Archive for Fighting Conch Egg String
Sanibel Christmas Bling
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Be careful of what you wish for! I’ve been secretly hoping for some “bling” for Christmas. Meaning like… shiny, pretty, glitzy wearable “bling”. But instead I got raggedy, stringy, gooey “bling”… BEACH BLING!
If you know me, you know that I get more excited about discovering something new washing in on the beach than getting any new fancy, shiny jewelry. Errrrr.. well most of the time. LOL But really, I found this dried clump of some sort of stringy mass at Lighthouse Beach today.
Cool! So I looked a little closer to inspect its identity…. and realized that it’s a FIGHTING CONCH EGG STRING!
The little eggs inside these strings will turn into this one day…
Doesn’t that just blow your mind? And remember? Back in July, I saw a live FIGHTING CONCH laying her eggs (to see the post CLICK HERE)…
Unfortunately the string I found today was too dried up for any of the eggs to make it but that’s why the females lay so many eggs. Some will make it! Any maybe that’s why at different time of the year we see thousands at time on the beach… maybe they are mating!
See? This is why I love my BEACH BLING so much! There are endless possibilities of treasures Mother Nature will give us to ponder over. Like the other Bling I found today. A RAGGED SEA HARE! Poor guy was washed up on the beach but I could see “he” was still alive and moving so I took hime to the water. I took a very quick video today but if you missed my last video on the RAGGED SEA HARE, it is waaaaayyyy better with a few added funnies CLICK HERE.
Here is today’s version of me trying to save this SEA HARE and all of his “raggedness”. 
I didn’t find many keeper shells today at the Lighthouse Beach since I was too obsessed with the Bling. When I got home I still felt like I needed my shell fix so I finally rinsed (plain water, don’t use bleach!) off my COCQUINAS from earlier this week. Oh, and yes, I left in that cute little TURKEY WING too.
Hope to see you at the parade tomorrow!
Shell Raisers On The Beaches Of Sanibel
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Hundreds of live FIGHTING CONCHS raised out of the sand at Lighthouse Beach yesterday to take a look around as the tide was going out.
I found one of the FIGHTING CONCHS hanging out in a tidal pool… but wait… I noticed something in the water beside it…
This FLORIDA FIGHTING CONCH was laying EGGS! The eggs are released in a gelatinous egg string then sand adheres to its thick jelly-like sheath.
I tried to get close enough to see how the eggs are released without disturbing this busy gal. If you look closely, you can see them shooting out! It’s that spout perpendicular to the eye. Go Momma! Raise some more shells!
I think this is a FIGHTING CONCH EGG STRING as well…. but why would she lay her eggs without being in the water? I followed the trail from the string to a healthy FIGHTING CONCH about a yard away. Hmmm. Maybe that jelly like sheath protects them when the tide recedes. I dunno, but I hope she raises healthy shells and I sure love to find new things like this!
Speaking of “raising shell”…. We met the Shell Raisers (The Shell Raisers on Facebook) at Blind Pass Sanibel! These 2 brothers, Eric and Chris, have been shelling all their lives and they even witnessed a BANDED TULIP laying eggs in their live shell tank.
Chris found that huge WHELK but put it back in the water since was occupied by a monster HERMIT CRAB. They were vacationing on Sanibel with their family from the east coast of Florida . Here are Chris and Eric with (from left to right) their mom Cheryl, Sarah, Amelia and Ava.
Back at the Sanibel lighthouse, Linda (Pensacola, FL) was busy finding the mini shells…
She found a mega WENTLETRAP along with some other sweet minis…
Her best find was this gorgeous MANGROVE PERIWINKLE…
If you look closely you can see a beautiful purple lip…
Bobby (Houston TX) finally found what he was looking for…WENTLETRAPS!!
I was asked a question on I Love Shelling Facebook page by Diane F about a shell I.D. It was that ROSE WOLF SNAIL again! I told y’all I keep forgetting the name of that shell but now that I can remember the name, I completely forgot to put it on my SEASHELL IDENTIFICATION page. This shell keeps stumping me some how! Thanks Diane for asking about this shell and sending such a beautiful picture of it. I’m going to use photo for my I.D page- Thank you!
Okay, one more thing… I saw the dolphins playing near the pier last night and I just happened to video them racing along the shoreline in front of an unsuspecting family. This is no fancy video…just a little clip of our own little Sanibel Sea World… 
