Sea Glass Rocks – Lake Erie Sea Glass Collecting Blog » Blog Archive Lucky Stones: Otoliths are Awesome - Sea Glass Rocks

Filed Under Lucky Stones on October 7, 2010

I was scouring the beach for sea glass when two women walked by.

“Not many lucky stones today,” the taller one said to me.

Hmmm. What are lucky stones, I wondered? The women were long gone before I could ask them.

When I got home I headed online to do some research. And I found bones.

The lucky stones I’m sure the two women were referring to that day over a year ago are otoliths, or ear bones from sheepshead fish. They are found along the shores of Lake Erie.

Apparently, indigenous people used them as amulets and fishermen put them in their pockets for good luck.

Whether you are superstitious or not, there’s no denying that lucky stones or “ear stones” truly are remarkable. In fact there are scientists who devote their entire working lives to studying them.

Otoliths provide a wealth of scientific data. In fact, they are referred to as the “black box” or ‘flight recorder” of a fish. Not only does an otolith tell a fish’s age (each year is represented by a ring, just like a tree), but also very detailed information about the fish’s health, habitat and diet. As D. Graham Burnett writes in Cabinet Magazine: (do check out the rest of this excellent article on otoliths)

… about thirty years ago a curious geologist, tinkering with an otolith (it was a rock, after all), made the truly shocking discovery that those annual layers can be further resolved, microscopically, down to daily layers, layers that contain, in their chemical composition and size, information about the temperature and the salinity of the water through which the fish moved, the food that it ate, and various environmental contaminants it encountered. The result is a stratigraphy unprecedented in the organic world: the diligent student can peruse the otolith of a long-lived deep sea fish, and reconstruct not merely its age, but (and I am barely exaggerating) what it had for breakfast on 6 March 1964, or roughly where it was on the occasion of a particular nuclear test.

Interestingly, each stone has either an “L” shape or a “J” (which stands for “Love and Joy”, according to some collectors.) The “L” shaped bones are from the right side of the fish, while the “J” is from the left side.

Some collectors make jewelry out of Lucky Stones. Alison over at Lucky Stone Jewelry is a cancer survivor – and collecting and making jewelry from lucky stones is part of the healing process for her. Check out her story and her wonderful creations here.

I had a nice collection of lucky stones – until this afternoon, when my collection blew into the wooden cracks of my front porch while I was trying to photograph them. (The photos above were snapped before the wind took them.) I have two left.

Yet another excuse to hit the beach this weekend.

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Your photos are truly a work of art that now will serve as your legacy to your wonder and amazement of small things of nature. Thank YOU!

Thanks so much for the kind words Nancy!

[…] is a photo of the ‘gem’ quality pieces: (It also was a good day for otoliths. We found four. A heart stone […]

Hi! I am thrilled to read your article. I have been collecting Lucky Stones for over 45 yrs and I have never known anyone who knew anything about them other than the people I have shown. I knew where they came from, but didn’t know the history behind them. So interesting! Isn’t nature fascinating? I was just at Point Pelee on Saturday for a Thanksgiving celebration and found 2 huge Lucky Stones – one the size of a quarter and the other is almost as big as a loonie – I was so excited! You just don’t find them that big anymore! Thank you!

where is the best place to find these things you call lucky stones?

WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO FINDE THESE GEMS?

Norma, I found most of mine on the shores of Lake Erie at Seacliff Beach in Leamington, Ontario.

My friend and I went to Port Glasgow for a beautiful day on the beach searching for these. It was not until after lunch that we found our first one. Once we found it, we knew what we were looking for and we were HOOKED!! By 5:00, we each had about 15 or 20 of them, some the size of a penny or smaller. You have to look for them where the rocks wash in, not on a sandy beach. Wear flip flops, you are walking on rocks. We can’t wait to go hunting for these again!!

My mother found one of these Lucky Stones in Port Clinton Ohio yesterday. She was told about these stones from one lady on the beach, so my mom started looking and finally found one after spending hours searching!

Hi Greta: You are right, they are not plentiful. My friends and I returned to Port Glasgow, ON for a day at the beach. If we come away with 5 or 10 each, we are happy. The beach is brown and these stones shine like white teeth, so are easy to spot when they are wet. We did learn it is better to go early in the morning when the water is calm, as opposed to the afternoon when the water level rises and the water is rough. Good luck in your search.

