Rare nautilus discovered in Lorne at sunset

A RARE nautilus paper shell washed up on Lorne Beach has found itself in the hands of 10-year-old Franca Eddy.

Franca was with her family at Lorne Pier on Saturday February 2 waiting for the sunset when she noticed a large white shell poking through seaweed.

Unaware of what she had just uncovered, Franca showed her father, Brett, her unusual looking discovery before he proceeded to rinse it off in a nearby rockpool.

Once the Eddy family returned to their Anglesea home, Brett went online to hunt down information about the shell and its interesting markings.

He soon learned it was a nautilus paper shell.

Created by a female argonaut’s (octopus) tentacles to lay eggs, the nautilus paper shell is used as a protective space for the mother and her eggs to float in before the eggs hatch.

“I researched what type of shell it was and discovered that on average, only three nautilus paper shells are washed ashore every seven years,” Brett said.

“My daughter’s shell is a large one and in perfect condition considering the journey it has been on from the ocean depths.”

Franca is going to have the shell box framed and dated to hang on her bedroom wall.