seashells at South Seas Resort Captiva Florida

South Seas Island Resort on the north tip of Captiva Island has always held special memories for Clark and me. It was our first vacation spot together when we lived in Virginia Beach and the first time we ever beach combed together. It’s the beach where I fell in love with WORM SHELLS… oh yeah… and Clark too (heehee). As I walked down to the jetty rocks towards Redfish Pass this morning (reminiscing) I was soooo excited to find such a fun shell wrack line with a SAND DOLLAR, double SUNRAY VENUSES, CONCHS, WHELKS, a WORMIE (!) and other goodies.

shell filled beach at South Seas Island Resortshell filled beach at South Seas Island Resort

The shells were just rolling in…

seashells on the beach south seas island resort captiva florida

On the other side of the jetty (on the pass side) there were lots of shells caught in between the rocks…

shells in the jetty rocks south seas resort captiva

Even in the sand throughout the beach (recently renourished sand), I found lots of CHESTNUT TURBANS,  a CARRIER SHELL and all sorts of minis…

handful of seashells south seas resort captiva

This was a particularly handsome CHESTNUT TURBAN…

orange striped chestnut turban shell captiva

A sweet PURPLISH TAGELUS…

purplish tagelus shell south seas captiva

But… I can’t even tell how thrilled I am to have found one of these shells for the first time…. a CROSS-HATCHED LUCINE (or Divalinga quadrisulcata). Dr Jose Leal of the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum said “Not found here before, Smithsonian has lot in their collection from deeper in the Gulf, so I am not surprised to see it here. Good, solid find”. Kris from Shellabaloo 4 found one on Captiva too!

divalinga quadrisulcata bivalve lucine shell

It’s a beautifully detailed shell so you bet I will be looking for more!

interior divalinga quadrisulcata seashell

I even found a piece of JUNONIA this morning too. I felt like a kid in a candy store since there was nobody else out there shelling. I had the whole beach to myself!  It’s a private beach for everybody who stays at South Seas Island Resort or owns a home there (like a friend of mine) so I felt so fortunate to be able to beach comb there this morning. Check out the satellite map of this north tip area… CLICK HERE.

seashells at south seas island resort january

shelling adventures trips by pam

 

photo art gallery pam rambo i love shelling