lightning whelk shell tide

On the exposed sand bars and tidal pools, we saw lots of live mollusks like  this beautiful LIGHTNING WHELK off Middle Gulf Drive. The full moon brought such a low tide so we also saw lots of other beautiful shells but they all seemed to be occupied by tenants.

hermit crab in whelk seashell

Then I saw Dana sitting in the middle of a tidal pool looking like a kid on Christmas day. She showed me a brilliant orange HORSE CONCH she just uncovered.

Dana conch shell sanibel

Then she dug out an ALPHABET CONE.

dana cone shell sanibel

As I started to walk away, I heard her start laughing again… she dug up another ALPHABET CONE! She found herself a genuine honey hole!

dana alphabet cone sanibel

My friend Eilene hit a seashell honey hole too!

eilene sanibel shells

 She found an ALPHABET CONE then saw just a tiny bit showing of a HORSE CONCH in the sand and when she dug around it, she brought up a perfectly empty specimen.

eilene sanibel seashells

 Chris must have found the queen bee’s honey hole! Wow! He said he found this gorgeous HORSE CONCH in a tidal pool with only tiny bit of the shell exposed too.

Chris conch shell sanibel

 Chris’s family Cameron, Chelsea, Jeni and Zoe got to share in the excitement of his great find as well as their full shell bags.

family with shells sanibel

My fave shell we brought home is this FREAK FIGHTING CONCH. Look at the funny top- I love it! So sometimes it takes a little more “work” to take home the gold or taste the honey but like always, the treasure hunt itself is the fun because some times it makes you get a little creative.

freak conch shell sanibel