Archive for Coquina
The Coquina Cover-Up
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Coquina with fire
The COQUINAS are here again! I’ve never seen so many live coquinas in the shoreline all in a bunch like colorful jumping beans. Ok, they weren’t jumping but they were squirming to cover themselves up every time a wave fluffed them up.
Handful of coquinas
I even got them on a short video! 
They come in every color of the rainbow it seems. Yet, another tiny treasure.
Yellow coquina
Orange coquina
Rose Petal Tellins
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“Lots of fun looking and were rewarded with quite a few doubles and many halves! We love shelling!! 
” -from Tina
She found these ROSE PETAL TELLINS yesterday evening. I don’t find these very often- mostly on sand bars and sand flats on Lover’s Key in Bonita Beach or North Capitva . Please let us know where you found them , Tina, when you get a chance (Sanibel?). Shell crafters love these shells since they are so colorful and larger than the colorful COQUINA. Great finds!
Small Treasures, Big Pleasure
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Lace murex, turban, button, banded tulip, wentletrap, drill, coquina, and more
How could anybody not think that the smaller shells aren’t fun to collect too? Look at these cuties! You can look them up on the Seashell Identification Guide to find the names of each one. The only ones you won’t find probably are the LEOPARD CRAB shells (top middle) since they aren’t mullosks…they are shells of a crab…but they sure are pretty. You can always find treasures on Sanibel and Captiva if you take your time and look at how beautiful the shells are that you find….even if they are small.
Justin and Adria (Texas)
That’s why I enjoyed meeting Justin and Adria from Texas. It looks like she’s holding an empty bucket but that’s only because all of those smaller shells that she was finding slid down out of the shot. I asked her if she was finding anything good and she said “All of these shells are fantastic! We don’t have anything like this at home.” She and Justin were tickled with their tiny treasures and the time they get to spend on Sanibel while visiting family every year. Some times it’s just the simple pleasures that are the best. Don’t you think?
Commingling Memories
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Cindy (Minnesota)
It was Cindy’s last day at Casa Ybel Resort so she was shelling as much of the daylight possible before she has to go back to Minnesota tomorrow. She had found a tiny OLIVE and a few bright orange iridescent JINGLES. She mentioned that she had found many different colors of JINGLES throughout the week including black, grey, white and yellow and lots of other wonderful shells.
Cindy’s sister Mary wanted to show me all of the shells that they had collected over the week and invited me to their condo that they had rented together along with their husbands. On their screened in porch just steps from the beach, they had a whole table filled with all kinds of great shells. Mary pointed out that there was a clear line right down the middle of the table……on the left side of the table were only Mary’s shells. On the right side…..Cindy’s shells. “There will be no commingling of shells” they both said. Haha! Love it!
Mary's shells (left side), Cindy's shells (right side)
It looks like they both did pretty well finding FIGHTING CONCHS, OLIVES, lots of those gorgeous bright JINGLES, KITTEN’S PAWS, COCKLES, SCALLOPS, CLAMS, ANGEL WINGS (wow! They are hard to find intact), WHELKS, TURKEY WINGS, AUGERS, COQUINAS, TULIPS, MAUREXES and a little candy corn HORSE CONCH.
Sisters Cindy and Mary (Minnesota)
These sisters might not be commingling shells but they will be “commingling” memories of this incredible week that they said they’ve had on Sanibel. And thanks for inviting me to visit your showcase of shells!
Horse Conch, Leopard Crab shell with minis
Colorful Coquinas
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Yellow Coquina on top of other shells
The COQUINAS are starting to show up all over the islands. They are so small, colorful and look just like a beautiful butterfly. I found this yellow one pictured on the left and the red one pictured below on the Sanibel side of Blind Pass.
Red Coquina
When I got home, Jane emailed me this picture of lots of beautiful COQUINAS that she found at the Lighthouse (I’m assuming that’s where she found them) this morning. Look at all of the different colors! And some look like sunbursts.
Jane's Coquinas
She wrote in her email “It was a COQUINA kinda day at the beach”. You are right, Jane. We were on opposite ends of the island and we saw the same shells come in.
