Yippee! These shells were found at Blind Pass Sanibel yesterday. Our mornings are still in the 50s with winds from the north but there’s not a steady roll of shells on the beach every day. Why? Okay, I figured it out today. It’s because the shells arent getting a chance to wash up to the beach yet. They are getting snagged out of the water by the “Shellingmen Tribe”.
Oh, you’ve never heard of the Shellingmen before? I was thrilled to witness this wonderful site of these brave Shellingmen methodically scooping seashells and BEACH BLING out of the sea to bring back to their Shellingmen families for praises of finding hidden treasures. I watched this phenomenon for a few minutes before I started filming these four men braving the cold to scoop their treasures. I know you can’t hear everything I said in the next video because of the wind (and because I was giggling a bit too), but I still think it’s so cute.
Isn’t that fabulous??? heehee Love those Shellingmen! Okay, I’m being silly but I think my Cherokee genes got stirred up and I got such a kick out this because it’s exactly what Clark and I do! Clark (the hunter) goes out there with his shelling backhoe and I Sit ‘N Sift through the piles he brings back (the gatherer). LOL But before I get too tickled and get off track, let me introduce you to loyal Shell Warrior Duane and his Shell Queen Jan from Montana…
Then I met “Chief Shell Getter” Bryan and his Shell Princess Jan from Indiana…
Bryan was endlessly scooping ALPHABET CONES, a COLORFUL MOON SHELL, HORSE CONCHS, FIGHTING CONCHS , NUTMEGS and an awesome huge SHARKS EYE  to bring back to Jan.
While I was taking the photo of the shell buckets, Bryan went out to hunt down more treasures. He brought back this ALPHABET CONE! Ungawa!
 This spot has been very fickle this week for shells so if you go down to Blind Pass Sanibel, the best time is in the morning at LOW TIDE… but be careful! We’ve had some rip tides this week so the current could be tricky. Way in the background of the next photo, you can see how far we were from the Blind Pass bridge.
Hi!!! I love your site – it keeps me going throughout our Ohio winters!!! I love Sanibel and I dream about shelling – just starting to school myself on identifying the shells and, again, your site is SO AWESOME!!! I WILL live on Sanibel Island one day!
Thanks again!
Tina Flannery
I’m a buckeye too Tina. When you live on Sanibel – can I visit?? LOL
Thanks Tina! … Clark would love to help you find your dream home on Sanibel when you are ready to look http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/super-sheller-clark-rambo/
The lottery prize is up to $216 million! If i win, i will call my lawyer, accountant, and Clark!! :)
Pam… don’t be freaked out by a package in your mail today… it’s just a silly, “punny” little gift for you and Clark from the crazy redhead up in Pinellas County.
:)
oooooo- a goodie!
48 days left until my mom and I are on the island! We have the same method! I’m the hunter, and she sorts through everything I bring to her! At 30, I’m already putting away for my retirement on Sanibel!
Cute video on the shellingmen. I think I am going to try this with my husband. However, I am afraid he might want to do the shifting and me be the scooper. Either way we’ll be in it together. June 19th we will be there,,,,yea!!!
Awesome shelling action!! Wish we were there!
Awesome :-)
Made my morning to get up and find this new post! It’s so sweet! We’ve already started our group count down for Wienerpalooza in May! Everyone is so excited about seeing Sanibel and I’m so excited to show them around.
I love how tickled Warrior Duane looked bringing his shells back out of the water!!
Ha ha, love it!!! Now, if we could only train all our men to do that……..
No chance at all of getting mine to do that! Great idea though! :)
Yup, mine roared with laughter at the very suggestion. but, to his credit, at least he packs up my shells for mailing back home.
Those lucky shellingmen’s wives!
Yeah, mine laughed too. He siad he’d get me there but the rest was up to me
I married a shelling ‘ringer’!! …twice while on Sanibel my hubby picked up a small broken shell piece, showed it to me casually said, ‘hey, what’s this?’ and each was a junonia! (OK, so I trained him beforehand to look for those telltale brown spots)..He found some other great stuff too! Maybe I should loan him out, haha!
