Archive for Sea Pork
Sanibel Low Tide Golden Sky
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Walking out on the beach before sunrise is a special feeling. It has an extra special feeling when it is a very low tide of -1.0 AND it’s Christmas weekend.
I thought my eyes hadn’t focused when I took this next photo of Clark. Whatever happened to it (too early in the morning?)… I’m so glad! It came out like a beautiful impressionist painting…
As the sun was rising near the Sanibel lighthouse, the sky turned golden…
We saw lots of live shells and washed up sea life like this poor LINED STARFISH that took a beating but wouldn’t give up despite losing all of its arms. It survived al of the elements and started growing each of its arms back. What a survivor!
And you thought all SEA PORK was ugly, right? Well look again! This one looks just like an orange with its bright orange peel.
My best find was this rich in color nice sized TRUE TULIP…
Clark had the find of the day with this WAY cool tiny shell I have never identified before. It’s a COFFEE BEAN TRIVIA…
We both tried to rub off those brown smudges…HA! Silly us, those brown spots are part of the shell! That would be like trying to rub off the spots off a JUNONIA or SCOTCH BONNET. Silly!
Hmmmm…. whaddaya think? Look like coffee beans to you?
Easter Colors Sanibel Style
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Everywhere I looked last night, I saw the colors of Easter… in seashells.
…..and in the sky
…..and around the palm trees.
As we “hopped” around to the lighthouse beach filling up our Easter shell basket, I ran into sisters Carol and Gail finding goodies for their basket (errr, shell bag 
).
It was their last night on Sanibel and Carol finally found her first WENTLETRAP at the lighthouse beach. Yippee! Congrats!
I found sweet little LACE MUREX.
And I found this cute little DUSKY CONE on a piece of SEA PORK. It looks like an Easter egg broke and the yoke spilled everywhere, doesn’t it?
Then we hopped on over to the beach off Middle Gulf Dr. and met Aimee (too shy to have her picture taken) where she found three of these FIGHTING CONCHS so I added the one furthest down in her palm. Look at how cool it is since it has a “freak” growth pattern.
Even the BANDED TULIPS had a hint of pink for Easter.
Happy Easter! Good wishes for you all to shellebrate the day.
Sea Pork On The Beach Not Tar Balls
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Sea Pork colors
These aren’t tar balls…. or donuts (Clark thought this photo looked like donuts- huh?). This is SEA PORK.
Sea Pork in the surf
There were lots of them on the beach this afternoon at the lighthouse with many different colors, shapes and thicknesses. I know I’ve shown you these before but I wanted to squash the rumor that I heard on the beach today that the black ones were tar balls. They are not tar balls.
orange sea pork
The first time I saw SEA PORK, I thought it must be an organ from some kind of fish. Then I picked one up and it felt like a piece of rubber. To see more pictures and to get more info, take a look at more weird SEA PORK by clicking on… “ What’s This Stuff On The Beach?“. I’ve got some pictures of some cute mini shells but I’ll have to show you tomorrow- oops! Where did the time go today?
More weird sea pork
Beachcombing!
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Beach sponges and stuff
This is what I love to see on the beach! Lots of SEA SPONGES, PARCHMENT WORM CASES, SEA PORK, and PEN SHELLS. Why? Because it means there will be great shelling in the next few days!
Double Jingle Shell in pen shell
See that JINGLE SHELL on this PEN SHELL? This jingle has both sides and is attached to the Pen shell….. and this isn’t even the most exciting part of this whole picture. I’ve never noticed a 2 sided jingle until MurexKen showed me. Yes! You read that correctly! Clark and I met MurexKen and MurexAlice (celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary) on the beach and he showed this jingle to me.
MurexKen showing the Jingle shell
For those of you who don’t “know” MK, he is a seashell identification wizard and educates us on the scientific gastropod and bivalve names with his comments on my posts. That may have been the first time I’ve written “gastropod” and “bivalve” in the same sentence…. huh? He’s rubbing off!
Paper-thin jingle shell side view of both sides (my fingers)
Clark had to break out the big shelling backhoe and found this TUBE WORM.
Tube worm in Clark's backhoe
I thought this was a PARCHMENT WORM but I think it’s a different MARINE WORM.
Sea Cucumber Sanibel
Clark also found this SEA CUCUMBER in his backhoe. This guy was still alive so we put him back after I snapped this photo. Lots of fun stuff off Middle Gulf Drive near Gulf Side City Park!
Allen and Julianna (San Francisco)
Julianna has been collecting shells all over the world so she and Allen were happy to finally be in Sanibel.
Renee, Carol, Kathleen and Julie (Connecticut)
A great shelling Girls’ Trip! These gals take a girls trip the same time their husbands get together and do a guys trip at another destination. How fun for all of them!
Pen shell pile
OK- I’ve got to get to bed so I can be up for the early morning low tide. I hope to have lots of goodies to show you…. or maybe just one… I’m not giving up on that JUNONIA!
What is this Stuff on the Beach?
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Sea Pork surfing
This Sea Pork looks like tar
Is it an organ of a marine animal on the beach? Is it a tar ball that got washed up on the beach? Is it the beginning of another attack of The Blob? Nope, it is Sea Pork. It’s a TUNICATE. They are rubbery globs of cellulose that house tiny zooids that filter seawater as food. Wild! If you want more technical info visit http://www.mitchellspublications.com/guides/shells/articles/0084/ . For me? I just like to look at their weirdness. Have you seen them on the beach too?
This Sea Pork looks like a sponge
Sea Pork orange
Sea Pork curly
Sea pork brainy
Sea Pork black
