Archive for Cloudy Periwinkle
Captiva Cruises Boat To Cayo Costa
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Another Spring Break adventure! On Wednesday, Lori, Hayley, Culter and I went to the secluded island of Cayo Costa to relax and enjoy another gorgeous day on the islands.
I had problems getting out our own boat (Clark was busy at work so he couldn’t help) so we decided to take the easy route and hop on the Captiva Cruises shelling boat Play Time for the afternoon trip.
Low and behold, guess who our captain was… my buddy Captain Brian Holaway! It was a nice surprise!
After securing the boat on the south tip of Cayo Costa, Capt Brian walked over to our shelling spot to join us for a few minutes and immediately picked up an ALBINO YELLOW PRICKLY COCKLE. Wow, can he spot those albinos! Remember he won a red ribbon for his ALBINO WHELK at the Sanibel Shell Show this year? Amazing!
I didn’t find an albino but I quickly found a handful of my own fave honeys.
BABY’S EARS and FALSE ANGEL WINGS (they look like cute little juvie ANGEL WINGS)…
Lots of beauteous JINGLES…
A couple of CLOUDY PERIWINKLES…
I also found a PURPLISH SEMELE (left) and a CANCELLATE SEMELE (right). I’m not sure why I don’t find more of these on Sanibel but I have better luck finding them on Cayo Costa, North Captiva and in Marco. hmmmm
I had thought at one time that this BRYOZOAN COLONY was a type of CORAL but as you can see side by side… it’s not a piece of CORAL like the branch on the right. I found both of these past the tree roots on the Gulf side of the beach. (click HERE for more info on Bryozoan Colony)
Okay, this one might not be your taste but I thought this SOUTHERN RIBBED MUSSEL was just so pretty for some reason. One day, when I get a fancy camera to show you the nice details up close and personal, I promise…I’ll be able to capture more of the beauty in some of these obscure seashells.
After combing, sunning and shelling this gorgeous beach, Hayley, Cutler and Lori (VA) headed back to the boat with me after one more climb on the BLACK MANGROVE tree roots.
On the boat ride back, I couldn’t help but see how excited Margie, Kristi and Mike (California) were about their seashell loot!
They found oodles of ATLANTIC GIANT COCKLES…
Quite a few humongus SUNRAY VENUS CLAMS…
And a really big LEOPARD CRAB shell.
It was a perfect day on the water with calm aqua seas, warm temps in the 80s and DOLPHINS surrounding the boat.
And to top if off, it was great being with good friends and having lots of seashell souvenirs to bring home to remember the day.
Bobcat On North Captiva Beach
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I was stunned as I watched a young, wild bobcat casually stroll along a stretch of beach on North Captiva Island. The scene was so surreal, I couldn’t take my eyes off this beautiful beast. My heart skipped a few beats so I fumbled with my camera. Click, click. Yes! I felt so fortunate to have captured her in two photos.
My good friend Diane and I took her boat out for an island hopping adventure with her trusty dog Callie this weekend. Within 10 minutes of anchoring off North Captiva, Diane saw this gorgeous cat and held well behaved Callie tightly on her leash. We have never had any bobcats attacks so we weren’t afraid she would turn on us but then again, a bobcat is a wild animal. We didn’t want to disturb her in any way to make her feel threatened or nervous so we stayed out of her way so she could go on her merry way to find a nice rat appetizer before her raccoon tartar lunch.
Still in awe over our sighting, we hopped on over to Cayo Costa to see what the south tip had in store for us. Live CLOUDY PERIWINKLES!
I mean llllllots of PERIWINKLES.
Here’s cutie Diane (check out our Cayo Costa Camping adventure last year) and her sweet dog Callie….
Look who we ran in to… or should I say “phooned” in to. Captain Brian as in CaptainBrianOnTheWater ! So we (including Callie) had to phoon with Di’s boat.
We may not have found a boat load of shells but we sure had a “wild”, adventurous girls day on the calm gulf waters. Thanks Di!!
PS- You can only get to North Captiva and Cayo Costa by boat. I thought I’d add a map to show you where these islands are in relation to Sanibel. North Cap is marked by the purple circle in the top left corner and Cayo Costa is one island north of North Cap.
