I was welcomed home from my Virginia Beach visit to Sanibel by a bunch of FREAKS!! Shell freaks, that is. And I’m not even saying that we are a bunch of shell freaks (errr, although I guess we are). What I’m talking about are seashells that have odd growth patterns or defects that cause them to have weird shapes or colors that aren’t typical for the species. Look at this one….
Freak Scotch Bonnet
This is the SCOTCH BONNET Clark found last weekend that he didn’t really mention all that much because he was so busy ribbing me about his JUNONIA – heehee. I saw this one in his picture and I thought it looked a little funny so I couldn’t wait to get my paws on it. Oooooh… So Cool! Do you see anything strange about this shell?
Freak Scotch Bonnet second lip
Now do you see it? It’s got a second “lip” where it doesn’t belong! Otherwise it is in fantastic shape! Here’s a look again at the SCOTCH BONNET I found in January along with the FREAK….
Freak difference
There is a category at the Sanibel Shell Fair and Show for “Unusual Variants- Albinos, Freaks, etc”. I think Clark should enter this one!!! It’s a Super Freak by Super Sheller Clark!
Apex of scotch bonnet with freak
Clark had sent a photo of this next FIGHTING CONCH FREAK he found on the same day but the photo was so blurry, I couldn’t really tell what it was, much less post it.
freak fighting conch
Yep! This is a juvenile FIGHTING CONCH that maybe thought he was a COWRIE.
freak fighting conch apex
Is that wild, or what! Here’s a side by side picture of another “regular” FIGHTING CONCH with this FREAK FIGHTING CONCH.
freak difference in conch shells
This next picture of an APPLE MUREX isn’t what I’d call a real FREAK but the coloring is so cool that it gives an optical illusion. This shell was in Clark’s photo in A Plate Stuffed With Shells and Cheri had commented that “It looks like a cross between a murex (texture) and a fighting conch (color)!!“. It does! It’s just the coloring (it doesn’t show it as much as the original photo) so I’d say this one was a just little “freakish”.
Freakish apple murex
PS- I couldn’t help but imagine those freaks in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video when I wrote the headline “The Freaks Come Out On Sanibel”. Ha! So I googled the song and saw that top photo and laughed when I thought of them all holding freak shells. I never put anybody else’s photos on my blog without asking permission from the photographer and giving them credit. Well, I didn’t get permission for this photo because of the time restraints so I hope it’s okay with the photographer Andy Clark. It’s a great photo but I just had to embellish it just a tad with my own FREAKS.
PSS- Mom seems be doing okay! Thank you again for all of you good wishes- it’s working!
Those shells are so freakin’ cool!!!
Pam – first off, so happy to hear your Mother is doing okay…that can be truly a difficult time for you both! And secondly…WOW those “freaks” are awesome. I’ve found a few and just figured that the poor things had some accidents, or were attacked and they just adapted to what happened to them, but then again maybe “Baby they were born that way!” LOL
I think that’s what happens most of the time with these freakin’ (thanks Moira!) freaks. They try to repair themselves from some accident or get loose from the jaws of another critter trying to eat them and they try to grow again. It make that scotch bonnet even more freakier to me- why another lip??? Like you said- “….born that way!”. ;)
Great to hear your Mom is doing better.
I also save all those funny shells. Share them with the grandchildren for their “show & tell”.
Lee & Bill
Very interesting! It was neat to see them up against the regular shells. Thanks as always for sharing!
I was down last weekend and stayed at Casa Ybel. We found tons of dead sanddollars right out in front! It was weird because it was a certain distance from shore where they were dead and then 10 feet further out, we could only find live ones. Based on the research that I did, they must have died from the turbulent water (it was very rough on Friday) and they were covered in too much sand. I found 39 dead sanddollars! In the 6 1/2 years we have been going to Sanbiel before last weekend, I have never ever found a whole dead sanddollar. It was exciting!
I’m so glad that your mother is doing better too!
Happy to hear that things are better with your mom. Shell filled wishes as always
Those shells are crazy, What do you think causes the change in shape??
Silly question I guess…
Happy shelling!! :)
Oh, Pam!!! – so happy to hear that your Mom is feeling better. Give her an extra hug from me!
Not a fan of Martha Stewart but latest issue of the magazine has some shell craft ideas.
Pam:
We’re coming down to Fort Myers Beach for the first time ever next week and when I was looking for things to do around there found about the shelling on Sanibel. Now I’m so excited I can’t wait! AND – it’s a full moon on Friday! So I’m hoping there will be lots and lots of great finds. We’re driving from Atlanta all day Sat. but I plan to be there on the island at low tide Sun AM (yes, it’s 7 AM which will be tough for me – but I’m still excited!!)
Anyway – I have thoroughly been enjoying your blog since I discovered it. I’ve printed out your shell identification page so we can hopefully identify what all we find and my 8 year old son and his friends that we’re traveling with are all excited about “treasure hunting”. We’ve been reading old posts and checking things out.
I was hoping that you could maybe take the photo of Clark’s shells in the pretty yellow bowl and label the ones you can see clearly so I can test myself and my son on which ones we know already. That may be too much trouble and I would totally understand that but here’s hoping!
Glad your mom is doing better – We’ve been praying for you all!
I’m sorry I’m getting to you so late (!) but how about this, Sherry…. try to pick out and count how many of each different shells that you can identify by looking at my seashell i.d. page. When you have your count and the names of each shell, comment on that post with the pretty yellow bowl to tell me what you found. I’ll let you know what you missed! Maybe you will get them all right!!!
So glad to hear that your Mom is doing better. My daughter and I have been praying for her nightly. Thanks for showing the freaks- very cool!
Those are some freakish finds! I have a few freaks, too.
Glad to hear your Mom is better, Pam. Loved seeing these freak shells. Clark did a great job while you were gone! Nice of him to carry on for all us folks in cyber land.
Thanks for the freak show! ;) It looks to me like each shell wrapped itself around another shell. Is that possible? Love to see these unusual treasures.
So glad Mom is better.
They really are great! I learn something every day…I’ve never thought about all the variations! And the shells hubby found in the previous post are exceptional! WOW! ♥
I have always been interested in collecting shells at the beach – it has become somewhat of a hobby over the past several years. I usually go down to the beach early in the morning and gather until I have about a sand bucket full. However, I’ve never heard of searching for “freak” shells before. This is very interesting! It’ll be something fun to search for during future shelling adventures at the beach. Do you have any tips for finding them or do you just usually happen upon them – sort of the same way I happen upon the beautiful ones I have found in the past? I’m intrigued!
I’m glad you’re mom is doing better!
Don’t think I didn’t catch you put all the freaky shells with the zombie-freaks, or whatever they are. That’s some good artwork. I love it!!!
Pam,
Don’t make fun of that fighting conch! He’s just a little pudgy, that’s all! LOL!
Fascinating freaks!
I like how you embellished it with your own FREAKS…that was pretty clever!!
Lovin’ the shell freaks! Framing that one for my shell cabinet(i.e. china cabinet, re-purposed. :D