showing sanibel shells

With a full moon and very low tide at sunrise this morning, I couldn’t resist strapping on my head lamp to search for shells on the sand bars at Blind Pass Sanibel at 6:30 am this morning. I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t resist.

shelling with head lamp

Chikee and Maria from New Jersey were happy to they got out there early to find some of their favorite shells. That beautiful SHARKS EYE, WORMIE and the WHELKS in the first photo were Maria’s favorites.

chikee maria new jersey shelling sanibel

Look at all of the shells Sue found! The Sanibel Six with an ALPHABET CONE, KINGS CROWN CONCH, LACE MUREXES, TRUE TULIP, OLIVES and LIGHTNING WHELKS… and so many more.

shells found at dawn blind pass sanibel

 Sue (on the right) was with her friends Mary and Alissa who came all the way from California to Sanibel to shellebrate Sue’s birthday. Best birthday ever.

mary alissa sue calif shelling sanibel

Don and Vickie came down to Sanibel from Siesta Key, Florida to do some shelling to shellebrate too. You guessed it! It was Don’s birthday too. It was a birthday party on the sand bar!

don vicki siesta shelling visit sanibel

Phil and Kathy had some to shellebrate as well. Phil’s perfect ALPHABET CONE!

phil kathy mass cone shelling sanibel

Ruth knew she had a treasure when she found a plump and perfect PAPER FIG…

paper fig olive whelk murex sanibel

Even though it was in the low 60s this morning, Nancy, Ruth and Jim were still very happy to be in shorts instead of parkas in Maryland.

nancy ruth jim maryland visits sanibel florida

It was such a lovely morning!

UPDATE 12-17-13- disregard this next statement (starting with “FYI”). We just got news that the Sanibel side of blind pass will remain open.
But…. FYI- I just got word this afternoon that Blind Pass Sanibel parking lot might be closing soon for a few weeks. The beach renourishment project will be moving to the Sanibel side of Blind Pass soon to fill in some of the beach that has been eroded since Hurricane Sandy. “Both parking lots adjacent to Blind Pass will now likely be used by construction to finish beach project. So, expect no parking lot for next two weeks.” Ugh… This is the bad news I heard today from Mike of the Captiva Erosion Prevention District. Thanks for the update, Mike! For any other updates, go to http://mycepd.com

shelling at dawn

I’ve been asked countless times if I think shelling is best at day break. I always respond saying “the best time to shell is… any chance you can get to the beach”. But when the tide is really low like every day predicted this week (Tide Chart CLICK HERE), it’s a blast to get out in the morning with all of the other hard core shellers…. on any beach in Southwest Florida. It was so worth it to find these favorites of mine

pams favorite shells december 16

Join me on a Shelling Adventure!

shelling adventures trips by pam

gallery-check-out-iloveshelling