You could probably make some good money if you train him to find junonia’s. :)
Nah, because I’d keep everything he found for myself…. :)
Will definitely have to re-train hubby to bring me the “loot” like this. I am soooo
bummed, I thought our trip was going to be when you do the Sept shelling trip on the 12th but when I ck’d, we don’t arrive til the 14th…awghhh!
I have a hunter too. He has become an awesome sheller and sea glass finder.
Have fun on tomorrow’s shelling trip to Cayo Costa! I’ll be thinking of all of you, and wishing you lots of happy shelling.
awww! sweet ! Pam~ I thought I was the only one that got the “Princess” treatment! We SPECIAL girls are lucky and have some WONDERFUL “SHELLINGMEN” !!! i LOVE SEASHELLS AND MY SHELLINGMAN!!!!!!
My great friends Linda and Anna have been scooping shells for me for quite some time. Bad knees and a bad back really slowed me down. But thanks to my best buddies, I’m still able to enjoy the hunt. Thanks Anna and Linda–best friends in the whole world!
Very informative! Lucky for those ladies their husbands will go out in the cold water. I do it myself or ask one of the grandkids as they don’t feel the cold like a 71 year old!
I usually stay and shell on Manasota Key in March but this year am coming for month of May and will stay on Sanibel for a few days with my grandkids.
Love this site, it’s the next best thing to being there!
I live near Jersey Shore so I shell those beaches in early spring and late fall.
Ungawa?? You come up with the best words! Were those couples together?
I date myself, but I seem to recall that the word Ungawa (I think it was pronounced oongowa ) was Tarzan’s way of saying “mush” to the elephant to shake a tail feather and go after the cannibals, or whoever was stirring up trouble. :)
Love the Shellingmen brigade! Bros for the shelling booty!
My 1st experience with the sekrit society known as ‘Shellingmen’ was out by The Rocks, TS Mitch. The wind, blowing from the east, pushed the water way out – it was strangely calm. The Shellingman brigade, 3 men who were obviously SM veterans, headed out further than I would have dared shuffling their feet in the sand in search of horse conchs buried in the sand. The landlocked watched in awe as they returned with all limbs still attached and mission accomplished.
Seriously, that was one of the best shelling experiences I’ve ever had. Cantori on the beach out on the east end giving dire warnings with shellers ambling on the beach behind him. :) :) :)
I’m also one of those that dream of someday retiring to Sanibel and getting away from the cold Ohio winters. Ahhhhh…..now, where did I put that lottery ticket? :) I’ll be there April 7th -15th …..on the countdown now! It’s getting so close. I get butterflies in my tummy just thinking about it! We will be vacationing and celebrating our 5 year anniversary. We got married on the beach at Sanibel and now he brings me back every year to celebrate! :)
How wonderful. I wish you a lifetime of magical trips back to Sanibel.
Thank you so much, Katherine!
To be lucky in love, is a very special thing indeed.
Hi Pam, We can’t wait till this coming Saturday to start shelling again. This year we are committed to not bring back any shells! Unless it is one of the rare Junonia’s! This will be our 10th or 12th year coming down to sanibel. We’ll be hitting the beaches before the crack of dawn! We hope we’re able to get out to Cayo Costa again this year when the tides are low. See you on the beaches!
Well, we’re headed home (18th) – but Pam, we just wanted to say thanks again for the wonderful trip to Cayo Costa. LOVE the blue clear waters around it. I’m hooked! Anyway, thanks much.
Pam, thank you from the bottom of my shell basket for the time spent on this wonderful website… the SHELLER FELLERS are adorable !!
Oh, is it funny to see these pictures, because this was the morning I mentioned in the last post. My daughter and I must have left the beach a few minutes before you arrived. The couple from Montana was one of the groups of people I had fun talking to at the end of our shell run. I am pretty sure that Jan got a wonderful photo of Duane nearly doing a face plant when a wave caught him by surprise as he started his shelling man routine!
One warning to any potential shelling men: your muscles will feel the after effects of the workout for a few days! But it is definitely worth it.
We were luck that I have a high enough frequent flyer status to get an exemption from the normal weight limits, because our all of our checked bags were over the limits from all the shells we found. And that was even with quite a few of our most special finds stashed in out carry ons. All-in-all, this was a fantastic vacation, and we can’t wait to go back again.