This is what paradise is to me…. a warm, sunny, secluded beach filled with oodles of seashells and wildlife surrounded by clean, gorgeous water. We found paradise yesterday on the island of Cayo Costa during our iLoveShelling Cruise with Captiva Cruises. Getting to share this paradise with a boat load of shelling friends makes the day even that much more fun! I was thrilled to see Vera from Pine Island find gobs of OLIVES, CONCHS and WHELKS wading in the beautiful water.
Patti and Linda from Nova Scotia found WORMIES within minutes of each other. Patti let out a “Woop!” when she found her awesome WORM SHELL (that’s what she wanted to find) so Linda was happy for her and we did a happy dance but Linda got right to work searching for her own. A minute later Linda let our an even louder “Whaaaa!” and held up her own wormie. We got so tickled of all the commotion and had to whoop it up again. These smiles are pure happiness of being together and sharing a moment….
Along with the WORM SHELLS, their other favorite they found were BABY’S EARS, ANGEL WINGS and COCKLES…
Vicky form Ft Myers loves the minis so she found a pile of shells to sort through and practice the “Sit N Sift”…
Since there was a nice low tide, the tree roots were more exposed than I’ve seen them in a long while. Hanif from Canada took advantage of the exposed roots and plucked trapped shells from the crevices. Smart!
Lesley from Texas said this LIGHTNING WHELK rolled right up in the wash line in the same area by the tree roots…
I met so many lovely shellers like Kim from Punta Gorda….
…And sweet, generous shellers like Bunky and Pam who found a SAND DOLLAR, examined it to see if it was still alive, then returned it to the water after recognizing the signs it was still alive and healthy. I knew I would like Pam the moment she told me her name (heehee) … but OMG they brought us some their family owned Dolle’s salt water taffy they make in Ocean City, Maryland. Thank you, it’s shellicious!
Kim and Ed of Rhode Island were very clever to save a mesh onion bag for the perfect sack to hold all of their shell treasures. Cuties!
Candy and her daughter Sarah from Virginia found a nice prize… Oh yaya- An ALPHABET CONE! And thank you soooo much for writing to me Candy…. Of course… Now I remember. Virginia!
On the cruise boat, I got to meet Ken and Candace from Missouri enjoying the whole ride. Can you see why Candace is holding up her left hand? She made an OLIVE Shell String! It’s so cute! But I really wish I had taken a photo of the piece of dotted BRYOZOA she had found because I think I know what it is now. Candace, please comment on this post so I can talk to you about your unusual piece your showed me?
It was such a fun day and it was a pleasure to hang out with and shell with folks like Debbie and Ken. It seems like we all have so much in common… not just shelling.
Penny from England brought a happy jar of sunshine that she collected in the Channel Islands.
They look like lemon drop candies but they are FLAT PERIWINKLES (or Littorina obtusata). Sweet sunshine! But remember… these were not found on Cayo Costa or any where in Florida. Penny brought them from Herm Island in the Channel Islands.
The sea repaid her for sharing her shells from across the pond… she found a perfect ALPHABET CONE on Cayo Costa…
It was a perfect morning to share a delightful island shelling adventure with such a fun group. Thank you so much for a great day!
Oh- I almost forgot! I saw my first TRICOLORED HERON (or aka LOUISIANA HERON) fishing along the shore line while we were shelling. So pretty! It’s so much fun to see a new beautiful bird… Another reason why i Love Shelling.
Join us for the next iLoveShelling cruise to paradise… Errrr… I mean, Cayo Costa on December 6th, 2013 at 9am and we have other dates through May as well by CLICKING HERE. For more info click on this next image…
If you can’t make any of these dates for an iLoveShelling cruise like this one, Captiva Cruises has shelling trips most days of the week to Cayo Costa on a regular schedule. Go to their website at http://captivacruises.com . You will have a shellava good time!
Your posts about the shelling cruises always bring back great memories of the one I went on in June with my son, Jake. Look forward to going again soon. ;-)
Your posts about the shelling cruises always bring back great memories of the one I went on in June with my son, Jake. Look forward to going again soon. ;-)
Genine, I love every single one of them too. Just like with you and Jake, I can put a face with the name now… and y’all can too when you see other folks and their pictures here- like L-O-R-E-E, right?. ;)So much fun.
Thanks so much Pam for an AWESOME day shelling! We would never have found those baby ears if it had not been for your finding those 2 first and showing us how they looked in the sand!
Can’t wait until we go on the cruise in February with you-hope we have good weather and shelling too. Did Penny leave those flat periwinkles on the beach? Hope the shelling continues this weekend. Pat
Pat,
Enjoy all your comments for Pam, Shellin’ Sistahs and Sheller Fellers :)
We are booked to cruise and shell on CAYO with Pam in Feb. as well !!
OMGoodness, can hardly wait to put all Pam’s shelling strategies to work in the 2014 SHELLYMPICS !!
Shellotte
Thank you so much. Look forward to meeting you in Feb. Pat
Can’t wait to spend 2 weeks on Cayo Costa in February. We try to make it an annual trip from the gray and rainy Northwest!
Fun fun fun! Great pics Pam.
By the way, up here in NY (and in MA and NJ, as well as Canada & Greenland) we also have Littorina obtusata. It’s a North Atlantic species.
Susan, I thought the flat periwinkle looked familiar. I found some up in RI when I was growing up. Pat
There are SOOO many shells washed up on Cayo Costa! Way more than we saw the few times we were able to go in Aug ( not with you… Didn’t know about you yet! Lol! ) oh how I need a fix of the sun, sand, shells, clear water , warm weather and the sound and smell of the ocean! I literally crave it and being land locked it proves to be difficult! We went down to Fla to visit the in laws and I was sure to get to the beach at least one day out of the few we were there….not a big shelling beach but brought my tall metal shovel/sifter that I had gotten in Sanibel. I had gotten , of all things, a ton of little pieces of coral! But I am so hopeful to get back down there, sooner rather than later and do my fair share of shelling!
The shelling cruise was so wonderful! Beautiful day, great shelling, and it was so nice to finally meet you, Pam! So the interesting piece I found was a “dotted bryozoa?” Thank you for doing the research.
Great fun. Nice trip and finding good shells makes it ever better.
Just for information, those lovely yellow, orange periwinkles appear to be the same thing I found in Boothby Harbor, Maine in September along with their brown adult version. My understanding is that the yellow and orange are the juvenile shells. That is what I was told in Maine.
See you in December?
Happy Shelling
Michele
Those pretty flat periwinkles can definitely be yellow or orange or banded when they are adults. Maybe people in Maine thought the common periwinkles were the adults rather than a different species…?