After you enjoy feeling the excitement of finding shells on the beach, you get to enjoy the excitement all over again when you show them to someone else that “gets” what you found and knows how you feel. That’s why our Shellabaloo 2 “Shell ‘NÂ Tell” was one of my favorite days of the whole week during Shellabaloo. Do you see what Michele (Ohio) is holding in her hand in the first photo with her husband Bill? She found a JUNONIA! But that’s not it… she found what she calls “The Trifecta!”… A large HORSE CONCH and a large WHELK along with her JUNONIA. Do you think she was a happy girl or what! So happy for you Michele!
Here are some of her other finds (minus the JUNONIA since she was showing it to the others when I took this) …
For the week of Shellabaloo 2, I made up another Shellinger Hunt. The hunt is really meant to just have fun learning about different shells and not to overlook some of the common shells like JINGLES and KITTENS PAWS because…. well… because I think they are beautiful too! So you will see some of the displays with a dozen JINGLES in a COCKLE SHELL because that was point for the Shellinger Hunt. It wasn’t about who could find and take the most shells off the beach- it was all about enjoying the shells that were found… and some bigger points for finding things like The Sanibel Six or finding the rarer shells. It was so much fun to see these shellers find shells they’ve never found before and to rediscover the ones that can easily be overlooked.
On our last day, I asked everybody to bring their fave finds and/or their entries for the Shellinger Hunt at our home base at Island Inn so we could all see what everybody else was collecting. We set up tables for each person to display their shells and it turned out to be a mini Sanibel Shell Show!
Terri (NY) made a beee-uuuteeeful display of her favorite finds.
Lee and Susan (Cuba) narrowed down their favorite finds on a cooler tray for the Shellinger Hunt…
Of course I added a BEACH BLING category on the hunt ( i Love the BLING!) so it’s so funny they added a dried up fish tail that looks just like a MERMAID and a washed up fishing bobber as the faves in that category. LOL
Rick (Texas) brought a plate of his fave shells… the miniature shells. I just love how everybody organized their shells so creatively!
Rick’s wife Murfy showed her faves along with her favorite vintage shell book…
There is one shell in the middle of the others that is a little different. It looks like some sort of a TURITELLA… which I dont think is native to this area. I think it is either a FOSSIL shell that found it’s way to the gulf on a high tide from sidewalk fill or it was left over from a party or wedding after someone bought shells to decorate with. Hmmmm.
If there was a prize for being creative… Â Sharene and Tom (Ontario) would have won for creativity!
Rusty and Donna (Apopka, FL) narrowed down the favorites and of course it included an ALPHABET CONE and the SEA WHIP that had the ONE-TOOTH SIMNIAS I showed you in the first Shellabaloo 2 post.
Roger (MO) told me that his favorite shells were the minis he found at Lighthouse Beach. It was his first time finding WENTLETRAPS, RICE OLIVES and TUSKS so it was really fun to find something new.
Margie (AL) is so adorable! Her favorite shell was the PONDEROUS ARK because she loved the black PERIOSTICUM (the shell’s “skin”) on the white shell so that’s all she collected. She is going to make a black and white frame for a mirror when she gets home so I hope we get to see it!
Cutie Pie Becka needed her own table to make room for all of her newly found treasures.
Kendra (IN) had a sweet organized display of her favorites but also for the Shellinger Hunt.
She was so afraid she was going to lose her first TUSK SHELL so she wrapped half of a bandaid around it so she would know where it was (on the blue plate). LOL
Pat (Boca Raton, FL) had an amazing display of shells and BLING for the Shellinger Hunt.
While I was oooohing and aaaahing at all of her finds, she pointed out a piece of BEACH BLING that she wanted to know what it was. Whoa! Pat! You found the OPERCULUM to the SHARKS EYE! Clark just found our first ones just last month so I was absolutely thrilled for her that… A) she saw it and picked it up… and B) that she knew it was something special to show at the Shell And Tell. See why I love these shellers? Who else would think this thing on the beach was cool…
Speaking of awesome shellers, unfortunately, Gina couldn’t come to the Shell ‘N Tell but I still have to show you one of her exshellent finds… Gina found a yellow SEA WHIP. We find the purple ones a little more often but not the perfect yellow ones like hers. And no, I couldnt get her photo either because she was a little camera shy but Ha! I took a “long-arm shot” with me in it so we could get her picture and the SEA WHIP. LOL   And yep, you guessed it! There were two ONE-TOOTH SIMNIAS on it!
I have found yellow SEA WHIPS before but never one with the yellow ONE-TOOTH SIMINAS on it. Yahoo! Gina did! Such a treasure!
