Archive for Fighting Conch
Cockles, Conchs and Quahogs
Posted by: | Comments
After several weeks of east winds, the west winds have finally arrived to drive some shells on to our beaches. Today was only the first day of the westies but since it was a really low tide this morning, I figured I’d find some goodies. It’s always a good day when you find an ALPHABET CONE and you’ve got to see just how darn cute this little juvie HORSE CONCH is…
I couldn’t believe I found this ANGEL WING sitting in the high wrack line…
I love when I find shells like this BANDED TULIP lying on the beach like this.
Tonya, Beth and Max from Ohio had their bags filled with all sorts of treasures.
Wanna look in their shell bags? I sure wanted to too! COCKLES and CONCHS and CLAMS…
Max found this live LIGHTNING WHELK in the high tide wrack line so he walked it down to the water and gently put it in the water. Good for you Max! You helped save this beauty.
I found local Sanibel sheller Lynn walking her very happy standard poodle Alexander with a pocket full of seashell treasure too.
Look at those pretty those COLORFUL MOON shells along with those candies and a mini TURE TULIP.
There was all sorts of bivalves scattered along the beach. I found this ATLANTIC COCKLE, PONDEROUS ARK and SOUTHERN QUAHOG together on the beach just like this…
This is the biggest DARK CERITH I’ve ever found. It’s one and a half inches long!
I was pretty pleased with what we all were finding on the beach near Donax Street today after the first day of west winds. Tomorrow might be even better!
Two True Tulips In One Whopping Week
Posted by: | Comments
I got a call from friend and shelling guide Captain Brian about this guy Nick Hahn who comes to Sanibel every year and is a shell magnet. This year in only one week, he found these two huge colorful TRUE TULIPS! He found one at Cayo Costa (on one of the out islands on a shelling trip) and the second one he found in between Blind Pass Sanibel and Bowmans Beach. He said he even found a few more but they were alive so he had to put those back.
He also found a white spined SEA URCHIN that someone told him was special. Hmmm. I’ve seen a few of these on the beach but I just assumed they were just bleached by the sun. So when I saw this one with all of his other beach combing treasures, I looked it up. Sure enough, there is a WEST INDIAN SEA EGG found in Florida (but mostly more south in the Caribbean) with white spines.
After looking closer, the test is of this URCHIN is almost black instead of the purplish color of the PURPLE SEA URCHIN that we often see after a storm. I’ll have to add this to my Beach Bling Identification page!
Isn’t it so appropriate that he also found this very unusual pattern on a FIGHTING CONCH with the letter “H” on it ….. for Hahn? Congrats on all your special finds, Nick!
A Few Special Finds
Posted by: | Comments
I used to think that all white FIGHTING CONCHS were just regular shells that were bleached by the sun until I saw the albino conch Lee Garret found and Mary Ann’s photo of multi color FIGHTING CONCHS on my post in February… Prettiest Speckled Tellin . I’ve been looking for one ever since I saw theirs so last week we found one that was albino-ish but now we found an unmistakable shiny white ALBINO FIGHTING CONCH. I love to find a special shell that I’ve probably overlooked in the past but now have learned to appreciate it so much.
We’ve had rain in the mornings at low tide the last few days but even in the rain, I found other shellers. As you can see the shoreline at Blind Pass Captiva, there may not be any new shells coming in but there are still shells on a high wrack line to pick through.
On the Sanibel side of Blind Pass, I walked out to the beach (in the rain) and met shelling sistah Cecile (AL) soaked to the bone but having such a good time scooping shells in the surf. She said until she hears thunder or sees lightning… she’s gonna be shelling. All she needed was little mini windshield wipers for her glasses. She had just found a WORMIE!
As soon as she said that, we heard a little clap of thunder in the distance so we both walked back to our cars where it was a pleasure to meet the rest of her family. Since it was raining, Irene thought she’d stay in the car and wait for Cecile to get her shelling fix and wait for the goodies to be brought to her. Talk about special… it is her birthday next month. You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you how old she is gonna be….. 92! Happy birthday Irene!
