Breaking The Case of Lightning Whelk Eggs
By
I wasn’t able to enjoy the shelling while the super moon tides were at the lowest this weekend since I was tied up with other “stuff”. But high on the wrack line there are still so many LIGHTNING WHELK EGG CASES on the east end beaches of Sanibel.
Since I’ve been dissecting some of the BEACH BLING I’ve found over the last week (like the SEA WHIPS), I decided to go ahead and open up one of the dried out LIGHTNING WHELK EGG “disks”.
There are teeny tiny little LIGHTNING WHELK shells in some of the disks.
Isn’t that just a wonder? Talk about miniatures!
 I didn’t find that many discs with baby WHELKS in them in this case because it looks like most of them “hatched” already. You can see a little round hole on top side of the discs… this is escape hatch! They use this when they are ready to explore their brave new world.
Just to show you how teeny tiny the WHELKS I popped out of the case were, I’ve added one of these little juvies in this Wheel of Whelks surrounding a penny.
PS-Since we didn’t get to shell the super moon tides, I thought I’d show you what Donnie and his girls found…. a GOLDEN OLIVE!
photo by Donnie Benton
He also sent a photo of all his goodies. Dang! I hate that I missed it.
photo by Donnie Benton
PSS- I’ve been on a researching binge lately so now I’ve broken another Sanibel mystery case wide open… Â stay tuned!
The golden olive is so pretty! Aren’t those little miniatures amazing to see? The next time I find a shell case I’m going to have to check it out more closely.
Wow that is so neat! Thanks for sharing
WOW!!! What beautiful shells! Loved the golden olive and all the baby whelks. Very cool on the sizing of them all too! Nature is really amazing! So would love to be there!
Nice – thanks for sharing.
What a teeny tiny baby whelk!! Looks like Donnie and the girls did very well. Look at all those cones!! And that lace murex looks pretty nice too.
thank you again Pam, you are my eyes on the beach. I always wait to see the treasures of the ocean you find.
I envy you so much, the tide has its highest. turtles that are beginning to nest, and always new discoveries of shells, walk the beach in peace. Thank you for sharing
Pam,
Thank you so much for taking time to post the pictures of the “shell babies” and Donnie’s awesome finds even when you weren’t able to shell this weekend. What a joy to see God’s miracles from the sea. Have a great day!
Donnie needs to enter some of his beauties in the shell show next year. His shell timing is impeccable.
It’s funny you say that…the girls and I found similar shells that looked like the ones that took ribbons.
I have yet to have the experience of attending the show…the last two years I was actually on the island when it was going on…but I was out shelling instead…lol.
Thanks for all the compliments…the girls and I are thoroughly enjoying this past time and paradise.
The shelling had been amazing.
All those shells were found Saturday except for the Golden olive…my mother and father helped us spent Sunday shelling with us at the lighthouse…I’ll post a picture of those shells this evening….
P.S. Mom has some shelling skills…she taught me
Hope you are going to share your mom’s skills, Donnie.
It kind of makes one wonder how many live shells are hatched from one…. pregnancy? Well, egg casing anyway. Thanks for the info, teach!
That golden olive is enough to make my mouth water!
Speaking of bling, this afternoon I absent mindedly picked up an old fossil shell I had sitting on my desk and I realized that the meat was fossilized along with the shell. It’s almost fully exposed because the protective shell was worn away or broken off. I wonder how often that happens!
The “miracle” of nature. Thanks, Pam
Wow Pam, I love the wheel of whelks!
And a great photo of the tiny baby whelks fresh out of the egg case!
Great post! Love the golden olive! I have never found any.. Also love the wheel of whelks! Sherri from MN
Where did Donnie find those Alphabet Cones? They were eluding us last week, although we did find many other beauties! We too, found some “babies.” A fun week, indeed!
All the shells were found at Lighthouse Beach.
Pam,
I have appreciated the beauty of shells since picking up my first shell at Seaside Heights, NJ at age four. Since discovering your site in December, I am now fascinated with shells and all that I’m learning about them from you. Thanks for running this Website. I’m always delighted when I find a new posting!
I also love the little miniatures inside the cases, if you go to the shell store , they sell little square boxes with magnifiers on top so you can see the details on them better. So cool to have and show guests when they come over to your house. I was there yesterday afternoon around 1-3 but the tide was still too high, i wanted to stay till 7 so i could get to that SUPER low tide but had to return to gainesville. I looked for wentle traps but still couldn’t find any! UGH!!!
I found a perfect junonia yesterday evening at lighthouse beach…
Congratulations!!
You sure have the luck!!!! But then, you do get more BEACH time than most of us. lol Congratulations!
Thank you…I am so lucky to live here.
Amazing ! thanks for posting !
Wow is right! What a wonderful shelling experience…hope to have a similar experience some day..
Loved seeing the haul from a one time shelling experience…
Yes, Pam, it IS “just a wonder.”
Poor Babies…….
I love shots of the whelk casings! Whelks are my favorite shell, and it was amazing to see their beginnings! Thanks!
We were lucky to be on Sanibel for the super moon and the shelling was great after it. I was very lucky to have found a a large horse conch on a sand bar by access #3 and a smaller one too. My hubby was fishing when he spotted a large whelk also on the sand bar and picked that up too.
It was a great 5 days on Sanibel.
Wow…you were lucky to find those…I haven’t come across any large Horse conchs in a long while…right time and right place…congrats.
Yes, it was the right place. I couldn’t believe it myself when I saw the horse conch I was so excited. This was our 4th trip to Sanibel and we’re now looking to buy a place there.
Congrats on the junonia too very exciting
Years ago I met a woman would collect these, and other egg cases, and use the tiny baby shells to make the sailors valentines. Kind of wondering if these babies have any chance of survival if the tide were to carry them back out to the water? Great pics of the babies! Thank you soooooo much.
That’s a great question…I have thrown a lot of egg casings back in the water only to see them float back to shore again…I think nature taking it’s course. There are so many Whelks and Florida Fighting conchs here to be found daily and I hope it always stays that way.I have seen literally hundreds of live Whelks over 10 inches or larger on the sand bars.
Hey Folks! I need a nice example of a Lightning Whelk egg case to complete a growth series in my museum – can someone help? Thanks!!
Do you need it right away? I might be able to pick one up for you on the beach after soon-to-be-Hurricane Isaac comes through next week.
Hi Pam!
As soon as I could get one would be awesome! I’d love to take a trip to Sanibel Island but am too busy trying to get the museum open!
Thank you so much for looking!
Hi Pam
I just found my first lightning whelk egg casing today on Oak Island Beach, NC…thanks for the info
Amelia