Archive for Moon Snail
Shell ‘N Tell At Shellabaloo 2
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After you enjoy feeling the excitement of finding shells on the beach, you get to enjoy the excitement all over again when you show them to someone else that “gets” what you found and knows how you feel. That’s why our Shellabaloo 2 “Shell ‘N Tell” was one of my favorite days of the whole week during Shellabaloo. Do you see what Michele (Ohio) is holding in her hand in the first photo with her husband Bill? She found a JUNONIA! But that’s not it… she found what she calls “The Trifecta!”… A large HORSE CONCH and a large WHELK along with her JUNONIA. Do you think she was a happy girl or what! So happy for you Michele!
Here are some of her other finds (minus the JUNONIA since she was showing it to the others when I took this) …
For the week of Shellabaloo 2, I made up another Shellinger Hunt. The hunt is really meant to just have fun learning about different shells and not to overlook some of the common shells like JINGLES and KITTENS PAWS because…. well… because I think they are beautiful too! So you will see some of the displays with a dozen JINGLES in a COCKLE SHELL because that was point for the Shellinger Hunt. It wasn’t about who could find and take the most shells off the beach- it was all about enjoying the shells that were found… and some bigger points for finding things like The Sanibel Six or finding the rarer shells. It was so much fun to see these shellers find shells they’ve never found before and to rediscover the ones that can easily be overlooked.
On our last day, I asked everybody to bring their fave finds and/or their entries for the Shellinger Hunt at our home base at Island Inn so we could all see what everybody else was collecting. We set up tables for each person to display their shells and it turned out to be a mini Sanibel Shell Show!
Terri (NY) made a beee-uuuteeeful display of her favorite finds.
Lee and Susan (Cuba) narrowed down their favorite finds on a cooler tray for the Shellinger Hunt…
Of course I added a BEACH BLING category on the hunt ( i Love the BLING!) so it’s so funny they added a dried up fish tail that looks just like a MERMAID and a washed up fishing bobber as the faves in that category. LOL
Rick (Texas) brought a plate of his fave shells… the miniature shells. I just love how everybody organized their shells so creatively!
Rick’s wife Murfy showed her faves along with her favorite vintage shell book…
There is one shell in the middle of the others that is a little different. It looks like some sort of a TURITELLA… which I dont think is native to this area. I think it is either a FOSSIL shell that found it’s way to the gulf on a high tide from sidewalk fill or it was left over from a party or wedding after someone bought shells to decorate with. Hmmmm.
If there was a prize for being creative… Sharene and Tom (Ontario) would have won for creativity!
Rusty and Donna (Apopka, FL) narrowed down the favorites and of course it included an ALPHABET CONE and the SEA WHIP that had the ONE-TOOTH SIMNIAS I showed you in the first Shellabaloo 2 post.
Roger (MO) told me that his favorite shells were the minis he found at Lighthouse Beach. It was his first time finding WENTLETRAPS, RICE OLIVES and TUSKS so it was really fun to find something new.
Margie (AL) is so adorable! Her favorite shell was the PONDEROUS ARK because she loved the black PERIOSTICUM (the shell’s “skin”) on the white shell so that’s all she collected. She is going to make a black and white frame for a mirror when she gets home so I hope we get to see it!
Cutie Pie Becka needed her own table to make room for all of her newly found treasures.
Kendra (IN) had a sweet organized display of her favorites but also for the Shellinger Hunt.
She was so afraid she was going to lose her first TUSK SHELL so she wrapped half of a bandaid around it so she would know where it was (on the blue plate). LOL
Pat (Boca Raton, FL) had an amazing display of shells and BLING for the Shellinger Hunt.
While I was oooohing and aaaahing at all of her finds, she pointed out a piece of BEACH BLING that she wanted to know what it was. Whoa! Pat! You found the OPERCULUM to the SHARKS EYE! Clark just found our first ones just last month so I was absolutely thrilled for her that… A) she saw it and picked it up… and B) that she knew it was something special to show at the Shell And Tell. See why I love these shellers? Who else would think this thing on the beach was cool…
Speaking of awesome shellers, unfortunately, Gina couldn’t come to the Shell ‘N Tell but I still have to show you one of her exshellent finds… Gina found a yellow SEA WHIP. We find the purple ones a little more often but not the perfect yellow ones like hers. And no, I couldnt get her photo either because she was a little camera shy but Ha! I took a “long-arm shot” with me in it so we could get her picture and the SEA WHIP. LOL And yep, you guessed it! There were two ONE-TOOTH SIMNIAS on it!
