Archive for Fighting Conch
Jubilant Juvenile Junonia
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How can you not feel jubilant after seeing this teeny tiny juvenile JUNONIA? I can only imagine jubilance Jean felt when she found it.
Over the weekend, I met Jean (Vermont) doing the Sit ‘n Sift on the huge shell pile at Blind Pass and she told me about a really purple FIGHTING CONCH she found earlier in the week. Before I knew it, she had gone to her cottage across the street to get that purple shell plus a few others. These are three gorgeous color variations of FIGHTING CONCHS she had brought back to the beach to show me.
Unfortunatley, you can’t really see just how purple the left CONCH is from this photo but maybe it’s because that orange is so vibrant in the middle one but trust me, it is really much more violet in person.
So after I took pictures of these CONCHS, she brought out another bag with this exquisite treasure that just about knocked me out of my flip flops…
Jean brought this cutie little JUNONIA back to the island to show a friend what she had found several years ago at Blind Pass Captiva. I’m so glad she did so we would get to see it too!
I asked her if she had seen the exhibit at the 2012 Sanibel Shell Show of the juvenile JUNONIAS that Weezie Sachs won a Red Ribbon for. She had seen it too!
The one she found is even smaller than both of those. Of course since we were on the beach, I didn’t have a coin to show a size comparison but you can see just how small this treasure is by looking at it next to her rings on her finger. Amazing! It’s so sweet and tiny!
It’s my new fave mini I’ve ever seen. Thank you so much for sharing your shells with us, Jean!
PS- I have to give a BIG shout out to Yvonne Greer! I would have missed this big shell pile at Blind Pass if it wasn’t for her contacting me to spread the shelling news. I hadn’t had a chance to get down to Blind Pass to check on the shells on my own so thank you Yvonne! We would have missed this baby JUNONIA and all the other goodies on my last post.
Cockles, Conchs and Quahogs
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After several weeks of east winds, the west winds have finally arrived to drive some shells on to our beaches. Today was only the first day of the westies but since it was a really low tide this morning, I figured I’d find some goodies. It’s always a good day when you find an ALPHABET CONE and you’ve got to see just how darn cute this little juvie HORSE CONCH is…
I couldn’t believe I found this ANGEL WING sitting in the high wrack line…
I love when I find shells like this BANDED TULIP lying on the beach like this.
Tonya, Beth and Max from Ohio had their bags filled with all sorts of treasures.
Wanna look in their shell bags? I sure wanted to too! COCKLES and CONCHS and CLAMS…
Max found this live LIGHTNING WHELK in the high tide wrack line so he walked it down to the water and gently put it in the water. Good for you Max! You helped save this beauty.
I found local Sanibel sheller Lynn walking her very happy standard poodle Alexander with a pocket full of seashell treasure too.
Look at those pretty those COLORFUL MOON shells along with those candies and a mini TURE TULIP.
There was all sorts of bivalves scattered along the beach. I found this ATLANTIC COCKLE, PONDEROUS ARK and SOUTHERN QUAHOG together on the beach just like this…
This is the biggest DARK CERITH I’ve ever found. It’s one and a half inches long!
I was pretty pleased with what we all were finding on the beach near Donax Street today after the first day of west winds. Tomorrow might be even better!
Two True Tulips In One Whopping Week
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I got a call from friend and shelling guide Captain Brian about this guy Nick Hahn who comes to Sanibel every year and is a shell magnet. This year in only one week, he found these two huge colorful TRUE TULIPS! He found one at Cayo Costa (on one of the out islands on a shelling trip) and the second one he found in between Blind Pass Sanibel and Bowmans Beach. He said he even found a few more but they were alive so he had to put those back.
He also found a white spined SEA URCHIN that someone told him was special. Hmmm. I’ve seen a few of these on the beach but I just assumed they were just bleached by the sun. So when I saw this one with all of his other beach combing treasures, I looked it up. Sure enough, there is a WEST INDIAN SEA EGG found in Florida (but mostly more south in the Caribbean) with white spines.
After looking closer, the test is of this URCHIN is almost black instead of the purplish color of the PURPLE SEA URCHIN that we often see after a storm. I’ll have to add this to my Beach Bling Identification page!
