Archive for World shelling
Our Adventures Of Collecting Seashells In Thailand – Part 1
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Pinch me! We spent our shelling vacation in Thailand! Yes… Thailand! I think if you started digging a hole on the beach of Sanibel and continued through the earth, you’d end up on a beach in Thailand…the other side of the planet.
We spent most of our beach time on the south end of Phuket, Thailand in an area called Rawaii.
We, of course, couldn’t wait to scour the beaches to see what kind of shells were there!
I love these little tiny SAND DOLLARS…
We found such a variety of unusual shells (unusual for us, anyway)…
We took one of those beautiful longtail boats out to Bon Island and Coral Island.
Now I know why they call it Coral Island. Wow! So much beautiful coral.
..with a few gorgeous shells mixed in.
Well…ahem… more than just a few gorgeous shells. I found lots of them!
But once again, Super Sheller Clark found CONES!
He found them by snorkeling right along the shoreline…
Oh no. I’m crashing with jet lag again (30 hours of traveling with 2 hours sleep…did I mention an 11 hour time difference?). I’ve got to take this in short spurts for a few days to get caught up with sleep, mail, phone calls, work, laundry and cuddling with the kitties 
.
But one more thing for today….I have to thank Captain Brian for filling in and writing such great posts while we were gone. It was so much fun to have him as a guest blogger, right??? He also had a little guessing game on the Where is Pam? post asking if you could guess where we found these shells. Here’s the photo that was posted…
We have a clear winner! Holly Barth Giehler!
She said “Is it Thailand? The rock “islands” in the distance look like those that were in some of the pictures a friend of mine had from her recent vacation there.”
Then she wrote back and said “It was actually Krabi, Thailand that I was thinking. That’s where a friend of mine was earlier this year and it’s also where part of the movie, “The Hangover 2″ was filmed (the beautiful scenes at the resort where the wedding took place).”
OMG Holly, you had it pinned! The photo of the cones was taken about 10 minutes away from that hotel (the Phulay Bay Ritz Carlton) where they filmed that movie! Congrats! I’ll send you a few shells that we brought home! But wait, getting back to the “Hangover 2″ movie, of course we had to go have a drink to check it out.
Next up…. more Thailand shelling in Phuket and then on to Krabi! And I’m going to try to identify some of these cool shells too so you can see them up close and personal.
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…
Gifts Of The Sea
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I have plenty of WORM SHELLS now that we’ve collected through the years and they still make me laugh. But today, I got JENNY CURL WORM SHELLS that have touched my heart very deeply….. in a piece of art by Melinda Henderson. This is what I saw on my front porch….
Ooohhhh! I package for me!!!! Did I order something I forgot about? Hey, it was from Melinda! Clark and I met Melinda a year ago on the beach while she was collecting her beloved “Jenny Curls”. I introduced her to you on my post Jenny Curl Worm Shells and told you her story. If you didn’t read the original post, you should. Just click on the post title I just wrote.
The moment I opened it, I was astonished. She told me the picture inside is of the Jenny Curls she found on Sanibel last July and that one of the Jenny Curls with the curly tops in the picture was one that Clark gave her.
She did this amazing picture with digital photography. “I really enjoy this kind of art work…it’s call digital photography. I use the computer to manipulate and enhance a photo by applying different media art forms (water color, dry brush, palette knife, etc.), and then add color, shadowing, texture for added character and personality.”
It is so beautiful, I found the perfect home for it one top of a piece of furniture I painted years ago that has the same colors she used. Along with my new Jenny Curl picture, I have other treasures…. the QUEEN CONCH given to us by the shellacious MurexKen, this beautiful piece of PIPE ORGAN CORAL given to us by our dear Sanibel friend Phil (He used to have the shop “Ile Crocodile” on the island, remember that?) and seashells sent to me all the way from Australia by my blog friend Prux of Flotsam Friends.
I have to show you the close up of the Australian shells and “flotsam”. These are the kinds of pieces that Prux collects from her beaches to make her sweet Flotsam Friend dolls she blogs about. I should get the names of these shells and do a post on Australian shells this summer, right?
With all of the special treasures so close together, it warms my heart beyond words. Thank you all for the best gifts of all…… gifts of the sea.
