Arthur's Alphabet Cone photo by Arthur Lyons
I’ve got to get to Blind Pass to find shells like Arthur did this past weekend. He found this awesome ALPHABET CONE and so much more! Take a look at all of his finds…. it’ll make you start dreaming of shells.
Arthur's True Tulip photo by Arthur Lyons
He found (and released) live shells like this TRUE TULIP by snorkeling around the jetty rocks in about 1 to 2 feet of water and digging around. Look at that deep rich color!
Arthur's Antillean Nerite photo by Arthur Lyons
I talk about BABY’S EAR shells a lot but Arthur found  a “baby’s tooth” shell called ANTILLEAN NERITE. They have 2 little “teeth” on the inside lip that looks like a little baby’s smile.
Arthur's shells at Blind Pass photo by Arthur Lyons
Look at all that seashell loot! And uhhhh , yeah! That’s a JUNONIA in that shell pile too!
Arthur's Junonia photo by Arthur Lyons
You can see how much time he spent in the water looking for this beauty. Look at those pruney finger tips! LOL . Ok, now that I’ve shown you some of his shells he collected over the weekend, I’ll tell you that Arthur says he is NEW to shelling. Hmmm. Beginner’s luck? Whatever it is, he hit a great weekend for shelling at Blind Pass on Captiva. Congrats, Arthur!
I guess we will have to go to Blind Pass this afternoon at low tide. i’ll be bringing my “backhoe”.
Looks like Arthur did very well!!
Ohhh……those shells are marvelous!! WOW…that Junonia is amazing! Way to go!!!
WOW! What a gorgeous Junionia!!! The other shells are great too, but I just LOVE junonias!! My sister (who I also work with) wrote a cute story on her blog about my junionas – only shell crazy people like myself.
http://www.katemcrostie.com/the-thrill-of-the-hun
Wonderful finds! The Antillean Nerite is neat!
That is amazing! Snorkeling, huh? Maybe that’s the way to go…at least get a mask and go under water a bit and poke around? I guess it goes to show you that you never know when Mother Nature is going to throw you all the goodies! Love it. The thrill of the hunt…SHELL ON, I say!
That is the mother of all junonias! The closest I’ve come to finding one is being with someone else that found a piece of one! :) Geez I can’t wait till I get back down there….Ohio is the pits!
Cool, huh? I rarely take a snorkel out there either, but I might start trying it now! It’s got to be pretty calm so the sand doesn’t get stirred up for good visibility.
Amazing haul. Hope they keep rolling in because I’m there in 3 days!!!
Hope to see you on the beach!
Those are all awesome finds… Arthur has some great karma shelling :) I love this post, thanks Pam :)
….and another “forever sheller” joins the ranks- welcome to the world of amazement, Arthur!!!
Hi, I found your site a few weeks ago and have enjoyed reading it and look forward to your posts. We came to Sanibel for our first time this past February for three weeks and fell in love with the island and the shelling. We would get up in the middle of the night to go out at low tide. It was so much fun! We are headed down in three weeks for a two-month stay. I can’t wait. After seeing Arthur’s treasures, I will be dreaming about shells for the next few weeks till we get there.
Joan!!
You just HAVE to do a daily trip report and let us all live vicariously through you and your adventures during your 2 month stay….you are living our dream as we sit in our cubicles up north!! A terrific place to join for your trip report is http://forum.bestofsanibelcaptiva.com for all of us to join in with you!!
Oh my – the True Tulip is spectacular…!!!
Good to see that someone got lucky and sad that it wasn’t me.
Enlarging the photo with Arthur’s haul is a real treat… beautiful collection. I’m betting it’s just the start.
Although the Junonia, http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=106 may be Arthur’s most eye catching find, the Nerite, (Nerita fulgerans), http://www.jaxshells.org/1013b.htm and http://www.gastropods.com/2/Shell_1792.shtml is truly the most remarkable shell shown. It can be found on Florida’s east coast, Texas and the Caribbean, but it is not know to be on the west coast of Florida. It is not listed in the 300 plus shells on the Bailey-Matthew Shell Museum website, http://shellmuseum.org/shells.cfm Actually, there are no Nerites listed on the BMSM website. Nerites are generally rock dwellers, a habitat that is uncommon around Sanibel Island. Could the recent rock jetty on the Captiva side of Blind Pass now have some nerites? That seems unlikely, but it will be something to investigate the next time that we are on Sanibel Island. Happy Shelling
I looked on the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum website to link a picture of it but couldn’t find it either….which I thought was weird. So I searched some more and I did find it in Florida Seashells A beachcomber’s Guide by Blair adb Dawn Witherington and it says it is found in the Florida Keys so I thought it was possible. This book has been wrong before …. remember the Jasper cone mix up? Maybe Arthur found an uncommon shell! He should take it to the Shell Museum to show it off!
I had no idea it was rare on the west coast. I found it in about 2′ of water at a place called Blind Pass. I knew it was unlike anything I had seen before. Someone there found a golf ball sized shell called a scotch bonnet that looked similar but was all white.
I’m happy for you that you found something so unusual! You’ve go braggin’ rights!
And a scotch bonnet was found the same day! I saw someone do the same thing one day when I was there last season. It was exciting just to see someone else find something so special for this area.
I think Arthur is on a roll! beautiful shells.
oh man.
Wow, good for him! What really wonderful shells!
That nerite is awesome! Although I still like snorkeling at Lighthouse, I have to say that the snorkeling at the now-open Blind Pass (the Turner side) was productive on our Oct 2009 trip to Sanibel. The water was super clear, and stayed shallow pretty far out. At one point, my S.O. saw a very large dark shape next to me in the water while I was snorkeling. He said it was bigger than me. He ran out into the water towards me, but by the time he got to me, the mysterious thing was gone. I never saw it, but it creeped me out a bit.
I bet it was a school of little fish. I’ve been seeing a lot of dark patches in the water then a fish or two jump out of the water trying to eat those little guys. the dark patch was the school of little “bait” fish!
That was my first thought too (dolphin was my second thought), and I asked him that at the time, and he said definitely no, not a school of fish. He is an avid fisherman, and he is pretty good at identifying things in the water. But he couldn’t figure this one out.
I can’t believe this find!! I was there last week and didn’t find anything like these beauties. In fact the current was so strong we had trouble standing in the water. Will try again…..