Okay back to the Shell ‘N Tell with the rest of the awesomeness…. Here’s Cindy with her huge HORSE CONCH I showed you in my last post! Now you can see all of the other fabulous shells she found as well.
She also found a big ALPHABET CONE …which is part of 2 sets of The Sanibel Six for her Shellinger Hunt finds. She found a FLORIDA CONE to make her other set. And look at all of the SHARKS TEETH!
Okay… It’s time to announce the winner of the Shell And Tell and you won’t believe this prize! The winning sheller went home with a silver JINGLE SHELL necklace made by Sealife By Congress. It is beautiful! This new Sanibel jewelry store in Periwinkle Place Shopping Center is filled with seashells, SEAHORSES, DOLPHINS, STARFISH, SAND DOLLARS and every other sea life in gold, silver and with tasteful gemstones as well. I was thrilled they wanted to give our winner this perfect shell necklace.
After much laughter and ado, we narrowed the winners down to Michele (with her JUNONIA and  HORSE CONCH) and Cindy with her HORSE CONCH based on their points score…
Before we announce the winner, Cindy and Michele clicked their CONCHS as if it was a toast. Cute and so much fun!
Drum Roll Please! …. wait for it…… The winner is Michele! Her JINGLE necklace is perfect for her! Congratshellations, my friend!
 I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun both Shellabaloo 1 (in January) and this Shellabaloo 2  have been since it really brings amazing people together with not just shelling in common but we all seem to be like-minded in so many other ways. It’s quite a bonding experience, I must say. Thank you Island Inn for hosting such a great Shellapalooza. I’m sorry to say that I don’t know when the next one will be- no dates of been set yet for this 4 day Shellathon but as soon as we’ve come up with a plan, you will be the first to know.
But wait! Â I’m gathering a group of shellers for an afternoon of shelling at Cayo Costa next Sunday May 19 from 1-4pm on a Captiva Cruise. Join us! CLICK HERE for more info or call 239-472-5300 and ask to come along for the next iLoveShelling cruise!
Oh my… It’s so fabulous! I’m looking at all these collections and wondering how did everyone manage to get a share of these awesome seashells! Congrats everyone !
nothing better than shelling with friends! …And then everyone found awesome shells – BONUS! :P One of these days I’ll get to hang out and go shellin’ with you Pam and Clark :P
If this post doesnt make you want to go shelling, there is something wrong with you!! :) my ipad is soggy from all the drooling I did over those fabulous finds!! congratulations everyone!!
Wow !…Some beautiful displays of shells.
Looks like you guys had an awesome adventure.
Wow- so many wonderful shells!
I have a shell ID question. on Rick’s plate of mini shells, on the far right of the second row from the bottom (at about 4 o’clock) there is a shell that is orange-ish at its apex, shading to purplish then blue then nearly white. I saw a lot of these shells when I was on Sanibel a few weeks back, but haven’t seen it in any shell guides. What is it called?
Some of them have such bee-yooootiful colors, especially when wet! Some remind me of a sunrise or sunset. Would wiping them with mineral oil bring out the beautiful colors?
If I’m right about the shell you r referring to… It’s a baby cross barred Venus. …. I think! http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/?s=Cross+barred+Venus
Hello Pam and Shellabaloo goers!
The shelling treasures of Shellabaloo are fantastic! What beaches did you go to and were the shells primarily from the ocean or on land? I’m particularly interested in the origins of the large conchs and whelks.
Yes! it was fantastic! I published 4 posts on Shellabaloo 2 so if you scroll down through the posts and read my commentary, most likely all of you questions will be answered. I hope!!! Here are the posts … http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/category/shellabaloo/shellabaloo-2/
Pam, looks like you ALL had a great time. I believe the showing of shells that you found use to be an old tradition of the Island Inn back in its early day…correct?
Holy Cow!!! What amazing hauls!!!!
It looks like yall had a wonderful shelling experience and found some nice shells. As for Murfy’s Turritella, I guestimate (based on the sizes of the other shells) it to have a length of 40-50 mm, which would make it too long for the only Turritella listed on the BMSM website, the Boring Turret Shell, Turritella acropora, http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=17, which is not boring at all. Do you know the length of that shell? Murfy might want to take that shell to the BMSM and show it to Dr. Leal.
I agree with what MurexKen says, Murfy should take it to Dr. Leal. The boring turret shell can actually get as big as 42 mm (about 1.75 inches) (see Malacolog info at http://www.malacolog.org/search.php?nameid=1307), so Murfy’s shell might actually be that. Remember I found a small one at West Gulf Drive last December? It was cream with some tiny tan dots on it? I think maybe you have a photo of it Pam?