Birthday girl Irene with a nutmeg
I was excited to meet a couple more shelling sistahs for the first time yesterday at lunch. If you’ve ever read any of the comments here on these posts, you probably “know” Roxanne Reinhart and Sheri Zipp! I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for almost 2 years now and they have been dear to my heart for giving me such good feedback and conversation for almost the whole entire time. I have no idea how they found iLoveShelling to begin with but I’m grateful and that I saw both of them together. Here’s a picture of my special “finds” Roxanne, Sheri and Sheri’s daughter Samantha.
Mingle With Jingles
Posted by: | Comments
Seashell treasures come in all sizes and colors that can be overlooked so easily. I had to remember that because I was only finding lots of broken shells and live shells this weekend but not the Sanibel Six or anything close. Then I realized that the beach was looking a little different…. a bit darker. I looked a little closer to see there were gobs of JINGLES washing in but instead of being the usual white, yellow or orange (my fave), they were the black ones.
They look like deep, smokey gems to me so I went a little crazy picking them up.
This is how many live FIGHTING CONCHS there were at low tide…
Clark found a live white FIGHTING CONCH. This might be called an albino even though it’s got a little color.
But maybe I should just call it albino-ish.
Even though I found lots of broken shells, I found a really good broken shell… piece of a LION’S PAW.
That still doesn’t come close to the beautiful ALPHABET CONE that 9 year old Zenith (MN) found. Congrats Zenith!
Another Sanibel Cyber Shelling Adventure
Posted by: | Comments
I found that CARRIER SHELL I showed you on my last post Carried Away By A Carrier Shell but since I was so excited, I didn’t get to show you the rest of the shells I found. Aren’t the beautiful? It was an amazing day.
But wait, I’ve got a shell pile for you cyber shellers out there! I promise, I did not touch one thing in this pile before I took the next picture. But be careful! If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you might have a little sensory overload. Use caution, please.
OMG I just looked at that photo again! I missed another CONE!!! Did you spot it? TWO cones…. and I just looked again- maybe THREE. I worked this pile a while so I could have gotten it on another swipe but I definitely didn’t get it on the first run. I guess I was gathering every ounce of patience not to pluck this WORMIE, CANDIE and ALPHIE (notice the ultra cuteness clue of the “ie”endings) off the beach so I could take the picture.
So just a few minutes after finding this little seashell honey hole, I found the CARRIER SHELL and had to do a video. I hope you can see some of the other shells in that “troth” (I don’t think I’ve ever called it that before, but it sure did seem like one- LOL).
Oh yeah, something else cool…there was a live four legged BRITTLE STAR in one of the tidal pools.
Cone Queen, Sanibel Seeker and Golfer Of The Sea
Posted by: | Comments
All eleven of these ALPHABET CONES were found within four days of shelling this week along Sanibel’s West Gulf Drive by Wendy from West Palm Beach, FL. Talk about an eye for shelling! And she even found another one that wasn’t in that bunch. I’d say she is the CONE QUEEN.
She found these FLORIDA CONES and COLORFUL MOON SHELLS too!
But even when she isn’t lucky enough to find all of these CONE shells, she is still having fun picking up other shells with her friends to use as embellishments. Love this- they strung these shells around her straw hat. So cute!
Yes, that hat is awfully cute, but these hats just stole my heart! LaDonna, Carla and Belinda were all sporting their iLoveShelling caps when I saw them on the same beach. Weehooo! Shelling Sistahs!
We had the best time chatting it up when I spotted something pretty nice in Shelling Sistah Carla’s shell bag (you might recognize her name from her comments- Carla Knotts!). She found an excellent LIGHTNING WHELK.
She said she was happy they were already finding lots of shells but even happier just be on Sanibel. It holds a special place in her heart and I could see she wanted to capture every second on that beach and never let it go. She’s not just a shell seeker but a Sanibel seeker.
Then I ran into our local friends Dick and Mary…..
They look like they have golf clubs, don’t they? Belinda said Dick looked like he was the “Golfer of the Sea”. It would be appropriate since Clark plays golf with him every Sunday and both admitted they were better shellers than golfers.
The Golfer of the Sea found a pretty nice SHARK’S EYE….
I was tickled when they introduced me to Ernest Hemingway! Errrr, well, he looks like Papa anyway….. and has even won a look-a-like contest in Key West.
Tom, Linda, Dick and Mary
It was an amazing day yesterday off beach access #7 to find so many shells but the best thing was to meet many new friends and to see a few old ones too (and I dont mean in age! LOL).
Fighting Conchs
Red True Tulip
