Colorful moon snail image

Colorful moon snail

The moon was full and the low tides were in the early evening this weekend so it was a perfect time to get out and see Mother Nature on the beaches of Sanibel Island. This COLORFUL MOON SNAILwas about 2 1/2 inches round and so beautiful….but I didn’t get to bring it home because he was still alive and well…. that’s a good thing.

apple murex egg case image

apple murex egg case

Last week I posted a picture of an APPLE MUREX mound then MurexKen commented on that post to let us know that it was a female laying eggs. Now, look what I found! This is what those eggs look like with some of the murexes still surrounding them.

Murex egg case image

Murex egg case

I found another smaller egg case too with only one murex still on it. Not sure if this is the female still laying more eggs but if so, where did all of her men go to?? Did she run them off?

King's crown egg case image

King's crown with egg case

We hit the jackpot when we found this perfect KING’S CROWN in a shallow low tide pool on the east end. When we  picked it up, we realized that it was still alive…. but more importantly, she was laying eggs too! She found an old FIGHTING CONCH and decided this would be a perfect place to “birth her babies” ;) . We gently put her back in the water where we found her so she could go about her way. We may not have been able to keep that gorgeous shell but just seeing Mother Nature  in progress was hitting that jackpot for us.

Cathy (Orlando, FL)

Cathy from Orlando had her cup over-floweth with CALICO SCALLOPS, WHELKS, MUREXES and other treasures. She said she loves to come for weekends to go shelling any chance she gets. It was a beautiful Memorial Day holiday weekend for her to choose.

Low tide shelling