Archive for Dwarf Olive
Tiny Trail In The Sand
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live dwarf olive
I took a lovely walk at the lighthouse beach with my friend Susan S. this morning and pointed out a few sand trails leading to live LETTERED OLIVES …
Olive shell siphon
Then she asked me what kind of shell was making this trail…
live dwarf olive sand trail
It looked just like an AUGER trail as I remembered those beautiful tracks I had photographed in 2010 then turned into “AUGER ART” . But I was wrong! It was a DWARF OLIVE. I wonder how many times I had seen them but had just assumed it was an AUGER. I know…never assume.
live rice olive shell
I like to call these tiny little OLIVES “RICE SHELLS” since they look like grains of rice. Here’s a short video of this live little cutie…
But wait! We saw more live shells. Robyn from Singapore (!) wanted to know what was coming out of this shell that was so bright orange. It’s a live HORSE CONCH! And all of that “orange stuff” is the live mollusk that made the shell….. and as I was explaining that, the animal squirted a stream of salty water at us. Ha!
Robyn Singapore horse conch
She knew she couldn’t keep a live shell so she happily walked it out to the sand bar where she found it.
live horse conch sanibel lighthouse
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
