Circle of Sanibel Beached Palm
Along with seashells and sealife, palm trees are even washing up on the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva.
Beached Palm Circle
I heard from blog friend Marcy that there were hundreds of SEA BISCUITS washing up on the east end of Sanibel. What? I’ve never seen SEA BISCUITS (they look like fat and puffy SAND DOLLARS) on this coast before, only in the upper Florida Keys. I ran down there and found these….
Potato or Heart Urchins
Tons of HEART URCHINS! This looks like a bunch of potatoes that just spilled out of a sack, right? That’s why they are also called SEA POTATOES. I’ve never seen so many HEART URCHINS washed up like this… or SEA URCHINS.
Purple Sea Urchin piled on beach
Hundreds of Purple Sea Urchins
I took this next picture because there were so many unusual sea critters all together in one place.
Beach critters
Let’s start with that huge STONE CRAB claw that’s laying on a PARCHMENT WORM, then clockwise is a PEANUT WORM (in the middle of the picture), a HEART URCHIN, HORSESHOE CRAB, a couple of SEA SPONGES, a PEN SHELL then the black blob is SEA PORK (not an oil tar ball!!!)
Sanibel Beachcombing
Who knows what tomorrow will bring.
Sunset on seashells
Hmmm…where is the east end of Sannibel? Guess I better head out to Honeymoon Island. I’ve been busy with condo business and getting an MRI on my shoulder… Now I need to go do something pleasant!
Hey Wendy… I took a short stroll on Sand Key and found lots of spiny urchins, heart urchins, pen shells, sea cucumbers, and cockles washed up. Did you make it to Honeymoon and find good stuff?
Great info again. I hope the treasures keep washing up until I get there! Happy 4. Advent.
Wow, sea potatoes? never heard of such a thing! Interesting stuff, this post! More learning for me :) gotta get down to Sanibel soon…January with my sister is the plan…
I’m seeing shells I’ve never seen before, really enjoying your blog, such a nice respite from this new england chill.
WOOOOW! I can’t believe the piles of Heart Urchins, and usually they are in pieces because they are so fragile! Better collect them while you can.
but save some for me…I’ll be there tuesday!
Amazing. You are truely blessed.
That green glow you see in the eastern sky??? That’s me!! Glowing GREEN with envy!! I wish I could pile bunches of those urchins in my bucket to take home. I’d LOVE to have a nice glass vase full of them!!! Jealous!!
Pam – amazing. Love the urchins!! I treasure mine that we found together. Looks like you hit the jackpot!!
My 8 year old grandson was with me today and he was intrigued by your website. I only wanted to show him the seahorse that was found alive and he wanted to look at everything. Now he wants to go to Sanibel with me and search on the beach for “stuff”. Never to early to get the proper “shelling training”!!??
Lee
Shell training 101! So cute… Cant wait to meet your grandson
I do believe that December 2010 will go down in the shelling history book. I still can’t believe I missed all this by a month! I’ve never seen anything even close to what you’re experiencing. Very cool!
I need to start coming in the winter instead of the summer months! I think I would cry if I saw a pile of sea urchins like that! Thanks for the sunset picture, it’s great to SEE THE SUN, even if it’s only in a photograph!
Love you site, stumbled upon it on twitter. I’m from California but enjoy looking at pictures of the other coast. The sea finds are amazing and I can’t wait to explore your beaches some day! Thanks for sharing…
I work so hard to get even a nice piece of pen shell-must walk out mile+ and then only at a -2 to -4 tide and you have them every where in your “beach stuff”. I have beautiful pink murex and variety of scallop and conch. Will bring some in the fall from our beach house in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.
PAM: I think I have potato urchins, never have seen them in such abundance. So fragile. From ‘tiny-tiny”to about 1″ 1-1/2″ max.
Janet
This was very unusual- I’ve never seen them in this abundance before either. Wild!
two srs have been sanibel half dozen times never very successful
will be returning to marco for a week june 9 – 16 so on the way up to clearwater will stop over in sanibel for a couple of days
anyone emailing us the tides for june 16 17 18 would be greatly appreciated and we plan on two locations the lite house and now blind pass for beachcombing
anyone with any other suggestions would be appreciated
thanks
two happy sr fm sc email us at surfsiderxyz@aol.com
T&SfmSC, You will find tide charts and tables on this page… http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/sanibel-tides/
Hope this helps, Have a great trip!!
I would like to ask Donnie what kind of blue toed shoes those are, and do you think they are comfortable for shelling, and if so where can I get some? We had a problem with sand rubbing our feet raw in our water shoes last year, and it is our mission to find the perfect shelling shoe. Also, what is the best defense against the sand fleas?
First, I love your site. I’m new at collecting shells and your site has been extremely helpful in identifying what I’m finding on the beach here in NW Florida. It also makes me a little bit jealous as my finds are not near as awesome as yours!
I wonder if you could help me identify something I found this weekend. I believe it’s the brown, tube-like thing in your picture labeled Beach Critters. If you look to the top right, you’ll see it between the parchment worm and that clump of seaweed in the center. The ones I found are not attached to anything and are stiff enough to hold their shape when lifted, but they are not hard. I thought they might be from a worm, but maybe it’s a seaweed?
Linda, first of all, thanks for hanging out at iLoveShelling with me! I think what you are looking at is the shaggy parchment tube worm… Same fAmily as the parchment tube worm bit it collects little bits of shells and debris hence the name “shaggy”. If you want to look it up, the scientific name is Onuphis magna.
I love all sorts of feedback since it brings up subjects we can all learn from so thanks for commenting.