After the surge and the following gales during January and February patches of coal dust appeared along the Thanet coast, in some ares there were patches of larger fragments. I took home buckets of the stuff just to pick through it and get some idea of the make up. In the photograph below are some of the shell specimens found in the coal that predominately turned out to be European sea Cowries also in the photograph is a spiral shaped shell. The shell is known as a Wentletrap and is very unusual along the Thanet Coastline.
The coal in general is a mixture of everything most domestic coal and the origin is far and wide. However the pieces that are darker are fragments from the gas works coal and they are harder and do polish up well. This type of coal is often used to fake Whitby Jet.
