clean sand dollars on drying rack

There are days when hundreds of COCKLE shells… or DOSINIA shells… or PEN SHELLS wash up on the beach. Well, this past week (and lots of random weeks this year) there were hundreds- if not thousands- of SAND DOLLARS washing up on the beach.

sand dollar beach cairn stack

Lots of them were still living (!) but some were perfectly bare of cilia and spines which means they can no longer be alive.

Sanibel seashells and sand dollars

If you have any doubts whether a SAND DOLLAR is alive or dead, please leave it where you found it. But if you want to learn how to tell the difference, please CLICK HERE for my post How To Identify Differences Between Live And Dead Sand Dollars.

Collecting sand dollars on Sanibel Island

Local sheller Karen knows the ones she can keep and was as dumbfounded as I was to find gazillions of them scattered all over the beach.

Karen with sand dollars found sanibel

So many in perfect condition.

finding sand dollars on the beach

If you look closely at this next photo, you’ll see those dark spots throughout the sand- most of those were still the live ones dotting the beach.

sunset sanibel stoop sand dollars

It always feels like such a special day to just see one, so I was feeling like I won the SAND DOLLAR lottery.

sand dollars at sunset

We have a nice collection of SAND DOLLARS already so I don’t normally pick them up any more… but… I had a few events planned this week to visit with friends so Clark and I gathered a few up to give as gifts. We placed them overnight in a bleach solution then rinsed them off in the morning. CLICK HERE for a more detailed tutorial for cleaning SAND DOLLARS.

cleaning sand dollars

We then placed them in the sun all day to dry out. They made for wonderful party favors for my friends that evening. Gifts from the sea.

clean bleached sand dollars on drying rack

We just had some strong winds move in this morning so all of these sweet beach bucks might get covered back up with the wave action. We always have to remember not to take anything for granted- they’re here one day and maybe gone the next. It happens that fast!

I’m working on new dates for our iLoveShelling cruises. I hope to have dates very soon so I can see y’all when you come to SW Florida to visit! I have through January… so CLICK HERE to join us!

shelling adventures trips by pam