Archive for Flat Zigzag Scallop
Ever Changing Blind Pass Sanibel
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It sure feels good to find an ALPHABET CONE again! I’ve been stumped finding the SANIBEL SIX lately so I was excited to find this baby within a half hour of arriving at Blind Pass Sanibel yesterday evening for a somewhat low tide at a .4. I still didn’t find the SANIBEL SIX though since I couldn’t find a TULIP that was in good enough shape but I’m subbing that bright orange CHESTNUT TURBAN on the right as a good find to be very happy.
See how that sand bar has moved right to the beach now? You never know what to expect the beach to look like until you walk out and see if for yourself. Always a surprise.
The tidal pool was loaded with live FIGHTING CONCHS …
On the other side of the tidal pool, shellers were lined up along the shoreline to catch the seashell loot washing up to the beach.
I met so many cool shellers like Joe and Kerry from Sebastian, FL…
..and Karen and Steve from Michigan…
Karen found two gorgeous bright orange CHESTNUT TURBANS.
Here are Tim and Mary Ann (NY) showing off Mary Ann’s cool shell sifter.
I think the prize of the evening was Tim’s incredibly large FLORIDA SPINY JEWELBOX with attached valves. It’s terrific!
Anna (West Virginia) was tickled pink as she filled up her strainer with shells.
She found FIGHTING CONCHS, MUREXES, COCKLES, SCALLOPS and a pretty little TRUE TULIP.
Bob and Johnnie (TN) were on one of the shell piles searching for minis.
And they found them! I loooove this tiny little lemon yellow ROUGH SCALLOP…
They found some other colorful cuties too including a sweet FLAT SCALLOP…
It was a fabulous night meeting so many nice people and seeing the shell piles on the Sanibel side again.
Thank you Donnie (the cone man) for letting me know I needed to get down to Blind Pass to see this! Yes! I needed a break from that stupid camera any way. No, I didn’t take any of theses photos with the J1 and by the word “stupid”, I think you can tell I’m still frustrated with it ;( . Anyway, I took a quick little video with my trusted little Panasonic DMC-ZS6 to pan the beach to show you exactly what it looked like and how the beach has changed…. yet again. Oh, and sorry about the sound. The wind noise is horrible but oh well, I just wanted y’all to see it any way.
UPDATE! Set your DVRs and Tivos for Sunday morning!!!
I forgot to mention the Sanibel/seashell story I spoke in my about March 1 post should be airing this Sunday, April 22nd on CBS Sunday Morning.We don’t know exactly when the segment will air, but the show is on 9 – 10:30am (EST) and Bill’s pieces usually run towards the last half hour of the show (10-10:30 Eastern). The disclaimer is that this is TV, and anything can happen – so it is confirmed best to all of our abilities.
Aqua Water And Seashells
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I thought the 2 week old huge shell pile at Blind Pass would be completely picked over by now. I was so wrong! The minute I walked on the beach, I saw Mike find this awesome SHARK’S EYE…
His mom Holly found some FLAT SCALLOPS!
This whole Illinois family was there to bask in the shell glory. From left to right is Suzanne, Matthew, Holly, Mike and Isaac…
I was so curious to look in their shell bags so I figured you would like it too…
We met another very happy sheller from Illinois and her name happens to be Suzanne too. It’s a small world on a shell pile.
Yep, I got a photo of her shell bag too! She found TURBANS, a NUTMEG and The Sanibel Six
Every aqua wave brought in another treasure.
I ran over to the Sanibel side of Blind Pass to see a family scouring the sand bar in search of goodies. They found a few FIGHTING CONCHS and bits and pieces of larger shells but the shore line is lined with KITTENS PAWS, AUGERS, CERITHS and more.
As you can see, the shelling is fabulous at Blind Pass for the weekend but I have a fun reminder. This might be the weekend that CBS Sunday Morning might air the segment by correspondent Bill Geist as he visited Sanibel for the 75th Sanibel Shell Fair and Show. So set your Tivos or DVRs to CBS from 9am to 10:30. You just might see Leroy or me or some of your other favorite shellers and of course Sanibel! I’m keeping my fingers crossed it’s on!
UPDATE: I just received an official email today… ”We just heard that the shell story has been pushed back from its original March 18th air date. The CBS producer is hoping the segment will air in early April. She promises to give us a heads up once a date is confirmed …….”
Well darn. I’ll keep you posted as well when I hear something else.
Seashells Sighting While Fish Are Biting
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So Exciting! When I arrived at Blind Pass Captiva yesterday morning, I saw that guy catch a fish while everybody else was wallowing in the joy of the big shell pile. Happiness.
Chris (Calgary, Canada) found this very big WENTLETRAP right there! I was thinking the same thing as you are right now….. a WENTLETRAP at Blind Pass? I don’t see many people find them right there so that was a really good find in my book.
His daughter Kyla found a piece of JUNONIA. Any piece is a good piece!
My friends Courtney and Eileen (Sanibel) were having a blast soaking in this gorgeous day with the bonus of a huge shell pile…
Eileen found this very colorful FLAT SCALLOP … but hold on… I know you will notice that tattoo just like I did so I’ll tell you what it “says”. It’s her mother’s signature. Is she cool, or what? She is definitely a piece of art work!
