Archive for Shark’s Teeth
Sea Hare Raising Experience
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I’m not sure if I’ve ever found a fossil SHARKS TOOTH at Bind Pass before….But my fossil-hunting buddy Susan (Sanibel) found one there! I think she can pluck out a fossil on any beach!
This was a pretty nice size TIGER SHARK TOOTH she found in the wrack line on the Sanibel side. Can you make out the serrated edge on the tooth on the pointed side?
Louise ad Debra (Maine) found lots of shell treasures including a really nice ALPHABET CONE…
Another Shelling Sista Susan and her husband Gary (Maryland) found two big LIGHTNING WHELKS out on the sand bar.
Congrats! These babies will clean right up with sharp pick and a little bleach.
My fave find of the day was this sweet little baby KING’S CROWN…
Oh wait! I take that back. This would be my favorite….We saw a SEA HARE at Blind Pass! It was a SEA HARE raising experience. heehee
I made a video for my post See A Sea Hare (check it out- you can see pictures of the ink squirting out) a while back but I wanted to show it to you again just in case you missed it. Enjoy this funny little creature…
Is There A Fossil Dentist In The House?
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Stingray Mouth Plates
Shelling sistah Susan S. took a road trip with her husband to Manasota Key to do some SHARK’S TEETHing at Blind Pass Park in Englewood, Florida. I couldn’t wait to see what she brought back to Sanibel. The first thing she told me “We found 250 SHARK’S TEETH!” then added “… and a guy on the beach told me these were a couple of STINGRAY MOUTH PLATES”.
Well, I guess they are. They are only about a half inch long and you can tell what they are by the little grooves. Doesn’t it boggle the mind how someone figured out what these little pieces are when they are mixed in with sand, pebbles and shell crush? They can be up to 2 million years old!
This is Susan with a hand full of SHARK’S TEETH…
Look at all the SHARK’S TEETH spread out. It’s so much more obvious that these are fossil teeth… instead of figuring out a fossil mouth plate.
This tooth was about 2 1/2 inches long and broken in half. This came from a big sucker…
Okay, now we have seen a STINGRAY MOUTH PLATE, lots of SHARK’S TEETH and remember Carla found a PUFFERFISH MOUTHPLATE when I shelled with her in Bonita…
These poor creatures needed a dentist! They lost so many mouth parts and they’re washing up all along the Gulf Coast! 
It’s always fun to learn about other types of beach bling that washes up on the shore and always fun to hang out with someone who shares the same love for it. Thanks Susan and the rest of my shelling family out there! Who else could get excited about a STINGRAY MOUTH PLATE?
Barefootin’ With Shelling Sistas
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It sure was a roller coaster weekend… literally. Hurricane Irene was rolling along the coast wreaking havoc and causing lots of trouble. My family and friends in Virginia Beach are fine (some with no power still, but fine) and I hope you and yours that were in Irene’s path are okay as well. I spent most of my time glued to the weather channel wrenching my hands so I took a 45 minute drive to Bonita Springs on Saturday to meet my Shelling Sistas Carla and Kelly at Barefoot Beach for some well needed shelling time. The welcome wagon was there to greet us in the form of a GOPHER TORTOISE…
He was even so friendly to hang out with Kelly for a bit. How cute are they!
The tide was pretty high when we started our treasure hunt but there’s always something fun to find on the beach.
Carla spotted a couple of SHARK’S TEETH and fossil piece of a mouth plate to a PUFFER FISH….
I only found one little SHARK’S TOOTH but was happy to find any!
Carla came across this PEN SHELL with such a colorful EGG CASING attached to it. It looks like a beautiful flower blossom!
I am a little confused which egg sacs these are because of the color but I think this maybe a TRUE TULIP EGG CASE that just was formed. Take a look and see what you think. I’d love a positive I.D. so if you can help, please help us learn what it is. Here’s a closer look at this beauty….
Carla walks this beach probably as much as I walk the Sanibel beaches so she has a keen eye to find the goodies like the SHARK’S TEETH, EGG CASES and this perfect empty LACE MUREX …
Did you notice her necklace? Yes! She found that big honkin tooth and made a necklace out of it like she did for the oh-so-cool piece of sea glass she gave me. I love it Carla!
Kelly was soaking in the beauty of the day every second….
I was thrilled when she brought seashells she found from Puerto Penasco, Mexico (aka- Rocky Point) to share. Thank you Kelly! Now remember, these are shells from Mexico NOT Florida…
Seashells from Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco, Mexico)
I didn’t get a picture of all her treasures our day on Barefoot so she sent a photo of her shells from the day…
I know these don’t look like great shells to most, but these were my favorite finds on Saturday- CORAL, WORMIE, SHARKS TOOTH, a piece of a LION’S PAW (!), a tiny OLIVE with beautiful color and pattern and a SEA PEARL.
Since I was so distracted by Hurricane Irene, I didn’t get to show you another shelling sista I met last week on the beach in Sanibel. It was so nice to meet you, Desiree! I love your hat!
She said she bought a cheapy hat and embellished it using hot glue with shells she found on Sanibel. She said it was a snap to make since the ribbon was already there to glue the shells to. It’s the simple things that make life fun, isn’t it?
I have some pictures of Blind Pass from yesterday evening at low tide that I won’t probably get to post until tomorrow but it’s just an FYI…. there are shells there. You have to look in the water right at the edge of the small drop off. Good luck! In the mean time, enjoy a few more pics of Barefoot Beach…
Buckets of Seashells
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Eddy's shell bucket
I didn’t see shellers with buckets filled to the rim with seashells today, but I did see a few buckets that had nice quality shells that made every other sheller smile when they peeked into the bottom. This is Eddy’s bucket with that big FLAT SCALLOP and so mant color variations and sizes of the FIGHTING CONCHS and other goodies.
