While walking along Pass-a-Grille Beach in Florida after a storm, wildlife photographer Brianna Varner expected to find interesting seashells or driftwood. Instead, she stumbled upon something she’d never forget.
Among the seaweed and debris, Varner noticed what looked like a dried leaf. Curious, she picked it up — but quickly realized it was something unusual.
“This is kind of weirdly shaped,” Varner recalled thinking.
What she held was a mermaid’s purse — the protective case that surrounds shark, stingray, and skate eggs. Usually, when these wash ashore, they’re empty, the baby inside having already hatched underwater. But this one looked intact, with sealed ends and a rounded shape.
Varner held it up to the sunlight and gasped. A tiny embryo was moving inside.
Knowing it wouldn’t survive if left to dry out, she gently tucked the case into a nearby tide pool. As she kept exploring, she found several more, carefully placing each one back in the water.
Then she picked up one that felt different. It was firmer, heavier — and when she tried to shine light through it, nothing came through.
As she carried it toward the water, she suddenly felt movement. To her amazement, the egg case began to split open.
“All of a sudden, I look down and a little mouth is looking at me,” Varner said. “It was so jarring at first, because I was like, ‘What am I even looking at?’”
Before she could fully process what was happening, a tiny baby skate wriggled free, right in the palm of her hand. She waded into deeper water to protect it from the rough surf and released it gently.
“It just immediately dropped to the sand, which is exactly what its instincts would be telling it to do,” Varner said. “It was a really cool moment where I was like, ‘Oh my God. I think it’ll be OK.’”
Later research confirmed that the little survivor was a clearnose skate.
Varner kept the empty mermaid’s purse as a keepsake, a reminder of the rare moment she witnessed new life begin.
Her experience is also a powerful reminder for beachgoers. “There’s a lot of things that are on beaches that we don’t realize are alive or important,” she said.
Thanks to her curiosity — and kindness — one tiny sea creature got the chance to grow up in the wild.
To keep up with Varner and see more of her ocean discoveries, you can follow her on TikTok or Instagram.
