Anthony’s junonia
I thought I’d give you another shot of Anthony’s JUNONIA (yesterday’s post) before I move on to….. the rest of the story.
Seashells and a sit ‘n sifter
There were thousands of shells to sift through.
Lion’s paw piece and flat
I figured if I couldn’t find my own JUNONIA then maybe I’d find a LION’S PAW to keep up with Anthony. All I found was this piece…. but it’s a cool piece.
Shelling guide Brian
Brian got there 15 minutes after Anthony found his JUNONIA.
Brian’s collection
He got some great stuff! LACE MUREX, JUVENILE HORSE CONCH (I have so many pet names for that shell, I never know what to call it… it could get confusing… ie- candy, candy corn, horsie, tink’s mac ‘n cheese, orangie) LETTERED OLIVE, ALPHABET CONE and SHARK’S EYE.
We were having so much fun both talking about where we’ve found what shell throughout the world. I forgot about my expired parking receipt in my car…. and he did too! We both saw the parking “cop” pull in the lot and we both high tailed it and ran as fast as we could to our cars. Whew… saved from a $50 parking ticket.
Sea shells on Brian’s dashboard
I looked over at Brian’s car and had to take a picture of the inside of his truck. Two huge WHELKS, a JUNONIA, a big honkin’ KING’S CROWN and a dancing hula girl filled his dashboard.
Panama shells
Then he brings out some shells he found in Panama! That are MOTHER OF PEARL OYSTER, a RADISH MUREX, a LIMPET, and I have no idea what the other one is. I couldn’t believe what I heard…. he wanted me to have them. He gave them to me! He said he found tons of all of them so he wouldn’t miss them. Geez. Thank you, Brian!
Beach sheller Joan
So when I got back to the beach, I ran into blog shelling sistah Joan! She was tickled to be finding lots of goodies.
Joan’s shell treasures
She found a beautiful MOON SNAIL sitting right there in front. So nice to meet you Joan!
Look how pretty this scallop is!
Nutmeg in shells
Whew! The seashell adventures of the past few shelling days have been the best early Christmas present ever. I’m now catching my breath and sorting through what we found (they still aren’t cleaned yet- ugh). These were my faves pictured below from night shelling Monday night and yesterday. That’s Clark’s 8 inch LIGHTNING WHELK and candy, I told you about….. but let me name them all any way. Clockwise top left to right- BITTERSWEET, LACE MUREX, LIGHTNING WHELK, piece of a LION’S PAW, FLAT ZIGZAG SCALLOP, SCALLOP, TOP SHELL, NUTMEG, 3 ALPHABET CONES, HORSE CONCH (candy!).
Our seashell collection
nice, nice, nice!
Wow! Love that junonia! ~ Maria
Now any guy who has a hula girl on his dash is my kind of guy, but the fact that he shells too?! Honey, if I were 30 years younger…
Great finds. {{{so jealous, so jealous, so jealous}}}
Thanks for letting me steal your cart pic, I put it up today. I want one to drive around in all year!
Hugs
That is amazing – I love the lace murex and the orange scallop (and thanks to this blog I can even recognized them by name now) and the rest of them are pretty sweet too. I can just imagine the excitement on each find, especially when you guys went out in the pitch dark! I love the stories and the photos!!! I am happy that the new sand bar has been so generous! Happy Shelling!!
Totally AWESOME!!! How much fun is that! So exciting to share thru your blog your wondrous shelling adventures. Thanks! I just showed my son your last several entries and even he’s intrigued! Now that is a miracle! LOL
It is a really fun, your personal collection continue to grow. I am in cold New York, but I can imagine the excitement on each next find. Have a Happy Holidays and Happy Shelling!
Hi Pam,
That Junonia is perfection….
How cool are all those finds. Pam, your Junonia is just around the next bend!
Lee
The scallop is so lovely, so tiny yet has such a brilliant orange color. Perfect! :)
Pam, post after post your pictures are beautiful, and your commentary is engaging. Nice to see that some nicer shells are now being found on Sanibel & Captiva Islands. As for the Panamic shells, the “I have no idea what the other one is” shell is the Gourd Rock Shell or Thais melones, http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_1490.shtml . The “Limpet” is actually (or “truly”) the Giant False Limpet or Siphonaria gigas, http://www.gastropods.com/6/Shell_8406.shtml . The four pictured shells are all from the Pacific side of Panama. Hope this helps.
Yes it helps! Thank you MK. I was hoping you would help us out since I didn’t have time to do the proper research before I posted. I couldn’t wait another second to get those other pictures out to the virtual shellers. There are more shells washing up on other parts of the Sanibel beaches along with starfish, sponges, horseshoe crabs and all sorts of fun stuff. The cold snap and high winds are keeping us busy! More pics to come. Thanks again for keeping us well educated.
I have to raise one alert — You say “ugh” about cleaning shells and I know you don’t want to confuse any newbie shellers — an empty shell should NEVER be very “ugh-y” to clean, most of them just need a rinse to remove sand or, in some cases NOT including sand dollars), there could be a dirty outer shell, but never anything inside! I’ve seen way too many people this year collecting live shells and (especially) sand dollars and star fish — please remind people that if there is an “ugh” factor to a shell, they should PUT IT BACK!! As of course you know, responsible shellers check their shells by peeking inside when they pick them up, and then again before they leave the beach to see if a little crab or the critter itself is still inside. If people keep taking live shells and sand dollars, there won’t be any shells left for any of us!
Thank you gail for your clarification. Yes! NO LIVE SHELLING! But- I say “ugh” because cleaning shells….. or the house….. or the car is an “ugh” to me. Of course if I want to take photos of a shell, I normally want it clean. There’s only so much time in the day, so I’d rather hunt for shells, take pictures of shells, write about shells, talk about shells and make things with shells (even a golf cart!) …. and most importantly, I like to share my shells. So you see why cleaning them is an “ugh” for me? ;) LOL
WOW! Lucky lucky girl for your alphabet cone find, wish I was there with you sifting through all of the jewels…
Love waking up and catching one of your blog posts waiting for me on Facebook.
Good morning from the West Coast!
Just got back from Sanibel, and the shelling between beach access 7 and the Rocks was insane! There were hundreds of critters, unfortunately, deceased on the shore – hundreds of freshly dead sea urchins, pen shells, sea stars of every shape and size, fish, big ole crabs, even some crab pots and buoys from right offshore. In the wrack line I found some nice whelks and a big tulip. There were tons of fighting conchs as well. I found a piece of a junonia, lol. Ahhh, someday! I wonder if that’s the island’s way of keeping me coming back. :D
Hi, thanks for the lovely photos again. I’m so exited to be going there in a few weeks. My husband is going to have to drag me from that beach. Happy Holidays all.
Your not going to believe this but, I found a Junonia on the same day as Anthony on Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, FL!!!! I was so excited!!! I was jumping around and screaming and laughing, people thought I was crazy. What was amazing is that I, and many other people, had walked by that spot all day and not seen it. The Junonia was covered by a little sea grass and I just happened to be moving the grass around down the wrack line looking for treasures. And boy did I find one! Whoo Hoo!!!
Weeehooo! Anna! Way to go and congrats! It’s that west wind bringin in the goods. It was just waiting for you. xo
Hi Pam,
Thanks for sharing photos of Anthony’s whole, beautiful junonia on the site. Congratutions to Anthony (and Anna). I put copies of both photos of the shell in “my pictures”. I am jealous too, and I live in California.
Pam, What beach did you go to when you went to Panama?
I wasnt in Panama. Sorry!