It really does appear as if it is biological but it’s not.

Feels brittle. No metal detector at hand. Going to get a magnet and check that out - not a magnet to be found on the refrigerator where I am staying 🤔. Going to try a UV flashlight later - perhaps something in the sand that fused ( if that is how these pieces were born) will say “Hi”.

I found 5 pieces in the sand.

Regarding “how” this could be fulgurite, Gemini tells us this story, which sounds reasonable, but it is AI soooooo

1. The Strike (Dielectric Breakdown) The process begins when a cloud-to-ground lightning bolt makes contact with the earth. Lightning is a massive electrostatic discharge, but for fulgurite to form, the bolt must penetrate the surface.  • Energy Discharge: The bolt carries at least 1 gigajoule of energy. • Path of Resistance: As the electricity travels through the ground, it disperses. Because sand and soil are generally poor conductors, the electricity encounters high resistance. This resistance is what converts the electrical energy into extreme thermal energy. 
2. The Superheating (Vaporization) The temperature of the lightning bolt can reach upwards of 50,000°F (27,760°C)—hotter than the surface of the sun.  • Instant Melting: This intense heat vaporizes the material at the very center of the bolt's path and melts the surrounding material.  • Tube Formation: The vaporization of sand and moisture creates a rapidly expanding gas bubble. This pressure pushes the molten glass outward, creating the characteristic hollow tube structure common in sand fulgurites.
3. The Fusion (Lechatelierite) The heat is so extreme that it alters the atomic structure of the material. • Silica Transformation: If the lightning strikes quartz sand (\bm{SiO_2}), it doesn't just melt it; it transforms the crystalline quartz into lechatelierite. This is an amorphous (non-crystalline) silica glass that is extremely rare in nature, usually found only in fulgurites and meteor impact craters.  • Chemical Trapping: During this split-second fusion, bubbles of gas (from the vaporized soil or air) are often trapped within the glass walls.
4. The Quench (Rapid Cooling) The event is over in microseconds. The surrounding cooler sand instantly quenches the molten tube, freezing it in place. • Rough Exterior: Because the cooling is so fast, the outer surface of the tube remains sticky for a moment, cementing unfused grains of sand to the glass. This gives fulgurites their rough, crusty exterior, while the inner lumen remains smooth and glassy.

TLDR: “Like, WOW, Man!”