Archive for Blind Pass
Shelling Goes To Guppies And Gulls
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The full moon low tide yesterday made for a beautiful morning walk at Blind Pass Captiva. But there was so much sand filling in around the jetty on both sides that I wasn’t finding the seashell treasures that usually build up there.
As you can see the beach on the left hand side has filled in again like it did last year in December so I walked along the sand bar towards the bridge….. and finally found treasures.
I was tickled to find this beautiful LIGHTNING WHELK up on the beach…
The minute I finished taking this picture below, the big WHELK caught me eye because it seemed to change position. There was a crab in there! He was tucked in there so deeply I didn’t see anything in there when I picked the shell up. Woops! Back in the water he went to grow big enough to claim his home a little better. So I had to hunt for another WHELK to make my Sanibel Six complete.
Earlier in the week, I walked down the beach in Captiva with my friend Ellen at low tide to find hundreds and hundreds of GULLS and other birds hanging out.
They were having a feast on thousands of tiny fish caught in the tidal pool. It was fascinating being there to see half these birds enjoying an early Thanksgiving and watching the other half probably feeling a little overstuffed wanting just to take a nap. Ellen and I couldn’t figure out what kind of fish they were munching o so I’ll just call them Guppies… I know they aren’t guppies… but enjoy Guppies And Gulls with Ellen and me.
Cyber Shelling Bivalves
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How could anyone think KITTENS PAWS aren’t cute? It was like it had rained KITTEN’S PAWS yesterday since there were so many on the beach at Blind Pass Captiva. Here’s a cyber shelling photo so you can virtually pick through the piles and find some yourself. Enjoy!
Also mixed in were hundreds of TRANSVERSE ARKS…
Oodles of CROSS BARRED VENUS clams…
And a few LADY-IN-WAITING VENUS clams mixed in too…
I would say that the KITTEN’S PAWS, CROSS BARRED VENUS and the TRANSVERSE ARKS are the most common shells on Sanibel but I’m still not convinced what the top six commons shells are. I just loved seeing so many LADY-IN-WAITING VENUSes mixed in too, I wanted to show you those. They are so pretty and I normally never pay attention to them. When I don’t have a lot of time, I need to stay out of the sun for a bit or we are having lots of scattered showers, I just like to stop by the beach for a short time and enjoy all of the shells that I seem to neglect the rest of the year. Most of the shells in this next photo are all bivalves…. they did not let me neglect them this time.
PS- I have no idea how that board got there. I guess it washed up?
Pet Names Allowed On Beach
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I love to give my favorite things pet names. I have silly names for my kitties (Dust Ball and Blackie), hundreds of silly names for Clark (I’ll stick with “Super Sheller” for my blog- ha) and we even have a pet name for Blind Pass which is Blind Pat’s (click HERE for the story).
After all day of rain and 18 mph north west winds yesterday, I asked Clark if he wanted to head to Blind Pat’s. Of course! We didn’t find much on the Sanibel side so we walked over the bridge to find more shells…. and an awesome family. When I asked their names they all laughed. They were cracking up! Did I miss something? Then they told me (through their laughter) when they take a beach vacation, they always give each other beach pet names. So cute! I love that! Let me introduce you to Beachy, Tide, Cocoa and Aqua….
Beachy, Tide, Cocoa, Aqua
Beachy (aka-Maria) found that huge WORM SHELL along with lots of other goodies. Tide (aka-Dan) had a whole bag filled with treasures and is holding up a TULIP. Cocoa (aka-Debby) is holding up a FIGHTING CONCH and a MUREX and Aqua (aka-Maddy) found a SCOTCH BONNET (!) at the same spot on Wednesday and is holding up a TULIP and WHELK. Aqua also found this candy corn (my pet name for the HORSE CONCH).
I stopped by Blind Pat’s again today but didn’t see much yet in the way of new shells and I didn’t see Tide’s family either. BTW- don’t you think they ought to add “Tide” to the baby name book? This could be the new trend!
PS- I might have to borrow that beach name “Aqua” for my next vacation!
Sanibel 6 At Blind Pass
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We finally got down to Blind Pass last night just in time to catch the -0.1 low tide. As usual, the beach has changed since a week ago when we were there last and the sand bars have shifted. The best thing was… more shells! And I met Shelling Sistah Lisa (a Virginia Beach girl too!) with her blue shell bag filling up with The Sanibel Six and more like a TURKEY WING and some sweet KITTEN’S PAWS.
Lisa’s husband Eric (they are both teachers- love those teachers!) was doing just as well…
Eric told me he found something “a little different” ….. he found a beautiful NUTMEG!
I also met Denise and PC from Savannah, GA with…. yep, the Sanibel Six along with TURBANS and more plus a WORMIE!! I was surprised to see there were a few WORM SHELLS out there too 
.
Then the sky started turning dark and the storm was getting closer. I know, look at all those larger shells on the beach! They were mostly PEN SHELLS, cracked FIGHTING CONCHS and DOSINIAS.
And look what the backhoe pulled up in one scoop! An ALPHABET CONE and a TRUE TULIP! That was the last hurrah. We headed off the beach before the storm got any closer.