I have found yellow SEA WHIPS before but never one with the yellow ONE-TOOTH SIMINAS on it. Yahoo! Gina did! Such a treasure!
Okay back to the Shell ‘N Tell with the rest of the awesomeness…. Here’s Cindy with her huge HORSE CONCH I showed you in my last post! Now you can see all of the other fabulous shells she found as well.
She also found a big ALPHABET CONE …which is part of 2 sets of The Sanibel Six for her Shellinger Hunt finds. She found a FLORIDA CONE to make her other set. And look at all of the SHARKS TEETH!
Okay… It’s time to announce the winner of the Shell And Tell and you won’t believe this prize! The winning sheller went home with a silver JINGLE SHELL necklace made by Sealife By Congress. It is beautiful! This new Sanibel jewelry store in Periwinkle Place Shopping Center is filled with seashells, SEAHORSES, DOLPHINS, STARFISH, SAND DOLLARS and every other sea life in gold, silver and with tasteful gemstones as well. I was thrilled they wanted to give our winner this perfect shell necklace.
After much laughter and ado, we narrowed the winners down to Michele (with her JUNONIA and HORSE CONCH) and Cindy with her HORSE CONCH based on their points score…
Before we announce the winner, Cindy and Michele clicked their CONCHS as if it was a toast. Cute and so much fun!
Drum Roll Please! …. wait for it…… The winner is Michele! Her JINGLE necklace is perfect for her! Congratshellations, my friend!
I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun both Shellabaloo 1 (in January) and this Shellabaloo 2 have been since it really brings amazing people together with not just shelling in common but we all seem to be like-minded in so many other ways. It’s quite a bonding experience, I must say. Thank you Island Inn for hosting such a great Shellapalooza. I’m sorry to say that I don’t know when the next one will be- no dates of been set yet for this 4 day Shellathon but as soon as we’ve come up with a plan, you will be the first to know.
But wait! I’m gathering a group of shellers for an afternoon of shelling at Cayo Costa next Sunday May 19 from 1-4pm on a Captiva Cruise. Join us! CLICK HERE for more info or call 239-472-5300 and ask to come along for the next iLoveShelling cruise!
Florida Seashells 2013
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i Love Florida! Whoever made this wonderful seashell sign made out of ARKS, must love it too because after a couple of days of rain (to water the plants) and continued wind this week, it has turned into spectacular weather on the beach with shells starting to roll in on the east end of Sanibel near Lighthouse Beach.
You know I love peeking in shell buckets so I figure you do too, right? Marybeth (from RI… but too shy for the camera) had such a beautiful collection of mini shells in her pink bucket separated by her larger shells in her bigger blue bucket. I think my faves would be the DUSKY CONE and WENTLETRAP in the pink bucket and the NUTMEG in the blue bucket.
Ronetta from Indiana forgot to bring her shell bucket along on her beach walk so she cradled all of her faves in the palm of her hand…
Since she didn’t have much room, she collected some mighty fine primo shells. I know you spotted that candy but I hope you can see how gorgeous that SHARKS EYE is with the bright blue center. We call that a “Paul Newman’s Eye”!
I also met Julie with her mom Pat from St Louis.
They had only been on the beach 5 minutes when Julie found this perfect PAPER FIG with such fabulous color…
I found a few goodies too but I stopped in my tracks to see this BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER…
I’m still trying to learn the different breeding plumage since most bird species change colors with their breeding seasons.
This BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER is dressed in its “Adult Breeding” plumage with the black belly. I’m not even sure I would recognize this bird in “Adult Non-Breeding” plumage since it doesnt even have the black belly. Really… if you can believe it… there is a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER without a black belly. Hmmm…. shell identification is so much easier!
You can see where we found most of the best shells and the birds by this next photo. You can see the lighthouse way in the background at the furthest point which is about a 15 minute walk.
Remember I showed a picture of the erosion at Tarpon Rd Beach Access on my last post ? Well it is already built back up as of yesterday evening… and there are shells on the beach! Yep, it can happen that fast, folks. AND…. There should be even more shells showing up soon because right now as I write this Sunday morning, we have experiencing 20mph north west winds. That should push more shells on our shores any day now!
