Moving Auger Shells

I don't normally write about beach-y things, but every now and then see something unusual.  I'm not talking about whales or dolphins which are beautiful but a popular topic since everyone takes pictures of them, usually better ones than I do. My whale pictures look like gray arches on gray water and the dolphins look like poky gray fins on gray water. Nothing special. Turtles also are hard to take pictures of. They often look like gray ovals floating on gray water. 

On a beautiful Maui day, DH and I came across some twenty-somethings bent over golden-colored sand at Po'olenalena Beach, talking excitedly.  As we came closer, I saw one of them holding a clear plastic food container with sand and water inside. There were narrow cone-shaped shells inside, moving deeper into the sand. Occasionally, I could see their pale flesh touch the plastic bottom.  

A living auger shell at Po'olenalena Beach.

We watched them for a while longer while I filmed them moving, and then the guys released them back into the water and they disappeared into the sand.