Seashells Of Sanibel And Nova Scotia
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The tides have taken some of the sand that normally covers these slabs* at the lighthouse beach on Sanibel. We were so surprised to see those pieces of concrete showing so much and that we haven’t been finding bigger shells lately. So we search for minis. I did find a MAUVE-MOUTH DRILL along with some other cuties that you probably already know. Can you pick out the MUAVE MOUTH DRILL?
If you couldn’t figure the others out, go to SEASHELL IDENTIFICATION but the one in the middle of this next picture is the MAUVE-MOUTH DRILL (I don’t have that on the I.D. page yet) ….
Mauve Mouth Drill
There were other mini collectors on the beach in between rain storms last night….
Eileen from Gainsville, FL was looking for NUTMEGS. Can you tell she like NUTMEGS? Hint- the beautiful bracelet!
I almost reached down to snag this little “candy” out of Dana’s (came down from Gainsville with Eileen) pile until I realized it was her stash ….
A few days ago, I met a few Shelling Sisters from Nova Scotia that I could have spent the whole day with. Clark and I had a wonderful trip to Nova Scotia in 2005 so I was able to reminisce and visualize all of the places they mentioned and was so intrigued with their rich Mi’kmaq culture.
Denise and Colleen from Nova Scotia
It was so much fun reminiscing thanks to Denise and Colleen, I remembered a photo I took of our shells we found near Yarmouth. Even in 2005, I was taking pictures of our treasures….
Nova Scotia shells 2005
….and of course, taking pictures of Clark with shells….
2005 Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Dogwinkles from 2005
* I’ve had a few people comment about those concrete slabs on the beach at the lighthouse since I posted these photos. There were a few other structures in the early 1900s that were washed away by storms. I asked my friend Susie at MacIntosh Books if she knew anything about them of if she had any books about it. She said to look at….
1) Sanybel Light, by Charles LeBuff, who lived at the lighthouse for 22 years and works at MacIntosh every Sunday
2) Sanibel’s Story, by Betty Anholt –includes several photos of lighthouse from 1943.
Road Trip For Seashells In The Florida Keys
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Clark snorkeling the Keys
The Florida Keys aren’t known for beachcombing since seashells just don’t roll up on their beaches like they do here in Sanibel, Florida but they DO have shells……you just have to know where to dive or snorkel for them. This was our first time shell collecting in the Keys so we were very fortunate to have wonderful shell-crazy friends MurexKen and MurexAlice (who have been shelling the middle Keys for over 20 years) take us out in their boat to show us there are shells to be found in those vast aqua waters.
MurexKen with a Queen Conch
Within an hour or so arriving in the Keys, we strapped on our fins, mask, snorkel and grabbed our shell bags then splashed into the water to seek and explore throughout the weekend. MurexKen found a beautiful live QUEEN CONCH to point out the amazing colors and to show us how many there were living in the grasses. Since it was alive, he put it back and told us there is a big fat fine for keeping a live one. Good!
We found lots of AMERICAN STAR-SHELLS……
American Star Shells
We found a few LONG-SPINED STAR SHELLS…
Long Spined Star Shell
…and some WEST INDIAN TOP SHELLS or also called MAGPIE SHELLS…
West Indian Top shell
Clark found some absolutely perfect MILK CONCHS (MK cleaned these up for us- they look so amazing!)….
Milk Conchs
We snorkeled around the grasses…..( I think I might have to rename MurexKen as MermanKen- he’s a fish!)
Aqua man MurexKen
We snorkeled around bridges….
Bridge Florida Keys
…where MurexAlice found a nice SEA URCHIN…
MurexAlice with urchin
We snorkeled around CORAL REEFS alongside QUEEN ANGELFISH ….
Queen Angel with coral
We snorkeled around sandy sea bottoms to see this SHORTNOSE BATFISH……weird!……
shortnose batfish
I spotted a potential keeper shell… is it empty? Please be empty!
snorkeling for seashells
Oh YaYah- Nobody’s home! He’s a little beat up but I can try to clean it up…..
Empty juvenile queen conch aperture
I was so happy to find an empty QUEEN but mine couldn’t compare to MerMan MurexKen’s Queen Conch with no mollusk inside! Since the lip was broken off they were going to toss it back…..then offered it to us. Of course we’ll take it!
