Archive for Sponge
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!
Red Branch Coral?
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Chris's red coral or sponge
Chris and Sarah picked up this vibrant piece of beach treasure and thought it was a little piece of red branch CORAL. As you can see, it has the shape and branches like coral and so full of color. This is a very cool find…..but….I actually think this is a red SPONGE. I’m not sure it will last long (at times they turn to goo, fall apart or lose their color) but still, it’s beautiful and it’s fun to see different gifts from the sea.
Chris, Sarah and baby Logan (Crawfordsville, Indiana)
Colorful Moon shell and Kings Crown
Clark found this not-so-pretty nice sized KINGS CROWN at the lighthouse beach this weekend. Whether they have barnacles, slime, algae or worn spines, I still like them if nobody has made a home of it and clean them up. Most of the time, I can make them beautiful again by using old dental tools to pick off the barnacles, a tooth brush or scrub brush, and just a tad of bleach to get rid of the algae. I thought I’d shock you when I showed you a before and after picture when I started on the clean up. I started picking….. cleaning…… scrubbing….. errrrrr…… a little better….. back to cleaning…….. hmmmmm. Well, this is the best that this shell is going to get for me right now.
Semi-cleaned up King's Crown
Not too much of a shocker but it was still worth a try. The other side looks pretty good.
Cleaned King's Crown
We have our fair share of King’s Crowns, so when we go back to the lighthouse, we will return this where we found it so that someone else might be able to enjoy it too.
It’s Gettin’ Good
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Shells in the surf at West Gulf Drive #3
I started shelling around West Gulf Drive #7 this morning but didn’t see much until I came back down in between #2 and #3. As I was getting there, I asked a few shellers if they found anything good yet and they told me about a gal that was there around 9am found 5 CONES. The tide was getting higher and bringing in some good shells but I think she snagged all the CONES. I saw lots of LIGHTENING WHELK, MUREXES, CONCHS, COCKLES, URCHINS, TULIPS and OLIVES. They were just rolling in with the surf. “Easy pickins”…and fun!
Shellers at West Gulf #3
I blogged about Judy who found 13 JUNONIAS on me January 10 post…….well, I met her husband (and JUNONIA partner in crime), Jim, out there today. He knows his shelling and he thought it was looking good for some good shelling in the next few days. He likes that north west wind and says it’s the best wind conditions for this area of the beach. I tried to get the secret to finding all of those JUNONIAS…..and he said “it’s a lot of luck and a good NW wind on the high tide”. OK. I’m hoping this will be my year.
Whelk with lots of other shells
After I left West Gulf Drive, I headed down to the Lighthouse area. I actually couldn’t find any parking in the public lots…..all 3 were completely full! ….So I used my local’s sticker to park on East Gulf Drive by the Colony Condos. The shelling is really good there too! I only took videos down there so I’ll get that together and post that in a bit so you can see how wild it looks with all of the crazy stuff. It’s like the pictures from around Christmas. It looks like the bottom of the sea got pushed up on the beach….SPONGES, SEAWEED, SEA FANS, PEAR WHELKS, PAPER FIGS, URCHINS, STARFISH, MUREXES galore, huge old CONES…just a mixed bag of stuff. Cool!
Chocolate and Vanilla
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Artist Doug
There’s a reason that we have different flavors like chocolate and vanilla to choose from….. because everybody has different taste buds and they see the world through different eyes.
That’s why I am so glad that I ran into Doug today on the path to the beach at Blind Pass on the Sanibel side. Most people pick up the pretty shells but Doug had a big bag of dead fish and sponges. “I’m going to make a mobile out of them after they are dried out” he said. I love it! He is a metal sculpture artist and he has a website www.makesculpture.com . Please send me a picture of your sculpture, Doug, when it is finished. I’d love to post it.