Eddy peeking into his shell bucket
I first met Eddy in August with his sister Rachael and they are back in full shelling mode. Look at those CONES Rachael found.
Rachael with 2 Florida cone and an Alphabet
This next bucket could make a grown shelling woman cry… I mean smile too.
A bucket of Crowns
This is very impressive to see all of the KINGS CROWNS together in the bottom of this bucket, isn’t it? Molly found a secret shelling spot digging in some mud flats where she found all of these lovelies completely empty. Jack pot!
Molly and Ella (MI)
This is KING’S CROWN queen Molly and her daughter Ella with their other best finds of the week…. SEA URCHINS, 8″ HORSE CONCH, ALPHABET CONES, SHARK’S EYES, ANGEL WINGS and a NUT MEG. Ella told me that shelling was her most favorite thing to do. Then a close second was rock climbing.
Cuties Ella and Manny
Ella and her little brother Manny are excited to show off a few more shells.. a SUNRAY VENUS CLAM and a JUVENILE FIGHTING CONCH.
Limpet, seaglass, tusk and shark's tooth
The picture above are treasures that shellers Melody and Bill found on a day trip to Venice yesterday. Clockwise from the left … a KEY HOLE LIMPET, SEA GLASS, SHARK’S TOOTH FOSSIL and a TUSK shell all placed on top of a seagrape leaf. Nice finds!
Melody and Bill (Greenville, SC)
Happy Anniversary Melody and Bill! What a nice way to “Shellebrate”!
Sanibel Blind Pass Sand bar
There are still shells on the Sanibel side but the rip tide picked up a little this afternoon in between the shore and the sand bar… so be VERY CAREFUL if you are shelling around there. I’ve finally found all you crazy shellers like us so I don’t want to lose any of you!
A Barefoot Beach Morning
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Coral from Barefoot Beach
I’ve been wanting to run down to Barefoot Beach in Bonita Springs (45 minute drive) to meet shelling sister Carla Barone for quite some time. Today I got to meet her and she was everything I thought… shell crazy and sweet as pie. As soon as we hit the beach, I found all of these pieces of CORAL as we walked south to get down to the jetty at Wiggins Pass.
Fossils found by Carla
Carla loves looking for not only shells but fossils and different beach treasures. She picked up these pieces then told me the fossils in her hand clockwise from top left…. a SHARK’S TOOTH, a piece of turtle shell called a “SKOOT”, and …okay… are you ready for this one? … the mouth plate of a PUFFER FISH. Wow. I’d like you to meet Carla…
Me with super collector Carla
She loves to talk to everyone on the beach about all the fun things to collect.
Carla showing fossils to Kathy and her friend
We found out that Kathy was a first time sheller and she found this…
Kathy with alphabet cone
A perfect ALPHABET CONE! I saw the colors through her shell bag and commented on her find but she didn’t know what I was talking about. She didn’t realize what she had… until now. Then we ran into Carla’s good friend Jen who taught her about most of the fossils she has found.
Fossil collector Jen
Today she was collecting as sorts of shells and goodies.
Jen's shell bag
Another one of Carla’s friends (she’s very popular on this beach!) Ella found this awesome SHARK’S EYE. What a cutie!
Ella with sharks eye
Then I found this huge WORM SHELL. I still can’t believe how big it is.
Wormie!
And some of his grand wormies…
Bunch of worm shells
On the way back, we saw several ssslloooooww GOPHER TORTOISES.
Gopher tortoise
So this is where Carla finds a lot of her shells.
Barefoot Beach entrance sign
So she can make beautiful whelk sculptures like this…
Whelk Sculpture by Carla Barone
Thanks for everything, Carla. It was a great shelling morning!
Humongous Shark’s Tooth
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Megalodon sharks tooth?
We find lots of great shells on Captiva but we don’t normally find too many SHARK’S TEETH… especially a big huge chunk (almost 3 inches long) of a fossilized MEGALODON SHARK TOOTH.
Jen, Karen and Dexter (St Louis)
Jen, Karen and Dexter (I actually think it was Dexter) found this piece of tooth that Jaws must have lost 6 to 12 million years ago. They found it on the beach at South Seas Island Resort this past weekend and called it their best find yet. Yep, I’d say so! That is pretty lucky… but it looks like luck comes easily to them because they had won this vacation on an online drawing. A free week at South Seas! Weehoo!
Kaitlyn
There was another lucky girl and a good find this weekend …..This is 8 year old Kaitlyn holding another mysterious find she found on the beach off West Gulf Drive. Her grandparents posted this on iLoveShelling FaceBook page and think it’s a CABRIT’S MUREX but I’m thinking it could be a ROSE MUREX but still not sure from the photos. Whichever shell it is.. it’s a fantastic find!! Her grandparents Sue and Mitch told me as soon as she saw it, knew it was a special shell. Good eye, Kaitlyn!
Kaitlyn's murex
I also met shelling sister Anna Lemons today.
Anna (Ohio) with her wentletrap
She let us know in her comments that she would coming to Sanibel to find WENTLETRAPS at the lighthouse… and looky what she found. Not just any WENTLETRAP, but a big honkin wentletrap! Look at that smile…happy girl!
Looks like there were some pretty lucky people the last few days. I didnt happen to find many shells but I did enjoy meeting such nice shellers and being outside.
Although not so happy Sanibel and Captiva are getting closer.
But really happy to see this little girl soaking in this beautiful sunset.