No doubt it is a wonderful stone. In ancient time was kown as healing stone and now as poweful research tool for almost evey scientist. God has given us magic wond known as otolith.
I am doing research in otolith. I am based in Sultanate of Oman. Marine Science and fisheries center. Ministry of agriculture and fisheries, Muscat, Oman

I have been collecting Lucky Stones for over 25yrs. An old man, George, God rest his soul taught me and my 4 kids about them. I go for my Lucky Stone walk every single time I’m on the beach at Marblehead. It is always filled with past memories of each one of my kids finding one, then running up to me and their voices still do ring in my hearts-mind saying..’found one’, then giving me a kiss on my cheek and I would in turn do the same as well. I call it relaxing therapy, the more I had on my mind..the less I found, the less I had on my mind..the more I found. I have jars of them and have enjoyed sharing what they are with others on the beach. If you are a beachcomber yourself, then you know it becomes a skill overtime, because they also look like pieces of marble and abalone shells. From rice size to quarter size, from dark brown to clean white, I never tire of them. They are ‘lucky’ to me because of the endless, eternal memories they’ve made and have yet to make.

It is a gorgeous Thanksgiving weekend in Cananda. 22 degrees C. I just wanted to drive to the beach one more time this summer. I spent 4 hours on the beach in Port Glasgow and found 33 of them. It was a great day!! Definitely will visit the Lake again next summer ☺

I have been searching for these lucky stones since I was a kid 50 years ago…and finding beach glass at the same time is a treat….we are located in Kingsville, Ontario but grew up around Wheatley, Ont. I have found one red beach glass my whole life…romantically consider it from the port light of a ship wreck.

I have been collecting lucky stones now for about 48 years now. I grew up in Stoney Point and found all of them from Lake StClair. Many fond memories of these stones some from beach combing some from fishing and catching them. Young sheepshead are great for making fish chowder as they are the only fish I know of that don’t flake apart when cooked. Stubby from Belle River gave me a recipe for poor mans lobster for the same reason. They stay in chunk form once cooked.

I have collecting them for several years with a friend of mine we now have over 1000. Was wondering if anyone has more?

I have been collecting for around 14 years and I have in excess of 6000.

Hi Doug:
Are you on the Canadian side, or the U.S. side of Lake Erie?

What are the little stones that are gray and are about the size of a dehydrated cheerio? I have two of them, I can send pictures.

Sorry for the late answer, I haven’t been to the site for months. I collect on the US side mostly in Lorain, Ohio west of Cleveland

We have a cottage on the East side of Catawba Island. I have had great luck in my 4 weekends up there this summer…this past weekend I found 70 lucky stones!!!!

I am writing a fantasy novel about the Pied Piper, and since he has now escaped to the invisible world, he feeds the fish in return for precious gemstones. So while researching gemstones from sea creatures, I came across the lucky stone and it led me hear. I am now curious to learn more about these stones and their healing effects. In the story, the Pied Piper is attached to these stones as they helped him heal from the tragic (as we know the Pied Piper after not receiving his fare wages, led the children of Hamelin into the wilderness and they never returned).

I have been collecting these stones for 45 years..
They are amazing and have told me stories of the health of the fish and the waterways where ever I go.. Now it’s a lifetime search.. of love..

We are at Point Breeze in Angola NY! Walking on the beach one day with my husband a resident (Bonnie) found a bone and explained that she was told it was a cheekbone of a sheep head. I was surprised to learn reading these articles it is actually an ear bone. I taught my grandchildren to look for them and they think it is the BEST! We have a collection of sizes as it seems we have many to find on this part of Lake Erie Beach!

I started collecting these with my sister at her home on sanducky bay. It took me for ever to find my first one. After the first one was found, it became easier to spot them. I would love to see some craft ideas to use them with.
Seaglass and lucky stones are kind of an obsession now when I’m at her house. 🙂

I found my first one today at Woodlawn Beach!

I recently was given a”lucky stone” before I competed in the last race of an ice boat regatta along the shores of the Mississippi. The “local” told me the story of this particular stone. The Sheephead fish had been eaten by an eagle an was found after the eagle regurgitated it.
It was wonderful honor to receive the olotith and by the way I won the regatta.
I am hoping to persevere it somehow so it is not lost.

The first time I found a Lucky Stone about 15 years ago . I didn’t know what it was .I was fascinated with it . I did some research to find out what it was . I started finding more and more. I have a large collection of them of many sizes .

I’ve been collecting lucky stones since I was about 5 or 6 years old, h-m-m-m, that would be about 70 years, so it looks like I might be the oldest collector on this forum. When I was a young woman, my mother and dad sold their cottage on Lake Erie, north of Toledo, and she threw away all of my lucky stones. I have collected whenever I could in my later years and have found about 3 a day on the Lake Erie beach at Camp Perry, near Port Clinton, during our stay this week. I never tire of combing the beach for lucky stones. I teach each person on the beach about them and I can see their interest show in their eyes.

I have 10 I found in front of my house on Lake Erie. I was told that they were traded for goods from the mariners exploding the lake. Is this true?

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