Don’t be fooled — though the image above may appear to be snakeskin or some kind of plastic, Padre Island National Seashore officials said it isn’t so.
The long, white strand is actually an egg casing belonging to a carnivorous sea snail known as a lightning whelk.
PINS officials said the snail lives on the sandy floor of the Gulf of Mexico and can grow between 2.5 to 16 inches long.
The egg case strand can hold up to 145 capsules and each capsule can contain between 20 to 100 eggs. However, PINS officials said only about 8 to 13 of the eggs in each capsule hatch.
You can recognize these sea snails by their shells. PINS officials said they are white or cream-colored with brown lightning-like streams.
“Also, interesting fact, the lightning whelk is the state shell of Texas!” PINS said in a statement. “We typically do not see lightning whelks in the park, but we can find evidence of these creatures when the egg cases wash in.”
If you come across one of these egg casings on the beach, feel free to leave it be.
The strand will dry out and could become food for a seagull or crab, PINS officials said.