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!