Empty Queen Conch
I cleaned up most of the shells with 1/4 bleach and water solution except another shell MurexKen gave us…… This outstanding HORSE CONCH with the brown “skin” or PERIOSTRACUM still on it- I love that! I just let that soak in a bucket of water with just a tad of bleach so it wouldn’t take the brown off. After I took this photo, I put it back in the bucket to soak some more to get the white “freckles” to soften up even more so I can try to rub them all off. Hey, and take a look at that little conch I found that was so beat up….. I think it’s coming along!
Queen conch, juvenile queen, horse conch
We normally have shells roll up to our feet in Sanibel so this was a fun trip for us to work a little harder (snorkeling’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it! ) at seeing different shells in a different environment. The drive from Sanibel to Big Pine Key was 5 1/2 hours and worth every minute of it to spend time with MurexKen and MurexAlice. It was a trip to remember for sure- Thank you both!
Map Sanibel to Big Pine Key
I have to show you one more fascinating shell….. MurexKen found this QUEEN HELMET a few days before we got there. To read more about his finds, he posted a trip report on Trip Advisor CLICK HERE. I don’t think it gets any prettier than this…..
Queen Helmet Shell
I took some of the photos with a new Fuji underwater camera with a movie feature that was pretty good until it opened up underwater and flooded the camera. Needless to say, I took it back. The good news is…. before it flooded, I got a nice video- Click HERE to see it! Also, click HERE to see the DEER COWRIES Clark found.
Tropical Fish in the Florida Keys
As The Seashells Turn
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Anthony's junonia
I thought I’d give you another shot of Anthony’s JUNONIA (yesterday’s post) before I move on to….. the rest of the story.
Seashells and a sit 'n sifter
There were thousands of shells to sift through.
Lion's paw piece and flat
I figured if I couldn’t find my own JUNONIA then maybe I’d find a LION’S PAW to keep up with Anthony. All I found was this piece…. but it’s a cool piece.
Shelling guide Brian
Brian Holaway is a shelling guide who even shells when he doesn’t have a tour. He got there 15 minutes after Anthony found his JUNONIA.
Brian's collection
He got some great stuff! LACE MUREX, JUVENILE HORSE CONCH (I have so many pet names for that shell, I never know what to call it… it could get confusing… ie- candy, candy corn, horsie, tink’s mac ‘n cheese, orangie) LETTERED OLIVE, ALPHABET CONE and SHARK’S EYE.
We were having so much fun both talking about where we’ve found what shell throughout the world. I forgot about my expired parking receipt in my car…. and he did too! We both saw the parking “cop” pull in the lot and we both high tailed it and ran as fast as we could to our cars. Whew… saved from a $50 parking ticket.
Sea shells on Brian's dashboard
I looked over at Brian’s car and had to take a picture of the inside of his truck. Two huge WHELKS, a JUNONIA, a big honkin’ KING’S CROWN and a dancing hula girl filled his dashboard.
Panama shells
Then he brings out some shells he found in Panama! That are MOTHER OF PEARL OYSTER, a RADISH MUREX, a LIMPET, and I have no idea what the other one is. I couldn’t believe what I heard…. he wanted me to have them. He gave them to me! He said he found tons of all of them so he wouldn’t miss them. Geez. Thank you, Brian!
Beach sheller Joan
So when I got back to the beach, I ran into blog shelling sistah Joan! She was tickled to be finding lots of goodies.
Joan's shell treasures
She found a beautiful MOON SNAIL sitting right there in front. So nice to meet you Joan!
Look how pretty this scallop is!
Nutmeg in shells
Whew! The seashell adventures of the past few shelling days has been the best early Christmas present ever. I’m now catching my breath and sorting through what we found (they still aren’t cleaned yet- ugh). These were my faves pictured below from night shelling Monday night and yesterday. That’s Clark’s 8 inch LIGHTNING WHELK and candy, I told you about….. but let me name them all any way. Clockwise top left to right- BITTERSWEET, LACE MUREX, LIGHTNING WHELK, piece of a LION’S PAW, FLAT ZIGZAG SCALLOP, SCALLOP, TOP SHELL, NUTMEG, 3 ALPHABET CONES, HORSE CONCH (candy!).
Our seashell collection