Courtney found my favorite shell of the day.
I hope yall dont think I’m crazy but it’s an awesome ATLANTIC WING OYSTER with both sides still attached.
Look at the inside of this shell…it’s like opening up a beautiful pearl!
I found lots of The Sanibel Six shells but only one ALPHABET CONE. It has this crazy pointy hat on top! I know it’s old and worn but I still really like it.
Barbara was doing an excellent job of the Sit ‘n Sift filling up her kitchen strainer. So smart! One less step when she gets home to clean them. 
There were lots of CHESTNUT TURBANS mixed in with WHELKS and FIGHTING CONCHS…
A pretty BITTERSWEET CLAM!
And CORAL…
I think there was only about 5 shellers when I got the “mound” but within an hour, it was a ShellFest!
I’ve got several videos so I here’s the first one. Happy Weekend!
i Heart Captiva Island
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I love Captiva Island. I love that an artist made shell beach art like this piece at the entrance to Blind Pass beach. Beach artist, Robert from NJ, made it for his wife for Valentine’s Day. So sweet! Obviously, I haven’t been there in over a week so I missed it. Shame on me! But thankfully he has been grooming it to keep it clean and neat for a whole week for her.. and for us so we get to enjoy it as well.
I have another reason why “i Heart Captiva Island”….
Roma (MI) found a JUNONA!
She said it was one of the first shells she found this morning near the jetty rocks. It wasn’t completely whole but it is perfect to wrap for a JUNONIA necklace.
And that’s not it! Sara W found two (!) JUNONIAS at Blind Pass in the last week at Blind Pass as well. It’s so weird they are broken at the same exact spots but then again… perfect for necklaces! She posted this on iLoveShelling facebook page…
Jessica (NY) found a piece of JUONIA too. Maybe part of Roma’s or Sara’s?
Here’s Jessica with Steven and Kathryn this morning on the shell mound this morning…
John (NY) was working the pass side of the jetty and filled his shell bag full of FIGHTING CONCHS.
I had no idea the huge shell pile was back (and has been there for several days) and full of goodies! How did that happen and I didn’t hear a thing about it?? Mother Nature loves to play hide and seek with the seashells!
I found an assortment of treasures right away…
And a FLAT SCALLOP!
While I was checking out everybody’s finds and the big shell mound, Robert was collecting more PEN SHELLS for another shell art project. We look forward to your next master piece!
Gotten, The Cabrits Of Our Lives
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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)
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!!
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?
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.
Then I ran into Joan (Indiana) who found a beautiful SCOTCH BONNET on her birthday!!!!
Look at that bright yellow SCALLOP too. Happy birthday, Joan!
The low tide mornings over the weekend brought in these unusual shells along with lots of the goodies.
Lizbeth found a handful of orangies. Look at that fabulous solid brilliant orange CHESTNUT TURBAN. It doesn’t look chestnut to me, you know?
I also found a wonderful treasure… Shelling Sistah Connie Knight in her i Love Shelling shirt!!!
And then Shelling Sistah Mary Ann Ross too! I was in hog heaven all weekend.
Here’s Benny from Miami finding those bright orange SCALLOPS too…
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.
Sanibel Seashell Update: Blind Pass to Lighthouse Beach
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In the last couple of days, the seashells have been rolling in with the surf at Blind Pass Sanibel and a few so far at the lighthouse too. The above photo of a sampling of what we found so you can enjoy virtual shelling ASAP if you can’t be here right now. So go ahead…. click on the photo above and I’ll wait for you so I can show you the rest of the photos. (whistle, hum, whistle….la, la, la….)
Okay, you ready for the rest?
Look at the first photo on the bottom left part of the pic. You see where the yellowish color meets the greenish water? That’s that drop off I was talking about yesterday and where we found most of the better shells (like my ALPHY). This was at Blind Pass Sanibel Sunday afternoon.
Then the water was receding with the low tide and they started washing up on the beach….
Dayna from Sanibel (I’m sorry if I misspelled your name! My notes disappeared) with her big catch of the day… a huge HORSE CONCH. And her daughter!. Congrats!
Mindy from New York was specifically looking for collecting KITTENS PAWS.
There were oodles of them along with COCKLES and JEWELBOXES….
Oooooh, I found a FLAT!
Then we walked the beach by the lighthouse last night and found the PEN SHELLS and double DOSINIAS were littered along the shore. That’s a great sign for great shelling to come! The PEN SHELLS are the first ones to get dislodged out in the gulf after a rough seas so this could mean great shells will wash up the next few days.
Nice LIGHTNING WHELK, huh?
This teeny tiny baby crab was alive and crawling around on this very cool old SHARK’S EYE. Can you believe the color?
This LONG SPINED SEA URCHIN was still alive so he went gently back into the water.
I met 2 great gals from Kentucky looking for WENTLETRAPS Sharon and Renee (friends of HL!). I think the had been picked over by someone else but we still found about 10 wentles and lots of other goodies.
Goodies like this fabulous WORM SHELL Clark found…
We are having a very dark, rainy day with rumblings of thunder predicted all day so I’ll just wait another day to go shelling and another night to see skies like last night on the beach. I couldn’t decide which photo I like better so I’m posting both.
