conchs whelks sanibel

 After Tropical Storm Debby blew through Southwest Florida last week, things are now calm, the parking lots are cleaned up and I met lots of happy shellers enjoying the sunshine all weekend. I saw MANATEES that were even out socializing…

shellers manatee

 Remember Barbara from West Virginia who found the JUNONIA on my last post? She was back shelling near the jetty rocks at Blind Pass Captiva when two MANATEES swam right by her. Lucky Lady!

barbara manatee captiva

 The big pile of shells near the jetty was completely gone but there were still a few keepers rolling in the surf.  Candy from Cape Coral found a sweet little SHARK’S EYE…

Candy sharks eye captiva

 On the Sanibel side of Blind Pass, there were lots of shellers finding FIGHTING CONCHS and WHELKS…

sanibel seashells handful

My dear friend Mary B (she is moving away soon so I’ll miss you Mary!) found a perfect tiny FLAT SCALLOP.

mary b flat shell

 I loved talking to this next family from Ringwood New Jersey! Kevin, Alyssa, Kelly and Bailey have been coming to Sanibel for years and they Love Shelling! They just arrived when I was leaving so I hope they found some goodies.

family sanibel shelling

 My fave find of the weekend was this BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN BEAK BONE Super Sheller Clark picked up on the beach.

dolphin jaw bone

 These are the holes where the teeth were on this side of its jaw bone!

bottlenose dolphin bone

 Apparently, this is just one side of the mandible so this bottom right side was broken off the left side of its jaw.

dolphin beak bone mandible

In my research, I couldn’t find out what these holes are for in the next photo. They are definitely not from wear or from another animal so if I were to speculate, I’d say they were for sensory (?)…. but I wouldn’t bet on it. Do you know?

holes in dolphin beak

 UPDATE : Thank you Karen S and Jeff B for letting us know that the holes in this DOLPHIN BEAK BONE are called “Mental Foramen”. They are the openings for the nerves and blood vessels to pass through….and we (humans) have them too. Again, THANK YOU KS and JB for your comments so we can all learn together!!