Archive for Cockle
Sanibel Seashells In The Surf
Posted by: | Comments
Ten minutes. This is how long it took to find these little minis in the surf line by Fulger Street yesterday evening. Yes, I have an advantage, Super Sheller Clark was with me ….but still, it’s a nice little assortment. There is a beautiful sand bar visible at low tide that collects miniatures shells and lots of the big FIGHTING CONCHS, WHELKS and basically the Sanibel Six right in between the bars.
Here’s a video to show you exactly where we were, what to look for and how to pick them out…
We found other goodies too yesterday …..
No, I didn’t find these three lovelies all together like this but I found all three in the shallow water half way buried within…oh, maybe 20 yards of each other. Then a walked along to find these….
A few other finds along the way…..
I call this the “sea cucumber sandwich”. Ha! I found this SEA CUCUMBER inside a double DOSINIA. A cuke in a blanket!
The CALICO SCALLOPS are so colorful!
Michelle and Aggie (MI) were collecting DOSINIAS, COCKLES and FIGHTING CONCHS.
Michelle found a few empty ATLANTIC GIANT COCKLES with both sides together.
Aggie was especially happy she found this little sweet PEAR WHELK.
Shallow water wonderland.
My Family Visits The Island
Posted by: | Comments
It couldn’t have been a more perfect weekend. The sun was shining, temps in the 80s, low humidity, shells in the surf….. and the very best part….. my family came to visit!!!
Greg and Tee!
My brother and I grew up spending our summers on the beach at Sandbridge in Virginia Beach and vacationing on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The beach is in our blood so it’s a good thing we both found spouses that have that sand running through their blood too. My sister-in-law (the best a sister could ask for!) is all about the beach too so the first thing after the whole gang got here ….. we hit the beach.
Becky finding minis
Our friend Becky (and part of the family) was the first one to find out how glorious the miniature shell finds can be.
She found oodles of WENTLETRAPS, BUTTONS and BUBBLES scattered all along the Lighthouse beach on Saturday.
Clark and Greg in the shelling zone scooping up the mini shells.
This was exactly how one pile from their scooper looked after Clark or Greg dumped it on the beach for us to sift through. Go ahead, click on the photo above for some virtual shelling! How many WENTLETRAPS did you find?
My cutie niece Kelly spying some seashells too. I miss her already.
This was a mixed bag of minis after getting rinsed at home . Click on that photo too- you’ll love this virtual shelling too!
On Sunday we started the day on the Captiva side at Blind Pass and Becky was thrilled with sittin’ and siftin’ in the shell pile by the jetty.
Looky what I found! Dang! It’s not a whole JUNONIA but I’ll take it. This was good but it wasn’t even the best “part” of a shell found. Look what Clark found…..
A piece of a DEER COWRIE! This seashell isn’t even native to our area but last week I showed another piece that Donnie found on my post last week and a whole one February 15.
We walked over the bridge to the Sanibel side of Blind Pass and saw lots of new shells washing up. I can’t believe what Clark plucked out of the water near the pilings of the bridge….
A SCOTCH BONNET! The man is a Super Sheller!
Okay, it was cracked on the other side ….but still! Since I found part of a JUNONIA too, all we needed to complete the Elite Three was to find a LION”S PAW. Would the DEER COWRIE count? 
He also found this ALTERNATE TELLIN and …
This beautiful SUNRAY VENUS.
Greg tried two scoops of seashells to better his chances. LOL
Tee’s in the shelling zone too.
Becky and her daughter (and Kelly’s best friend) Maddy. Do they still say “BFF”…or was so last year?
There were plenty of COCKLES, FIGHTING CONCHS, WHELKS, MUREXES and DOSINIAS along with so many other shells to take home with them. Shelling Success for the family!
I’m Tellin’ On Some Tellins
Posted by: | Comments
White Crested Tellin
The island seashell telegraph was buzzing yesterday with the news that a rare WHITE CRESTED TELLIN was found by our shelling friend Nancy (see her on post Seashell In My Pocket) while she was shelling the out islands with her husband Dayton and their best friends Gary and Sandy. Look at the cool serrated edges on this shell- those aren’t chips. This photo only shows the one side of the shell…the other side is attached as well! They took it to the shop Sanibel Seashell Industries and he said it was a rare find.
Rose Petal Tellins
Gary found all of these ROSE PETAL TELLINS out on the out islands too. They got out there by hiring shelling guide Brian Holaway to take them out near North Captiva and Cayo Costa.
Yellow Alternate Tellin
I think it’s the prettiest yellow ALTERNATE TELLIN I’ve ever seen. Guess who found this. Nancy! She was a hawk eye out on those flats. This shell looks similar to a COQUINA in this picture but it’s about an inch bigger.
Alternate Tellins
These are the color that these TELLINS normally are. Nice… but can’t really compare to that yellow!
Nancy's Scotch Bonnet
Brian surely did not disappoint this crowd. Nancy found this SCOTCH BONNET too!! This was her first time she has found a SCOTCH BONNET and she said Brian seemed just as excited as she was.
Morton's Egg Cockle
They all found MORTON’S EGG COCKLES which are another shell crafter favorite since the inside is such a bright yellow. I forget the variety, but to me, they look like orchid petals. Please help me if you know what orchid I’m thinking of.
