Archive for Coquina
Crayola Color Wheel Coquinas
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Hundreds of COQUINAS of every color were washing up on the east end of the island (Sanibel) last week.
We tried to be picky so we wouldn’t pick up too many of the pairs but after getting them home, I realized we had oodles of beautiful COQUINAS in every Crayola color.
We all love COQUINAS, don’t we? Look at the stripes and patterns in this next photo…
While Clark and I were on the COQUINA hunt, we met Doug and Amy visiting from Illinois. It was so nice to meet you guys!
BTW, Doug reminded me that “There is no noise in Illinois”. LOL I don’t know why I can’t remember the silent “s”- heehee- sorry yall!
There’s A Rainbow Somewhere
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We have finally gotten rain…..and rain….. and rain. We were so dry for so long but in the last few days, we’ve finally gotten some good rain for our yards and to cool things down. After a rain shower when I was a kid, I would always run to the front porch with my mom after the sun would peak out to look for rainbows. She’d shout “There’s got to be a rainbow somewhere! Let’s go see it!”.
So when the sun peaked out yesterday afternoon, I ran down to the beach to see if I could catch the rainbow. Yes, there it was! Ohhhh…wait! Don’t disappear! I caught just a smidge of it but it disappeared so quickly in the clouds.
Then the rain came again….. but I caught another rainbow. The rainbow colors of COQUINAS!
Miniature Seashell Zone
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Top row- Pear whelk, Drill, Dwarf olive, Bubble (above), Keyhole Limpet, Tusk, Wentletrap. Bottom row- Auger, Coquina, Murex, Fighting conch
Shelling is just like life…. look beyond the obvious and you will find something beautiful and extraordinary. I always feel a calmness come over me when I search for the mini shells. When I begin to focus on all the different wash lines of the beach, I feel myself zone everything else out.
Wentletrap in tidal pool
One weedy wash line leads me to another line of sticks, broken shells and what looks like mulch. See that little WENTLETRAP among all that “mulch”? I tried to keep that bubbly foam in the photo so you could tell how it was in about 2 inches of water.
Tidal pools at sunset
I come out of the shelling zone every once in a while to soak in how beautiful this time of day is here on the beach at the lighthouse. Calming.
Tusk shell in sand
Then I go into the shelling zone again and remember to look for TUSK shells too. Can you even spot the TUSK shell?
Tusk shell on my finger
I didn’t actually mean to focus on the sand instead of my finger but I’m kinda glad you got to see how big (or I should say how “little”) the TUSK shell is AND to see what the area looked like where I found it.
Sanibel lighthouse miniature shells
These are some of the same shells as the first picture but there’s also a CANTHARUS (top left with barnacles on it), 2 KITTENS PAWS, BARNACLES, a BABY’S EAR (broken), a TURBAN and 2 CROSS BARRED VENUS clams.
“Sometimes the treasures we take from the beach are the friends we meet there~” quote by Carla Barone…
Gerry (New Hampshire) with a sea whip
Chris (IL) collecting minis
Sanibel Lighthouse With A Splash Of Color
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We had a real treat tonight! We took a ride on the Fort Myers Princess Cruises cruise boat to watch the sunset over our sweet Sanibel.
I couldn’t help but take lots of pictures since I don’t get to see her from the water at sunset that often.
This beach in the above photo is where I found the ROSE PETAL TELLINS yesterday…. if you walk to the right about 20 yards.
Paradise found.
Speaking of those ROSE PETAL TELLINS, yesterday Kelli had asked what the difference was between these shells and COQUINAS. Well here they are together so you can identify the differences yourself. See ? The ROSE TELLINS are a little fatter along with the shape and hinge position. Also, the ROSE PETAL TELLINS can grow to over four times the size of COQUINAS. Here is another view of the insides of both shells….
My photograph on yesterday’s post, was a little deceiving because I didn’t shoot the shells flat so you couldn’t see how wide they were. I didn’t have a pink COQUINA handy to show you the inside color but this will show the difference in shapes and lines from the inside view. Now you can see a big difference? Hope this helps!
Colors of Coquinas
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Carol's Colors of Coquinas
It’s like a butterfly rainbow in the sand. The colors of these COQUINAS are so brilliant. This is so funny…. I posted this photo, then saw all the grains of sand on them and actually blew on it to get the sand off. LOL Too much sun today maybe???
Carol and Richard (Illinois)
Guess who this is! It’s CShells (Carol) the GiveAway winner of the Susick Sea Shell Sifter and her new shelling scoop. I met Carol and Richard at Gulfside City Park beach today to give her the prize. She started test driving her new scoop right away and we found these beautiful coquinas together while walking the beach. It was so nice to meet them both.
Coquina shells
Remember my video of the live Coquinas? Check it out… Coquina Cover-up.
Shelling Snorkelers
Surf at GulfSide City Park Sanibel
Colorful Coquinas
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Coquina beach on Sanibel
Hundreds of COQUINAS are washing up on the beach at the east end of Sanibel. Most of them are alive and actively digging back under the sand when the waves come crashing in. My picture above shows that by the late afternoon low tide , they might be getting a little tired of the constant waves coming in. I don’t blame them! That’s a lot of digging…. remember my Coquina Coverup video? I haven’t seen so many on our beaches since that day last month… until yesterday.
Coquina colors
Coquina stripes
The wind has been picking up from Tropical storm Bonnie so the kiteboarders were loving life and for us? There could be some really good shelling ….hmmmm…I’m guessing maybe on Sunday! Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Kiteboarder and coquinas
Kiteboarder in the air
I do have some more exciting news (other than we might have really fun shelling coming up this week from TS Bonnie). I attended a meeting this morning making the 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Show in 2012 the most spectacular week-long seashell event ever on the planet called “Shellabration!”. The fair is normally a 3 day event but in 2012 it will be February 26 through March 3 (as of now). A Shellebration for shellers! Yes! I will keep you posted.
