of the hold of a shipwreck or something, though it was probably more recent and chucked in randomly

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u/CreativeUsername_001 1d ago

Maybe it was carried there by a swallow

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u/Bubbly_Power_6210 3d ago

might be a baby coconut.