Yes, I remember that shell! and it’s prob why I knew it was a turritella… and also from my Thailand shells that I had called augers until MurexKen IDed them for me. See? We all learn so much with a little help from our friends.:) But this one was bigger than 1.75 inches and just looked different. I sent pics to Jose and at first thought he said it looked foreign but will look into it further. I’ll let you know what he says as well. Thank you so much MK and Susan for taking a look at this!
Mystery solved! After Jose saw the pics, he said he’d like to see the shell so Murfy mailed the Turritella to him at the Shell Museum. This is what he said…
“Dear Murfy,
Thanks for sending your turritella. It looks like your species is not local, but a shell of the common European species Turritella communis. Read more about it at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritella_communis
Thanks for sending the shell!
José
José H. Leal, Ph.D., Director and Curator
The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum”
I love the Shellinger Hunt! Everyone found beautiful shells and bling :)
Fantastic finds! I am interested if everyone cleaned their shells for the ‘show-n-tell’, and is so, what methods did people prefer?
Nobody really had time to clean them really well before the Shell ‘N Tell but most people just rinsed them well and after drying put mineral oil on them. Yes! mineral oil really helps bring out the colors in the scallops…. they look just like when they come out of the gulf- bright and colorful!
Such amazing finds!!! Have to make it to one of these Shellaballoos! For those of you that found the sea whip, how did you get them back home in one piece?? Gorgeous shells!
I’m the cowboy hat with the yellow sea whip. Both sea whips and false sea fans are soft corals, so they remain flexible. I successfully brought both home in January and again this month by wrapping them loosely in newspaper and then in a large plastic bag. I laid the package flat in my suitcase and brought it home in the belly of the great silver bird. No problemo.
FANSHELLASTIC! I can’t believe all the fabulous shells everyone found. Besides the junonia that Michele found, what is the bone like item? Is it from a dolphin? Is that a comb bittersweet above the cross barred venus that Rick found? I hope you have a shellabaloo in January or February next year or at least a cruise.
Pat
Pat, that’s a cool piece of driftwood so it was part of her Shellinger Hunt “fave pieces of Beach Bling” :) And yes, thats a comb bittersweet! We all found a few at Cayo Costa. Yes, I’m sure we will have one some sort of ShellingAdventure in January and February… by next month Im sure I will have some dates. I’ll post it as soon as I know. thanks for asking!!!!!
Great bunch of shells! Where was the junonia found?
She found the junonia and the horse conch near the Island Inn beach at low tide in the evening. Nice, huh?!
How wonderful for everyone! I especially liked all of the colorful scallop shells in Cindy’s post. I think scallops are some of my favorites.
OMG! I definately must attend next years Shellaboo. How incredible it looks. A big congratulations to you all for your finds. Pam, thank you so much for sharing with us. I hope to head that way in a couple of weeks.
How fantastic that everyone found lots of shells. I hope you left some there for someone else to find.
Amazing finds! My turn this Friday…can hardly wait.
I found the Junonia in the water mixed in with the Pen shells.
I found the Horse Conch in the water near the Sand Bar.
WOW!!!!!
What awesome finds you all seemed to find……I love shelling at Sanibel Island!
Pam, the evening that you and some of the group went to Lighthouse Beach, I was pacing my favorite strip of beach west of the Island Inn waiting for the negative low tide. I walked the high tide line while I waited for full low — and found my first king’s crown! It was only 1.5 “, but unworn and brightly colored. Low tide just at the drop-off was wonderful! I got 2 pairs of buttercup lucine and some nice pairs of Atlantic cockle. Then I started moving the pen shells that were grouped at the drop-off. More goodies! As I moved one of the pen shells, I saw something in it packed in the sand. So I let the water sift out the sand, and there was a 3″ king’s crown. And in another pen shell there was a beautiful wormie and a 5″ branch of sea fan. And in another was a perfect paper fig that filled the pen shell cavity. My greedy hands shook as I reached for the next pen shell. And there (cue the music), shining on the half-shell, was a 2” perfect scarlet tulip. Ta-da! As daylight and I finally gave up the beach, I stepped up onto the sand ledge created by the erosion in front of the Island Inn, and just in front of my toe was a beautiful white wentle, in a place it had no business being. I’ve had some great shelling on Sanibel, but this evening was one to remember. Thanks so much for what I have learned from you and your writings.
Thank you for identifying that operculum of the shark’s eye! Those have been driving me crazy. Love all the collections. Great site – thank you for sharing all your knowledge.