Woman Finds A 'Mermaid's Purse' On Florida Beach, Then Holds Her Breath For A Miracle

One day, a wildlife photographer, Brianna Varner, and her boyfriend took a trip to Pass-a-Grille Beach in Florida. The place had just been hit by stormy weather, so the sand was covered in all kinds of ocean treasures and mystery stuff.

Brianna was happily digging around when she spotted what looked like a crumpled leaf tangled in seaweed. She almost ignored it, but something about it made her pause.

It didn’t feel like a leaf. It was tougher, smoother, kind of odd. That little instinct told her this might be something special, as she shared in an interview:

“I was just kind of staring at it, and I was like, ‘This is kind of weirdly shaped.’”

mermaid's purse on the beach — Credit: Brianna Varner

After turning it around in her hands, she realized it wasn’t a leaf at all; it was a mermaid’s purse, the kind of magical name given to shark, stingray, and skate egg cases.

Usually, these little cases are found empty on beaches after the babies hatch and swim off. But Brianna had a gut feeling this one might still be alive.

She tilted it toward the sunlight, and sure enough, there it was: a tiny embryo curled inside, just waiting for a chance to survive.

Most people would’ve tossed it aside without thinking twice, but Brianna wasn’t about to let that happen. She carefully tucked it into a tide pool, giving it a safe spot to stay wet and protected.

Once she knew what to look for, she started finding more, one after another, little mermaid’s purses half-buried in the sand.

Each one got a careful relocation to a tide pool, like a quiet rescue mission only nature lovers would understand.

But the last one she found felt strange. It was firm and heavier than the others, almost like something inside was ready to burst.

mermaid's purse found — Credit: Brianna Varner

When she lifted it toward the light, it stayed dark. There was no glow, no see-through shell like before, as she shared:

“The other ones kind of felt a little bit more leathery and like they had some give to them … but this one was really hard. And then when we went to hold it up to the light like we had with the others, no light would get through.”

That’s when she felt it move. Just slightly at first, but enough to make her heart skip.

And then, in this unreal moment straight out of a movie, a tiny baby started wriggling its way out of the case right there in her hand.

mermaid's purse in the hands of a woman — Credit: Brianna Varner

Brianna stood frozen for a second, completely in awe, sharing:

“All of a sudden, I look down and a little mouth is looking at me. And it was so jarring at first, because I was like, ‘What am I even looking at?’”

The baby looked so delicate and determined at the same time, like it already knew it was meant for the sea.

Brianna waded into the water, cradling the little one carefully so it wouldn’t get tossed around by the waves. She lowered it into the ocean, and instantly, it sank to the sandy bottom, perfectly doing what nature had programmed it to do.

mermaid's purse in hands — Credit: Brianna Varner

Watching it disappear into its new world was such a peaceful, magical sight. Brianna shared:

“There’s a lot of things that are on beaches that we don’t realize are alive or important.”

Later, she learned that the tiny creature she’d helped was a clearnose skate, a species related to rays and sharks. She kept the empty mermaid’s purse as a little keepsake, a reminder of the day she literally watched the skate’s life begin in her hands.

It’s wild to think how easily she could’ve missed it. Just a strange “leaf” on the sand. But that’s the thing about the ocean: it hides tiny miracles everywhere. You just have to stop and look close enough to see them.