Most of you probably don’t use Twitter but I sometimes enjoy a small tweet or two….. especially yesterday when I got this tweet from @Lifesabeach that said “What we found at Blind Pass yesterday”. This photo was attached ( you can click on it to go to her photo page)…..Yowza!
photo by Lifesabeach
Okay I have one more thing….. I need to be serious just for a second. It’s about the strong currents and rip tides that occur often at Blind Pass…. especially with the tidal changes. It can be very dangerous! Really! Think about it….the same water that can sweep all of those shells to the shore in a matter of minutes can sweep a person out into danger. Just please be smart and careful(even if you are a strong swimmer!) if you feel a strong current, undertow or rip tides- go shell on the beach or just she shallow water. Okay, I want to leave you on a good note so go back and look at all of Lisa’s shells in the first photo so you can smile again!
Junonia Schmanonia
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Blind Pass from Captiva looking towards Sanibel
Yesterday evening at around 6:30 pm was a nice negative low tide at Blind Pass of -0.2 . Look at all the people shelling on the sand bars all the way across the pass. Of course since Clark has found 2 JUNONIAS in the last couple of weeks (mind you, they aren’t perfect by far- I’m not complaining, just stating facts- ……I sound jealous, don’t I? grrrr- but if you really want to see them click HERE and HERE) I figured there’s no way I’d find one too but there’s always something else interesting to find out there.
No, I didn’t find one of those little JUNONIA buggers (I’m still sounding jealous, aren’t I.) but I was happy to find this sweet FLORIDA CONE right off the bat. I was especially happy when I found this cute family from North Carolina who found over 25 SAND DOLLARS! Lisa Marie called them the SAND DOLLAR whisperers.
Kim, Hannah and Abby with sand dollars
Abby's sand dollars
Speaking of shelling sistah Lisa Marie, here she is with her son Jeff having a great time filling their shell bags with all sorts of goodies…
Jeff and Lisa Marie (NJ)
Jeff found the prettiest LACE MUREX I’ve seen in a long time….
I met a family from Brasil so excited to see live OLIVES and CONCHS but even happier to find empty shells to pluck in their shell bags.
Marisol, Renan and Enzo
Okay, I guess I have to fess up now……. YES! I am a little jealous of Clark’s JUNONIA finding ability. The man’s got the pattern down to find those stupid stinkin’ elusive SCHMANONIAS (yes, I made that word up). Would you believe me if I told you he found another one last night? I probably wouldn’t if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. But, he did. He found it on the Sanibel side down on the edge of the surf way passed the sand bar that sticks out almost to that huge house on the beach. And it’s in so much better shape than last week’s shell.
Really, I still can’t believe it and it’s just getting weird now. LOL Like Julie commented last weekend “Ok, now he’s just showing off! But we love him anyway.” Ha! Look at his face in this picture, he even looks a little embarrassed- like he’s hoping nobody will “booo” him.
Alright, I was green with envy but I can’t help but be happy for him now that I’ve gotten the jealousy off my chest. Another congrats to you Clark! This will only make it sweeter when I find my perfect VOLUTE.
The Sanibel Captiva Shell Report
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Captiva Great Blue Heron
I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that I’m catching you up on the good shelling from the week and if you are coming to visit, there are still shells at Blind Pass (Sanibel and Captiva), minis at the lighthouse and just west of the lighthouse we’ve been finding lots of other shells that I’ll show you.
Brianne and Kelly shell collecting
Brianne and her mom Kelly (AZ) were at the lighthouse beach finding SCALLOPS, WHELKS and CONCHS but the most unusual find for Kelly was part of a CRUCIFIX SHELL. It brings good luck!
Kelly's crucifix shell
They also found some beautiful PAPER FIGS in the low tide pools…
Paper fig
You’ve got to do The Sanibel Stoop to be able to spot good ones in the tidal pools.
Sanibel Stoop at dusk
The Stoopin found her this one….a double SUNRAY VENUS!
Kelly's Sunray Venus
Brianne was finally able to find and hold a live STARFISH for a minute or two to admire it before she safely put it back in the water.
Brianne starfish gazing
After talking to Liz and Sergio (central FL) while they were admiring a live SAND DOLLAR , Liz told me she was a record holder for the largest ALBINO LIGHTNING WHELK and received a Best In Show award at a Florida shell show. She found it at Lover’s Key about 10 years ago. Dang it! I forgot to write down how big it was so maybe she’ll comment and let us know.
Liz and Sergio (FL)
As we were walking west from the lighthouse the tidal pool got wider and wider for us to see live creatures and empty shells as well. This is Katie from Houston without a shell bag but making due by lining her treasures on her arm like a shelf…
Katie (TX)
Katie's shells
This area (around the Seaside Inn) was about where I found the live SHARK’S EYE I showed a video of yesterday. If you didn’t see the video, it’s a cool one you don’t want to miss so CLICK HERE.
Tidal pool Sanibel Island
To catch you up on Captiva’s Blind Pass, I stopped there on Thursday to find…. ahhhhh- such beautiful calm, aqua water with a pile of shells by the jetty.
Captiva aqua water
Sharon (Orlando, FL) was having a great time replenishing her shell collection since she just used most of her shells….. this is so sweet….. to decorate for her wedding last week. She is on her honeymoon!
Sharon (FL)
She was happy as a clam finding ….well finding CLAMS…and SCALLOPS….and CONCHS….and this COLORFUL MOON SHELL.
Colorful moon shell
With all this happiness, I don’t even want to give you the bad news. It’s just that my little Smittie the Kitty is sick again so that’s why I haven’t been keeping up with getting out all the shelling news too timely. I think she’s going to be okay now… oh it’s too much info to go into …but she’ll be a RadioCat next month- and that’s some good news!
Smittie the pretty kitty