Sanibel Sculptured Art
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i Love to find a shell I’ve never found before! This might look like the regular TOP SHELL that we find on Sanibel fairly often but as soon as I picked this shell up, I knew something was different about it. It’ got a nice sculpture about it, right? Look closely and you’ll see the slightly rounded whorls in the side view. I found a SCULPTURED TOP SHELL!
Here is the SCULPTURED TOP SHELL on the left and our “regular” (to southwest Florida) TAMPA BAY TOP SHELL on the right. Now I can’t just say “TOP SHELL” any more… I’ll have to distinguish which one it is when I see it. Cool!
So when I found my SCULPTURED TOP SHELL, I called Clark over to look at it and showed him the wrack line (which is the same as where I found the BABYS EAR and WENTLETRAP in my last post) at TARPON BAY RD beach access. Not one minute later, he looked down and picked this up…
It’s a SHARKS EYE OPERCULUM! Wow! I know it’s not pretty but I’ve always wondered why we never find them on the beach like we find other OPERCULUMS. This is the part of the MOLLUSK that protects it from predators. It’s a MOLLUSK’S front door.
It looks like a brown piece of SEA GLASS, doesn’t it? Well thats what Clark thought it was too when he picked it up and then we figured it out. Call me a geek but I got so excited to finally find one…. errr… well… that Clark found one. But it still comes home with me so I feel lucky too.
It has the shape and pattern of a BABYS EAR but it is paper thin with a slight curve. Now I know why we dont find many. They are very very fragile once they separate from the MOLLUSK. The edges on both of these are very chipped and ragged and seem like the whole thing will disintegrate any second.
But then he found another one! Dude! We’ve gone forever without ever seeing one and then he pulls out finding 2 of them. Ha!
This past December, I shot a little video of a LIVE SHARKS EYE with his OPERCULUM doing its job of protecting him but I never even showed you because it’s the same day Mimi found her SEAHORSE. The video got lost in the shuffle with all the excitement of the SEAHORSE and then of course, the Christmas holiday. But I have never forgotten what it looked like and I want you to see it too.
Okay, lets go back to the “sculpture” bit…. if you arent as thrilled as I was to finally see what a SHARKS EYE beach washed OPERCULUM looks like, I’ll show you some cool BEACH ART we saw while at Tarpon Beach over the weekend. This artist had quite a sense of humor, man. Funny sculptures!
Sanibel Shellingmen
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Yippee! These shells were found at Blind Pass Sanibel yesterday. Our mornings are still in the 50s with winds from the north but there’s not a steady roll of shells on the beach every day. Why? Okay, I figured it out today. It’s because the shells arent getting a chance to wash up to the beach yet. They are getting snagged out of the water by the “Shellingmen Tribe”.
Oh, you’ve never heard of the Shellingmen before? I was thrilled to witness this wonderful site of these brave Shellingmen methodically scooping seashells and BEACH BLING out of the sea to bring back to their Shellingmen families for praises of finding hidden treasures. I watched this phenomenon for a few minutes before I started filming these four men braving the cold to scoop their treasures. I know you can’t hear everything I said in the next video because of the wind (and because I was giggling a bit too), but I still think it’s so cute.
Isn’t that fabulous??? heehee Love those Shellingmen! Okay, I’m being silly but I think my Cherokee genes got stirred up and I got such a kick out this because it’s exactly what Clark and I do! Clark (the hunter) goes out there with his shelling backhoe and I Sit ‘N Sift through the piles he brings back (the gatherer). LOL But before I get too tickled and get off track, let me introduce you to loyal Shell Warrior Duane and his Shell Queen Jan from Montana…
Then I met “Chief Shell Getter” Bryan and his Shell Princess Jan from Indiana…
Bryan was endlessly scooping ALPHABET CONES, a COLORFUL MOON SHELL, HORSE CONCHS, FIGHTING CONCHS , NUTMEGS and an awesome huge SHARKS EYE to bring back to Jan.
While I was taking the photo of the shell buckets, Bryan went out to hunt down more treasures. He brought back this ALPHABET CONE! Ungawa!
This spot has been very fickle this week for shells so if you go down to Blind Pass Sanibel, the best time is in the morning at LOW TIDE… but be careful! We’ve had some rip tides this week so the current could be tricky. Way in the background of the next photo, you can see how far we were from the Blind Pass bridge.
Aha! I Finally Found You, Fulgurator Olive!
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Note to Self: Check off “Find a Fulgurator Olive” on my seashell bucket list!
Oh Yaya! After a weekend of chilly north winds, I found my first FULGURATOR OLIVE at Blind Pass.