Isn’t it so appropriate that he also found this very unusual pattern on a FIGHTING CONCH with the letter “H” on it ….. for Hahn? Congrats on all your special finds, Nick!
A Few Special Finds
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I used to think that all white FIGHTING CONCHS were just regular shells that were bleached by the sun until I saw the albino conch Lee Garret found and Mary Ann’s photo of multi color FIGHTING CONCHS on my post in February… Prettiest Speckled Tellin . I’ve been looking for one ever since I saw theirs so last week we found one that was albino-ish but now we found an unmistakable shiny white ALBINO FIGHTING CONCH. I love to find a special shell that I’ve probably overlooked in the past but now have learned to appreciate it so much.
We’ve had rain in the mornings at low tide the last few days but even in the rain, I found other shellers. As you can see the shoreline at Blind Pass Captiva, there may not be any new shells coming in but there are still shells on a high wrack line to pick through.
On the Sanibel side of Blind Pass, I walked out to the beach (in the rain) and met shelling sistah Cecile (AL) soaked to the bone but having such a good time scooping shells in the surf. She said until she hears thunder or sees lightning… she’s gonna be shelling. All she needed was little mini windshield wipers for her glasses. She had just found a WORMIE!
As soon as she said that, we heard a little clap of thunder in the distance so we both walked back to our cars where it was a pleasure to meet the rest of her family. Since it was raining, Irene thought she’d stay in the car and wait for Cecile to get her shelling fix and wait for the goodies to be brought to her. Talk about special… it is her birthday next month. You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you how old she is gonna be….. 92! Happy birthday Irene!
Birthday girl Irene with a nutmeg
I was excited to meet a couple more shelling sistahs for the first time yesterday at lunch. If you’ve ever read any of the comments here on these posts, you probably “know” Roxanne Reinhart and Sheri Zipp! I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for almost 2 years now and they have been dear to my heart for giving me such good feedback and conversation for almost the whole entire time. I have no idea how they found iLoveShelling to begin with but I’m grateful and that I saw both of them together. Here’s a picture of my special “finds” Roxanne, Sheri and Sheri’s daughter Samantha.
Mingle With Jingles
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Seashell treasures come in all sizes and colors that can be overlooked so easily. I had to remember that because I was only finding lots of broken shells and live shells this weekend but not the Sanibel Six or anything close. Then I realized that the beach was looking a little different…. a bit darker. I looked a little closer to see there were gobs of JINGLES washing in but instead of being the usual white, yellow or orange (my fave), they were the black ones.
They look like deep, smokey gems to me so I went a little crazy picking them up.
This is how many live FIGHTING CONCHS there were at low tide…
Clark found a live white FIGHTING CONCH. This might be called an albino even though it’s got a little color.
But maybe I should just call it albino-ish.
Even though I found lots of broken shells, I found a really good broken shell… piece of a LION’S PAW.
That still doesn’t come close to the beautiful ALPHABET CONE that 9 year old Zenith (MN) found. Congrats Zenith!
Another Sanibel Cyber Shelling Adventure
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I found that CARRIER SHELL I showed you on my last post Carried Away By A Carrier Shell but since I was so excited, I didn’t get to show you the rest of the shells I found. Aren’t the beautiful? It was an amazing day.
But wait, I’ve got a shell pile for you cyber shellers out there! I promise, I did not touch one thing in this pile before I took the next picture. But be careful! If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you might have a little sensory overload. Use caution, please.
OMG I just looked at that photo again! I missed another CONE!!! Did you spot it? TWO cones…. and I just looked again- maybe THREE. I worked this pile a while so I could have gotten it on another swipe but I definitely didn’t get it on the first run. I guess I was gathering every ounce of patience not to pluck this WORMIE, CANDIE and ALPHIE (notice the ultra cuteness clue of the “ie”endings) off the beach so I could take the picture.
So just a few minutes after finding this little seashell honey hole, I found the CARRIER SHELL and had to do a video. I hope you can see some of the other shells in that “troth” (I don’t think I’ve ever called it that before, but it sure did seem like one- LOL).
Oh yeah, something else cool…there was a live four legged BRITTLE STAR in one of the tidal pools.
