Archive for Bowman’s Beach

Feb
17

World Record Sanibel Stoop Scoop

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Sanibel Stoop Bowmans beach

After seeing over 700 hovering hineys on Bowman’s Beach today,  I’m sure there was a new record set for the Guinness Book of World Records doing the Sanibel Stoop.

Sanibel Stoop Guinness Book

It was a blast to experience this spectacular kickoff for the 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Show with so many shellers bending over … with butts in the air … to do the Sanibel Stoop all at one time.

Sanibel stoop stoopers

Before we started stooping, it was like a party while I stood in line with friends Karen, Gail, Sandy and Jane to register our names to make it official.

karen gail sandy jane stoop

Then we all headed to the beach…

beach path to Sanibel Stoop

Sanibel stoop crowd

My good friend Lisa showed up in style with her iLS cap! But why are Jane and I turned around? We put our tees backwards for the stoop overhead photos- ha!)

me Lisa Jane sanibel stoop

Then the party got crazy when 3 other beach bloggers showed up! Here’s the shark’s tooth queen of Englewood Kaybe (The Essential Beachcomber), the  ultimate shelling guide Captain Brian (Captain Brian On The Water) and Rhonda (of Shellbelle’s Tiki Hut). That’s Capt. Brian’s boat anchored in the background. He came by water to the stoop!

kaybe capt brian, shellbelle

Wahoo! Here comes the helicopter for the overhead count and photos!

helicopter over Bowmans beach sanibel stoop

sanibel helicopter

Everybody in stoop position!

Sanibel stoop record break guinness

The crowd went wild after the chopper passed the second time for a “shellabratory” spin..

Stoopers shellabrate helicopter

 The organizers did a fabulous job getting this event together. They even gave away free tee shirts for the first several hundred “stoopers” to register. Darn! I was too late!

seashell stoop helicopter

 When I get more scoop on the outcome of the stoop, I’ll share the word. Let’s keep our fingers crossed we make it in the Guinness Book Of World Records. It was a day to remember for Shellabration 2012!

biggest sanibel junonia

me capt brian kaybe

sandy jane pam aqua

Nov
04

Golden Girl Gets Seashell Gold

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Golden olive Joanne

When Joanne showed me her CABRIT’S MUREX last weekend, she told me she also had found a GOLDEN OLIVE almost the color of a pumpkin. It is! It’s brilliant! Look at the color on this gem.

Golden olive aperture Joanne

Her GOLDEN OLIVE  is quite a prize but when she told me she had found a golden LEAFY JEWEL BOX with both sides together as well….. that’s when I got excited. I just had to see it.

leafy jewel box joanne

Now you might not think this is really pretty right away, but look at the colors and texture on this shell.

leafy jewel box side joanne

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen both sides still together of a LEAFY on the beach before.

leafy jewel box opening

I have collected single valves for my own stash but never have shown one to you because it never looked interesting enough or it didn’t photograph well….okay, actually…. I thought you might think I was crazy for picking up what look like a beat up shell. But now you can see for yourself  how cool they are. Don’t you think? …. Errrr…..Maybe?

leafy jewel box bottom joanne

These yellow and orange ROUGH SCALLOPS are fabulous too. That top yellow SCALLOP looks a little different so even if it has a few holes in the middle, that is a fabulous find. Joanne really is the golden girl!

Yellow Orange scallops Joanne

This OLIVE pales against all of these other shells but that’s what makes it special in my book. It looks to be an albino LETTERED OLIVE.

albino olive joanne

It’s definitely not beach worn with that glossy shine to it so to me, this is a great find too.

albino olive aperture joanne

 Thanks so much, Golden Girl Joanne, for sharing your golden treasures with us.

Joanne with cabrits murex copy

Nov
01

Gotten, The Cabrits Of Our Lives

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clark cabrits murex

It’s not easy to find a CABRIT’S MUREX on the beaches of Sanibel.. much less with some of the spines still in tact. So I was over the moon when Clark found this one near Bowman’s Beach. (Okay, hopefully not the Cabrits of our lives but I couldn’t resist the silly title play on words)

cabrits murex aperture

Joanne (NJ) was shelling in the same spot with me when Clark showed us this great find. So guess what she found the very next day? You guessed it! Her own CABRITS MUREX!!

Joanne cabrits murex

They look to be just about the same size and color (Clark’s looks whiter but when it’s wet it looks just like her’s with a pinkish color) but hers has a few more spines still in tact. Crazy, huh?

Joanne with cabrits murex

 Look at the other cool shells she found… a piece of LIONS PAW, 2 FLATS and a pink tinted ALTERNATE TELLIN with both sides still attached.

joanne cabrits pink tellin lions paw flats

 Then I ran into Joan (Indiana) who found a beautiful SCOTCH BONNET on her birthday!!!!

Joan with scotch bonnet

Look at that bright yellow SCALLOP too. Happy birthday, Joan!

Joan's scotch bonnet and yellow scallop

The low tide mornings over the weekend brought in these unusual shells along with lots of the goodies.

lisbeth with shells

Lizbeth found a handful of orangies. Look at that fabulous solid brilliant orange CHESTNUT TURBAN. It doesn’t look chestnut to me, you know?

lisbeth orange seashells

 I also found a wonderful treasure… Shelling Sistah Connie Knight in her i Love Shelling shirt!!!

connie knight loves shelling

 And then Shelling Sistah Mary Ann Ross too! I was in hog heaven all weekend.

mary ann ross collecting miniature shells

 Here’s Benny from Miami finding those bright orange SCALLOPS too…

Benny Miami with seashells

The weekend started off with gobs of rain and wind then finished with gorgeous skies. We shelled right through all of it and ended up with a treasure trove. You gotta roll with the tides, baby.

crab trap sanibel

collecting seashells stormy sky

Joan and sister shellers