I found it washing up in a somewhat small shell pile about 100 yards from the jetty rocks on the Captiva side. I saw only a few shells near the jetty but when I looked down the beach further into Captiva I saw several people perfecting the Sanibel Stoop (or I should say the Captiva Crouch) then saw the small pile being formed…
Wow! When I got there, this is what most of the “Stooper’s” shell bags looked like…
Pretty awesome, huh? Karen (the first white shell bag), Lorrie (the red shell bag with all the beautiful SCALLOPS) and Dave were all from Wisconsin so the 50 degree weather didnt bother them a bit. Especially since they were finding such good shells. Oh and Dave, thanks for taking my picture with my treasure too. 
Then I met another Dave (he’s from NJ) scooping up his own treasures…
Take a look at his gorgeous LACE MUREX, FLORIDA CONE and BANDED TULIP. I love the color of the LACE MUREX!
I was watching the shells roll in and snapped this photo of Dave using his “shelling backhoe”. The second I stood up (of course keeping my eyes on the shells), I spotted my FULGURATOR in the corner of my eye but lost it with the next wave. I stood there for less than a minute keeping my eyes on every shell washing up… and there it was again! Snag! Yeeha! I’ve looked for it in this photo several times to see if I could find it but it’s not the right angle. Its in there somewhere…
Karen’s husband Scott returned (to our lucky shell pile) from a walk down the beach…
It must not have been just our shell pile that was “lucky” because Scott found his own luck. Look at those huge SHARKS EYES, his own brown colored LACE MUREX, ALPHABET CONE, BANDED TULIP and WHELKS, CONCHS and LETTERED OLIVES galore…
We moved to Florida because we aren’t big fans of cold weather. But when the north winds bring in shells like this… bring on the cold weather! And bring me more shells like this!
PS- Join Super Sheller Clark and me on an iLoveShelling cruise to Cayo Costa Island on an awesome shelling adventure. The next one is Saturday March 16, 2013! Click on the next image for more info…
Pen Shells and Beach Bling
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It has been an unusual week on Sanibel. The winds are changing directions and speed by the second which makes for an interesting site to see of all the different things that wash up on our beaches. I showed you lots of different EGG CASINGS in my last post but I found another one today… a SHARK’S EYE EGG COLLAR…
…oodles of PEN SHELLS…
but we also are seeing PURPLE SEA URCHINS…
And weird fish like this SHORTNOSE BATFISH
EEEEK! And an EEL! Yall know I love me some BEACH BLING… but EELS? They kinda creep me out for some reason.
Blllaaaahhh, Okay, now that I’m completely creeped out… I have to change the subject because I have some happy, happy stuff happening here too that I dont want to ruin! Okay.. here is a happy picture to get back in the mood of what Sanibel is NORMALLY like… having fun doing the Sanibel Stoop!
I met some awesome folks on the beach this week at the Sanibel Lighthouse Beach! This is Shelling Sister Donna R from NY…
She was on her way to finding the Sanibel Six. Yes, that ALPHABET CONE is pretty beat up but It’s still a CONE and it’s whole and HUGE!
I also met sweetie pie Katherine Haskins with her husband Tom.
Katherine love the minis so she was finding lots of different miniatures like WENTLETRAPS along with AUGERS, CERITHS and a little perfect WORMIE.
It was fun to see them on the beach together with their iLS shirts on! (teehee) Warms my heart.
I also met another awesome couple while walking on the beach today several miles west of Lighthouse Beach. Here are shellers Linda and Glen from Ohio…
Linda found an ANGEL WING! They also were happy to find their first KEYHOLE LIMPET along with these other goodies. Notice they even collect the broken SHARK’S EYES if the “eye” is still intact. Yep, they really are beautiful. I told them that when the SHARK’S EYE is brilliant blue in the middle that I’ve heard it called “Paul Newman’s eye”. This one is definitely a PAUL NEWMAN’S EYE!
Oh wait… I feel so badly that I never introduced you to Shelly (love that name!) and Kayle whom I met last week at Blind Pass when the weather was a little cooler…
I found a PYGMY OCTOPUS inside a PEN SHELL and Kayle offered to take it out in the water to put it back. So sweet!
Here are Shelly and Kayle’s gorgeous treasures from the sea that they were collecting. Keep the image of this gorgeous PAPER FIG (in the middle of this green bucket) in your mind to leave you with a happy day. See? I told you I had happy happy stuff to show you. 
