Archive for Sea anemone
It’s Raining Dosinias
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Earlier this week the DOSINIAS were everywhere at the lighthouse. Doesn’t it look like Mr Greenjeans just dropped all of his ping pong balls all over the beach? I know, I’m showing my age.
There has been a variety of shells washing up at the lighthouse beach this week. The MUREXES, SHARK’S EYE, TURBAN and FIGHTING CONCH that are resting inside a double DOSINIA CLAM were some of the treasures in Dennis and Terri’s (WA) shell bag.
A shelling sister!….With her tee shirt to prove it!
This is a view of the outside of a DOSINIA. You’ve probably seen one of these before if you’ve come for a visit to Sanibel or Captiva.
I placed their shells in the DOSINIA in the first photo because I saw this live APPLE MUREX looking so cute hanging upside down in this one.
That’s a huge WENTLETRAP in Terri’s hand! The smaller one is the size we are used to finding.
Ha! Clark hates to be out-shelled (remember the day I found my first SCOTCH BONNET? Clark found one the same day.) So of course he found a monster WENTLETRAP too.
This was a live BRITTLE STAR that got caught in the receding tide so we picked him up (they won’t hurt you) and placed in back into the gulf.
Here are a few pictures I took this week. I just didn’t get a chance to post them yet so the beach may have changed (as it does every day).
Judy and Robin
More Sanibel Stooping.
Don’t worry, it’s a DOLPHIN not a SHARK.
A pink SEA ANEMONE.
Blind Pass update: I took the photo above and the one below Sunday at Blind Pass on the Sanibel side. The sand is filling in between the shore and the sand bar so I wonder if there is any water that separates it now. I didn’t see anybody collecting too much there but I’ll check it out tomorrow too.
Smiles For Seashells
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This is shelling heaven. I’m sure you understand why Clare and Robin have such great smiles on their faces as they sift through scoops of shells Clare just brought back from the water.
Those are WENTLETRAPS they are finding!
I felt so lucky all weekend to be able to sift through such a wide wrack of shells and talk to so many happy successful shellers at the lighthouse beach on Sanibel.
This is a day’s shell collection that any sheller would smile about. It’s like the top ten shells of Sanibel, isn’t it? I saw Connie again (from March 30 post) with a FIGHTING CONCH, PAPER FIG, TRUE TULIP, HORSE CONCH, FLORIDA CONE, ALPHABET CONES, LIGHTNING WHELK, a little tiny KING’S CROWN, and a PEAR WHELK on her shelling screen (oh yeah, and a PONDEROUS ARK but not sure I would call that a top ten shell- haha).
Connie with her top ten.
Rachael (Denver) found a FLORIDA CONE and two minutes later, she and her Aunt Joan scooped up all of these shells from the surf…
All of these shells in just two scoops!
Rachael and her Aunt Joan (Rachael’s mom’s twin sister!) smiling big.
This weekend you could find big shells but Hudson (St Pete, FL) had keen eyes to find beautiful minis too. This is a gorgeous COFFEE MELAMPUS.
Happy Hudson!
Hudson’s little sister Ilene filled up her bucket with COCKLES and DOSINIAS. She even saved a STARFISH by putting it back in the water.
This guy is a malacologist in the making if you ask me. When I started talking to Mitchel (MI), he told me he was a scientific shell collector. I watched him scoop up a few good scoops of shells out of the water to take back to the sand to sift through them. Every time he’d dump the shells out, he’d draw a crowd of people to see what he found….. most of them were girls. Smart guy.
Nice Conus spurius (ALPHABET CONE), Dr M.
There were so many different things like this HORSE CONCH EGG CASE with a PEN SHELL washing up on the beach that I could talk about it for days….. and I think will. I’ll have to show the rest of my photos tomorrow since I’ve run out of time. I have so many more good ones …. like this
SEA ANEMONE flower…..
Follow the Yellow Shell Trail
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Following the baby ear trail
Instead of following the yellow brick road, Julie is following the track of a live yellow BABY EAR at low tide. She sees the path on the sand bar and then follows the trail, digs in the sand and gently pulls up the yellowish mollusk. Are you ready to see what they look like? This is the first time I’ve ever seen a live one in person! Ready? Here you go…..
Live baby's ear shell
Really…this isn’t a photo of a handmade ravioli or smooched ball of wet dough. It’s a baby ear mollusk that practically surrounds it’s whole shell…..and it’s very slimy!
Leigh (West Palm Beach) holding a live baby's ear
I saw Leigh and her niece and nephew, Julie and Jack (Ft lauderdale), having the best time playing out on the sand bar in front of Holiday Inn on Sanibel. They were digging around, giggling and running back and forth. I had to see what all of the fuss was about. They also found live SHARK’S EYES and SEA ANEMONES.
Live shark's eye coming out of his shell
Live baby shark's eyes with egg casing collar
On the right hand side of the PEN SHELL is the egg casing collar for more baby shark eyes. It was Mother Nature’s huge touch tank out there last night. Now meet Leigh’s nephew, Jack. He loves the sea anemones.
Jack with sea anemone on Sanibel
Leigh and her family come to Sanibel a lot – every time the tide is really low. Of course, after they are done looking and learning about the mollusks and sea life they find, they gently put them back where they found them.
