live fighting conchs tarpon beach

After seeing so many empty shells at Blind Pass at the beginning of the weekend, we wanted to see what Tarpon Bay Rd Beach access looked like with the extreme low tide. This beach looked so different and we saw so many live shells like in the first photo with the live FIGHTING CONCHS every where. We also saw this LIGHTNING WHELK making a meal out of this ATLANTIC GIANT COCKLE. He had his body (the black part) completely inside the COCKLE shell eating the meat for dinner. Wild.

lightning whelk vs cockle

This COCKLE SHELL was on the losing side of this fight as well since an APPLE MUREX was making COCKLE soup out of this guy…

cockle murex fight

I also saw several SEA CUCUMBERS stranded on the low tide sand bars…which I dug a little trench for this guy since he seemed still so healthy.

live sea cucumber tarpon

I was so thrilled by seeing all of the living creatures (oodles of live OLIVES as well), I pretty much came home without any shells. I say “pretty much”… because I had Super Sheller Clark with me. I may have come home empty handed but Clark found an excellent HORSE CONCH while I was tracing the trail of something I thought was a live BABY’S EAR. I wanted to get it on video so I starting shooting (I edited it so you dont have to watch the boring part where I find nothing…then nothing…then nothing) and while I was shooting I heard Clark call my name…. 

We havent even had time to clean it up but it is a beauty. I’m also tickled to have one this size because normally you find them when they are really tiny or see them big adults not the teenager size. Hmmmm… wonder why? Then he found another one!

Horse conchs tarpon sanibel

It was a beautiful weekend with the evenings spent on the beach for low tide and meeting such wonderful families like Rob and Melanie from Melbourne, FL with their two daughters Allison and Lexie. What’s not to love!

Allison rob melanie lexie family shells