whelkom whelk sunrise sanibel

 Sunrise. There’s something so peaceful about beach combing on Sanibel as the sun rises over the Gulf Of Mexico. It makes the rest day even more special after receiving a gift of the sea like this beautiful LIGHTNING WHELK.

sanibel island sunrise welcomes whelk shell

Soooo…. why don’t I do it more often??? Ack! It’s terrible that I don’t take advantage of seeing such an incredible welcome from the sun each day. But… I’m just not a morning person.  I do love to shell in the morning when there is a very low tide like this week at sunrise so I went to Gulfside City Park to find these beauties…

sandy shells of sanibel florida

Every day has been such different shelling at Blind Pass the past few weeks so since I was already up and at ’em, I showed up at Blind Pass Sanibel by 8 am to find the shell pile getting even bigger. As I’ve said before, it only take 2 hours for this beach to change from “not many shells” to “Holy cowrie! Look at all the shells!”.

sanibel shell pile blind pass

I met Carol and Terri from Pennsylvania who were thrilled with their morning treasures…

carol terri pennsylvania visit sanibel shells

These were Terri’s fave finds. Wow! She said if she had to pick one, that stunning GAUDY NATICA (COLORFUL MOON SHELL) was her ultimate find.

cone gaudy natica moon shell

I asked Carol what her fave treasures were from the morning and this is what she showed me. Wow again! Two dark KINGS CROWNS and they both found CANDY!

whelk tulip conch olive seashells

This was just a peek in Terri’s shell bag…

shells in a bag

So I think I will just enjoy the few mornings like this when I have the umpfff to get out to see sunrise.

sanibel shells wash ashore

It makes the day even more special.

sanibel tulip shell at sunrise

I’m working on dates for more shelling adventures so I hope to have those by the end of the week. Stay tuned!

shelling adventures trips by pam