Archive for Purple Sea Urchin
Pen Shells and Beach Bling
Posted by: | Comments
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. 
2012 Sanibel Coastal Cleanup
Posted by: | Comments
As part of the Ocean Conservancy‘s 2012 International Coastal Cleanup, Dee Serage of the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) organized volunteers to pick up and document litter on our beaches and coastlines this past Saturday. So the beach on Sanibel from Blind Pass to Bowman’s is free and clear of any trash because of our fun little cleanup crew in the photo above from left to right… Susan (Soul Sister Susan), Daron who was our efficient record keeper, me, Super Sheller Clark, Judy, Grant, Cameron and Berringer.
We spread out and literally combed the beach.. or should I say “litteraly”.
We searched high on the beach for trash…
…and we searched low on the beach for litter. We had to leave these big shells piles for another day but couldn’t help but look for something unusual.
Berringer did find a few unusal shells. Oh, and remember the SPOTTED EAGLE RAY I showed on my last video? Clark had “spotted” the ray in the water and told everybody to come look at it but Berringer is the one who knew exactly what it was right away. “Look! It’s an EAGLE RAY!” (you see why I like him?)
He found a beautiful yellow ALTERNATE TELLIN pair…
And look at the bright purple color of this SOUTHERN HORSE MUSSEL !
It even has purple in the interior…
Grant found this very cool completely dried PUFFER FISH…
This is what I call cool BEACH BLING…
Grant also found this sweet little SEA URCHIN…
Yes, there were lots of shell piles like I showed you in the cyber shelling photo on my last post with but we were on a mission to pick up trash and we had a very long walk so we only picked up the cool unusual things that didn’t weigh much… like this ROSEATE SPOONBILL FEATHER! We rarely find these…
Clark brought home this aqua buoy. We couldn’t throw that away!
But back to the main reason we were there… to rid the beach of any trash. Cigarettes, plastic bottles, plastic caps, more and more plastic were the top items found but I was so surprised to see so many balloons with ribbons on the beach. Balloons are a huge NO-NO to bring to the beach! They can get swallowed or wrapped around wildlife so please never take balloons to the beach for any occasion.
Fortunately, our beaches aren’t terribly littered so I think we only filled up 7 fairly small bags which is not so bad for a 2 and 1/2 mile walk. But Clark didn’t stop there. He even saw trash thrown over the beach access boardwalk so he fished it out under the rail. Go Super Sheller Clark!
I’m sure yall do this already, but just a reminder while we are shelling… let’s pick up any trash and put it in our shell bag until we can find a trash can or dumpster to dispose of it. Okay, So… lets recap what we do as “shellers”. On our beach walks we can get exercise, find treasure, explore, learn about wildlife and the creatures of the sea AND save the planet AND spread peace on earth. LOL Yes! Shellers save the planet! We are the Super Shellers!
Beach Bling Is A Wonderful Thing
Posted by: | Comments
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.
Shelling For The Holidays
Posted by: | Comments
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!
I Heart Sanibel and Captiva
Posted by: | Comments
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.
How To Make Shell Crafts Video – Project: Dandelions
Posted by: | Comments
I started thinking about summer projects this week so I revisited some of my blog photos for inspiration. Bingo! The 74th Sanibel Shell Fair and Show was last month … and it gave me a great idea for both me and you. I thought I’d find out some of the secrets of shell crafting so I asked how 2011 Blue Ribbon and Judges’s Special Award winner Barb Walling made her ”Dandelions” piece. We will get to learn every detail of how this piece was made by the artist herself!
Barb was gracious enough to invite me over to her Sanibel home to see where the magic begins. She first showed me how she organizes her shells that she picks up off the beach after she washes and dries them.
She categorizes each box or drawer by the shell name. This one is the SEMELE which she uses as the base to the dandelion and most of her shell flowers.
From here, I’m gonna let her tell you how everything else is done. Sit back, relax and let your imagination roll…
How ’bout that, huh? Here’s a close up of the SEMELE she talked about ……
….and the CROSS BARRED VENUS
This is a dead PURPLE SEA URCHIN that washed up on the beach with some of it’s spines still attached.
This is a close up of Barb’s SEA URCHIN spines. That’s a lot of SEA URCHINS!
Thank you so much for the shell craft lesson, Barb! Can’t wait to see what you create for next year’s 75th Anniversary of Sanibel Shell Fair and Show.
