Archive for Urchin
Beach Bling Is A Wonderful Thing
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If you want to learn the types of seashells, sea life, vegetation and what the different kinds of mollusk egg cases look like and live in the Gulf Of Mexico, you’ve got your chance this week. It all washed up on the beach on the East end of Sanibel.
You can see it for miles. So many mollusk egg casings and PEN SHELLS galore!
MERMAID PURSES! Well, they are really SKATE EGG CASES…
HORSE CONCH EGG CASINGS (I shot this with the Nikon J1)…
WHELK EGG CHAINS…
Lots of CRABS too. This one is a STONE CRAB…
My friend Jane called me and said she found a dead crab shell on the beach that had a NAUTILUS shell pattern. She has found a NAUTILUS before so she would know! Wanna see? CLICK HERE . So I went to see this crab…and it does have that pattern! It’s a FLAME BOX CRAB…
I also saw lots of SEA WHIPS. This was the first time I’ve ever found a WHITE SEA WHIP…
We normally just find the purple SEA WHIPS but when I went to see Jane’s FLAME BOX CRAB she showed me this bright yellow WHIP she picked up as well.
There were oodles of PURPLE SEA URCHINS also ( J1)…
I always get questions about the bones on the beach. They are from the bait in the crab traps… not random dead carcasses. LOL
I also get a lot of questions about this guy on the left. It’s a SEA CUCUMBER…
Don’t worry, I saw lots of shells too. Mainly, the double DOSINIAS.
Cyber Sheller Alert! This next photo is really big so you can do a little shelling and blinging…
Looking through all this BEACH BLING, there are little treasures that look like this so you have to look closely…
Some goodies were still washing in at the shoreline as well…
The big find was by Seth (FL)! He found this huge HORSE CONCH on the sand bar near Donax Rd. Here he is with Erin and Reese…
See? BEACH BLING is a wonderful thing… (J1)
PS- Some of you know I’ve been testing a new Nikon J1 camera. It isn’t very spontaneous but when I do catch a nicer shot than with my spontaneous, trusty, easy, clear Panasonic DMC…. I’ve noted it.
Paradise, Pelicans and Palm Trees
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What? Christmas is here in just one week? Even in paradise it’s just such a busy time so I’ve fallen down on the job of getting out the shelling news in the last few days. I’m so sorry! The photo above is Blind Pass Captiva this past week with a nice wrack line of shells on the Pass side of the jetty where I met Marie, Jack and Alberta…
Jet and Laura were tickled with their treasures of COCKLES and FIGHTING CONCHS…
On the Sanibel side of Blind Pass is where I saw Shelling Sistahs Sandi and Ginger - look at her full on shelling gear!
Then I met SS Eileen who joined in on the fun of talking shelling. Did you notice the SS before Eileen’s name? It’s Shelling Sistah! This will be fun! When I introduce people who know us here on i Love Shelling, I’ll add the “SS” so you know they are Shelling Sistahs or Shelling Siblings or Stock (for the guys?). I know I’m silly but I really do feel like we all have some sort of kinship or kindred sprits….like we all have the same sand running through our blood.
This is an unedited video of the changes of Blind Pass taken on the Captiva side last week. (Sorry it’s a little/lotta belated!) I can’t believe I lost a BITTERSWEET but I’m glad I didn’t fuss about it too long because there is always something else that washes in. Enjoy the vid then I have a few more photos for you…
A long West Gulf Drive I found another WEST INDIES SEA EGG URCHIN…
I always enjoy the PELICANS, but to see them fly directly above me in vee formation is always spectacular.
PELICANS and palm trees….. ahhhh… paradise.
Shelling For The Holidays
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The holiday season is in full swing on Sanibel and Captiva islands so I have been a busy little elf! First of all, I’d like to introduce the brand new i Love Shelling 2012 Calendar chock full of beautiful Sanibel photos and of course our beloved seashells. Now you can enjoy shelling 12 months of the year!
Here’s a sneak peak of January’s sunset photo and CLICK HERE to see all 12 months and get one for yourself or as a gift for your shelling buddy.
We also hit the beaches this week to find a few shells and lots of Beach Bling. We found big old WHELK and CONCH pieces I love for yard shells along with a few SEA WHIPS, LONG SPINED SEA URCHINS, PURPLE SEA URCHINS, PEN SHELLS, CRAB SHELLS and this little BRITTLE STAR too.
There were lots of DOSINIAS mixed in with hundreds of SAILORS EARS and TRANSVERSE ARKS…
I even saw a few bones scattered along the beach. These are from bait in the crab traps in the gulf that get tossed around in rough surf.
STONE CRABS are what lots of those traps are made to catch. When fishermen bring in the traps, they only take one claw from a STONE CRAB since the claws have the best meat. They throw the crab back without killing it because they know the crab can eat and defend itself with only one claw until another claw grows back. Here is a STONE CRAB claw lying on the beach that could have been a good appetizer if it had been freshly caught. Darn!
