Archive for March, 2010
Low Tide Treasures
Posted by: | CommentsI had to go back to the beach again last night around 6 o’clock to show Clark all of the amazing shells that were washing up on the beach by Casa Ybel Resort. It looked completely different from around noon when I took the pictures for yesterday’s blog. No big shell piles but shells galore spread out like an easter egg hunt.
Janene , Jaelyn (her daughter) and Nora (her niece) found a great spot to just sit and dig around in the watery sand. Can you believe they found all of those goodies in that one spot? Nora even found a BABY’S EAR too. Janene told me that they were were making necklaces, shell boxes and a mirror with all of their found shells on this trip. Janene is a 3rd generation Sanibel sheller which makes Jaelyn a 4th generation Sanibel sheller. Sounds like a happy family to me…and a happy birthday for Janene!
I think we saw at least 12 live HORSE CONCHS in the shallow water but we did get to take one home that didn’t have an occupant…..nice, huh?
The Men Win Today
Posted by: | CommentsI found an amazing shelling spot today! When I checked out the beach in front of Casa Ybel Resort, I looked up the beach to the right and saw the beach forming a little peak with a couple of people shelling in the surf. I headed straight for it and found a ton of shells rolling up in the surf. I wasn’t on the beach 3 minutes when I looked down and picked up this HORSE CONCH.
I saw Mark from Carlsbad, New Mexico catching some nice NUTMEGS and WHELKS then introduced me to his nephew, Shane. Shane found 3 nice ALPHABET CONES! He just scooped up this 3 1/2 inch ALPHABET beauty in his net along with a FIGHTING CONCH and a MUREX…….this was one scoop that he got all 3 shells.
Mark and his brother Stan (Shane’s dad) have been coming to Sanibel since 1974 with their families so they are long time shellers. Sorry, Mark and Stan, but I think Shane kicked your butts out there today finding 3 ALPHABET CONES ……and maybe more. They were still out there when I left.
I also ran into another guy…Ron from Washington D.C. and he found a nice HORSE CONCH too. It was around the size of mine but maybe bigger. I guess I have to hand it over to the guys today…they won the “who got the best shells today” contest.
To top it all off, I got an update on Laura D.’s collection. She found another huge HORSE CONCH and lots more. Here are her treasures……just 2 days worth of shelling on Sanibel. Wow!
Early Birds
Posted by: | CommentsLaura D. just arrived on Sanibel and very excited to find some good shells. This is an email she sent me….
“…..we got up at 5:30 this morning and went out in the dark (with head lamps in the rain) and found tons of urchins, 2 nice figs And this horse conch!!!! I looked inside and was so excited to see an empty perfect shell! Right in the middle of the beach!!!
I put it in my bucket open side up and ten minutes later noticed some redish claws!! It was home to a big crab! I was bummed but we put him back in the water:) It was quite a morning!”
Those sneaky “squatter” crabs!
Those Who Bring Sunshine
Posted by: | CommentsThe beach is still building on the Sanibel side of Blind Pass and it is bringing some good shells with the sand. It’s not crazy shelling yet but I feel it coming. There’s got to be something good out there……but then…. I got a little dose of “something good” just walking along the shoreline. That’s where I met Heidi (aka Hurry Slowly Heidi) and Klaus from Canada who were staying right at Blind Pass in one of the the sweet little cottages on the beach at Castaways Cottages.
We got to talking about the island, shelling and Hurry Slowly Heidi wanted to know a little about the LIGHTENING WHELK and FIGHTING CONCH they had found. I told her all about the shells they found then handed her a deep rich CALICO CLAM that looked like it had more of an animal print than a shell design. She unzipped a pouch she was carrying and handed me a bright green piece of paper and told me she was an artist and poet and has written a few books. I unfolded the note and read.
Those Who Bring
Sunshine
Into the lives of others
Pass it on joyfully
Creating
A moment of
Harmony and
Consideration
Which in turn
gives rise to
A
Circle of Love
Hurry Slowly Heidi
She brought me more than just a moment of harmony and consideration. I feel very fortunate to be able to meet such good people. Thank you Hurry Slowly Heidi and Klaus. It was a pleasure to me you.
Let me introduce everybody else……..Here is Klaus and Hurry Slowly Heidi….
61 Wentletraps at Lighthouse
Posted by: | CommentsThat’s The Wentletrap Wonder…. The Mini-shell Master…. The Shelling Superman…uhhh, ok, it’s just my husband, Clark, shelling for the mini shells. But we found 61 WENTLETRAPS this afternoon! And lots of other really good minis. We always find a lot of BUBBLE shells but this one was a little unusual- it’s an ANTILLES GLASSY BUBBLE. It is so paper thin that it’s see-through.
We ended up finding (and keeping) 4 more BABY’S EARS, a bright orange baby HORSE CONCH, WORM SHELLS, PEAR WHELKS, a bright orange FALSE DRILL, 2 FLORIDA CONES and of course our 61 WENTLETRAPS.
Can you guess who was back at the Lighthouse too? “Flipper”, that crazy dolphin!
Listen Up, Baby’s Ears
Posted by: | CommentsDo you hear me, BABY’S EARS? I’m coming to get you!
We found these BABY’S EARS at the Lighthouse Beach on Sanibel this afternoon but I don’t think we got them all. Clark was more focused but I was very distracted by that crazy dolphin again putting on his show. I have posted pictures of this guy (or his buddy) before but I still can’t get over how close they get to the beach! He corrals a school of fish up to the shore then practically flops right on the beach and wriggles back into the water with his meal in his mouth. It’s like “Sea World Unleashed”!
So listen up, BABY’S EARS. I’ll be back to find you again….. and this time I’ll be focused in too.
