Purplish Tagelus
The shelling continued with PURPLISH TAGELUS shells.
Sandy's wentletrap
Sandy found this super big WENTLETRAP and lots of BABY’S EARS. You wouldn’t believe the bags and bags of goodies the whole gang brought back.
Bags of shells
They all could not get over how much fun they had and how many shells they found with Brian as their guide ( click HERE for info on Brian). Congrats to you all and thanks for sharing your goodies.
Gary, Sandy, Nancy and Dayton (MN) from October
Exploring New Seashells
Posted by: | Comments
Yellow Prickly Cockle
Ponderous Ark
See? I even gave this PONDEROUS ARK a second look when I normally would have passed right by it. Since the names are somewhat new to me (I would have normally named it an “ARK” shell but now I’m trying to learn the different categories too), we can learn these things together. So that means if I misidentify a shell, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
Alan (Maine)
I think Alan favors the univalves (or gastropods) too since he is showing off a FLORIDA CONE and some OLIVES. Check out his home made shelling rake!
Sanibel Anne (Sanibel... of course!)
I found Sanibel Anne working that same pile and watched her pull out that beautiful HORSE CONCH that she’s holding in her left hand. She makes shell mirrors and candlesticks from the shells she finds. Fun!
Over 20 mph north west winds washed up this pile of STONE CRAB pots on the beach two weeks ago. No wonder there are so many PIG’S FEET on the beach. These were the same winds that blew in the excellent shelling last month. We are expecting some good north west winds today “they” say about 16 mph (I’m not seeing anything yet) but maybe that’s enough for my JUNONIA to wash up. (?)
We had a little NW wind yesterday so I ran up to Blind Pass to see the shells were washing up on the Sanibel side. You can see in this picture how close that point of the sand bar on the Captiva side is to Sanibel now. Maybe we should do a pool on who gets to the closest date that when the Captiva exposed sand touches Sanibel exposed sand.
Yesterday there were more shells on the Sanibel side than on the Captiva side. Like I always say ….the beach changes by the day. You never know where the shells will show up.
Snowy Egret shelling
I took this next picture as I walked the entrance to the beach where there are sea grape trees lining the walkway. I had to stop to take in the beautiful palette of colors the leaves painted on the path.
Sanibel Shelling is Getting A Little Hairy
Posted by: | Comments
Hairy Triton
I was on the beach near Gulf Side City Park at 7 a.m. to catch the negative .7 low tide. The first person I saw was my friend Julie. She is an avid sheller but I’ve never run into her on the beach before since she always shells in the early mornings. Now that I’ve put on my big girl panties and get out to see the sunrise over the seashells (at times), I see different people. I’m so glad I ran into her because I was very excited to see a shell I’ve never seen before….. A HAIRY TRITON.
Hairy Triton aperture
It has so much hair, to me it looks like a werewolf ROCK SNAIL . Julie reassured me it was a HAIRY TRITON because her husband had found one a few years ago and entered it into the Sanibel Shell Fair and Show. Here’s Julie holding her rare treasure!…..
Julie (Sanibel)
Okay, I have to show you a close up of the “hair” on this shell.
Hairy Triton close up
That’s wild, huh?
Teresa and Alexandra (Indianapolis)
I met other avid shellers Teresa and Alexandra combing the beaches filling their bags with all sorts of goodies.
Alexandra with her shell collection
Today Alexandra was collecting BUTTERCUP LUCINES and EGG COCKLES. Shell crafters love those BUTTERCUPS for making shell flowers and I even saw a Christmas tree made with BUTTERCUPS this year.
Buttercup seashells
Maybe I don’t pay enough attention to the bivalves as I should so I didn’t know the name of the EGG COCKLE. I don’t see them often…. is it just me?
Velvet Egg Cockle
It was obviously an exciting morning to be at the beach. Enjoy the rest of the scenery…
Golden Sanibel Sunrise
True tulip (live and put back in the water)
Cockle shells at sunrise
The Cockle Collection (Video)
Posted by: | Comments
Atlantic Giant Cockle whole
It’s funny- I don’t usually pick up COCKLE shells. I guess because they are common on the beaches of Sanibel and I haven’t thought of a fabulous craft project for me to use them. My friend Sarah made that beautiful mirror I showed you on Septemeber 2, post Sarah’s Seashell Chandelier but then again, she only used four. So I don’t have a reason to pick them up….. until NOW! I can’t give you my reasons why YET (geez- I’m not big on secrets but this will be worth it!). I will be announcing this really big event hopefully this week.
Atlantic Giant Cockle half
I made this video yesterday so this shows you that there are still shells (and sponges and urchins and SEA PORK and lots of fun stuff) on the beach left over from last weekend’s wind and good tides.
On the Cockle hunt, we met Jim from Ohio enjoying the sunset sky and learned he was a big sheller too. He quickly bonded with Clark after discovering each of them had found two JUNONIAS (in the past) …… and ribbed me for my big fat zero. That’s OK fellas… “those who wait, find the biggest Junonias of all”.
Junonia Jim and Clark
Here’s a hint for the big event- It’s beginning to look a lot like……