There were HORSESHOE CRABS too …
And a BLUE CRAB…
I also saw this MOON SHELL (SHARK’S EYE) EGG COLLAR…
I met a wonderful local man Frank, who moved here in 1964 and still loves to walk the beaches and pick up shells especially with his daughter Connie. He told me he was 87 but he looks like he is no older than 72! Thank you Frank for your service for our country in WW2.
Here are some of the mini shells Frank and Connie collected when I saw them along Middle Gulf Drive.
I also have photos of the yesterday’s oh-so-fun Captiva Holiday Village golf cart parade. Here’s one picture of our Junonia Jalopy but I’ll have to show you the rest tomorrow. It was a blast! All of the other cart were so darn cute!
Check out my new tee shirt! I wore my new “Oh CONE All Ye Faithful” Christmas design v-neck tee. I got so many compliments- so much fun ! And don’t forget to check out the 2012 i Love Shelling Calendar too….. and the new online i Love Shelling Shop….. Or the fun faves at Shelling Shop. You see? I’ve been a little Santa’s helper for the good seashell loving girls and boys. Ho Ho Ho!
The Beach is Always Worth The Trip
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I had to pull the car over on one of the causeway islands last night on my way back to Sanibel because the sunset was so pretty. It always makes running errands so much more enjoyable when I can time it to return to the island at sunset. Ahhhh. Makes it worth it.
I also thought it was worth the trip to Blind Pass today to see if the shells were starting to show up again. To me, the shells have seemed a little scarce there lately for some reason. We’ve just had so much sand filling in again so I’ve been hoping for some good west winds to bring back the shells. I’m seeing more showing up now! Especially BITTERSWEETS. I saw quite a few today!
I think this is the first BABY’S EAR that I’ve ever found at Blind Pass Sanibel. After I found this one, I found one more in the same area mixed in with the same type Beach Bling.
Leo from Chicago showed me some cool live creatures he found before he set the free in the water.
This is a live PURPLE SEA URCHIN hanging on to a live PEN SHELL. See how the PEN SHELL is partly opened? This is how Sandy The Sanderling got in trouble by putting her beak in there. It slammed shut on her beak and wouldn’t let go. Ouch! If you missed that story click HERE.
This wrack line looks like a good sign to me for the next few days.
I didn’t find loads of shells today but it was just good to get back on the beach on this beautiful day. I like quality these days over quantity. My BITTERSWEETS and BABY’S EARS made my day soooo much better.
I’m getting back into my routine so I’ll be out tomorrow again to find out if there are any other shell spots hiding out there. Have you been finding great shells lately?
I want to thank you guys again for your feedback on my new i Love Shelling Shop. I’ll continue to add designs and merchandise so you can stay closer to Sanibel and we all can show off our love for shelling.
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!
I Heart Sanibel and Captiva
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Don’t you just love to come across something written in the sand with shells? Me too! Especially when it’s something like this…so sweet with that little heart. We found this beach art at Blind Pass last night along with lots of goodies to remind me why I heart Sanibel too….. and Captiva.
The waves were still really choppy in the Gulf so Clark and I checked out Blind Pass yesterday late afternoon and started on the Captiva side to look for shells by the jetty. Not many shells were on the beach yet but this perfect ANGEL WING was just laying on the beach exactly like this…
We took that as a good sign so we brought out the big guns and started scooping with the larger shelling backhoes in the surf. Oh yaya! We started finding oodles of OLIVES and juvie FIGHTING CONCHS. This was in one of the first piles of scooped shells…
The MANGROVE SEED PODS were coming in along with the shells…
One little SEA URCHIN…
A Horsie! (I just noticed I have a habit of putting an “ie” on the things I think are really cute. LOL It’s like when you talk about your kitties or puppies- you get “that” voice and everything is so cute 
)
Just like these two “cutie” sisters Jessica and Allysa from Sarasota who were having a great time filling up their shell bags. They both knew most of the names of their shells- such smart girls!
We walked back over to the Sanibel side and guess who we found! Local sheller Donnie (no really, his name already had the “ie” on it, I didn’t give him that pet name- LOL) who I mentioned in my post The Elite Threewhen his daughter found a JUNONIA and a SCOTCH BONNET in the same week.
He gives most of his shell finds away but he did have a few keepers in his shell bag. Oh, and check out his fancy shelling shoes… they have toes!
While we were on the Captiva side I took a video of Clark doing sort of a How-To on using the shelling backhoe but it is taking sooooo long to download. I’ll try to post it tomorrow. Until then, have a great weekend!
UPDATE: September 10, 2011- You can see the video of this day by clicking HERE.
