{"id":14676,"date":"2013-04-23T00:06:06","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T04:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iloveshelling.com\/blog\/?p=14676"},"modified":"2015-12-03T17:41:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T22:41:03","slug":"sanibel-sculptured-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iloveshelling.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/23\/sanibel-sculptured-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanibel Sculptured Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Calliostoma<\/a><\/p>\n

i Love to find a shell I’ve never found before! This might look like the regular TOP SHELL that we find on Sanibel fairly often but as soon as I picked this shell up, I knew something was different about it. It’ got a nice sculpture about it, right? Look closely and you’ll see the slightly rounded whorls in the side view. I found a SCULPTURED TOP SHELL!<\/p>\n

\"top<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is the SCULPTURED TOP SHELL<\/strong><\/a> on the left and our “regular” (to southwest Florida) TAMPA BAY TOP SHELL<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>on the right. Now I can’t just say “TOP SHELL” any more… I’ll have to distinguish which one it is when I see it. Cool!<\/p>\n

\"sculptured<\/a><\/p>\n

So when I found my SCULPTURED TOP SHELL, I called Clark over to look at it and showed him the wrack line (which is the same as where I found the BABYS EAR and WENTLETRAP in my last pos<\/strong><\/a>t) at TARPON BAY RD beach access. Not one minute later, he looked down and picked this up…<\/p>\n

\"clark<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s a SHARKS EYE OPERCULUM! Wow! I know it’s not pretty but I’ve always wondered why we never find them on the beach like we find other OPERCULUMS<\/strong><\/a>. This is the part of the MOLLUSK that protects it from predators. It’s a MOLLUSK’S front door.<\/p>\n

\"Neverita<\/a><\/p>\n

It looks like a brown piece of SEA GLASS, doesn’t it? Well thats what Clark thought it was too when he picked it up and then we figured it out. Call me a geek but I got so excited to finally find one…. errr… well… that Clark found one. But it still comes home with me so I feel lucky too.<\/p>\n

\"shark<\/a><\/p>\n

It has the shape and pattern of a BABYS EAR but it is paper thin with a slight curve.\u00a0\u00a0Now I know why we dont find many. They are very very fragile once they separate from the MOLLUSK. The edges on both of these are very chipped and ragged and seem like the whole thing will disintegrate any second.<\/p>\n

\"sharks<\/a><\/p>\n

But then he found another one! Dude! We’ve gone forever without ever seeing one and then he pulls out finding 2 of them. Ha!<\/p>\n

\"moon<\/a><\/p>\n

This past December, I shot a little video of a LIVE SHARKS EYE with his OPERCULUM doing its job of protecting him but I never even showed you because it’s the same day Mimi found her SEAHORSE<\/strong><\/a>. The video got lost in the shuffle with all the excitement of the SEAHORSE and then of course, the Christmas holiday. But I have never forgotten what it looked like and I want you to see it too.<\/p>\n