I feel like I just got back from being on the Amazing Shell Race in the Carolinas! Look at the colors of our shell-loot found on our trip to the beaches of Portsmouth Island, North Carolina. Can you believe it?
Oh yea baby, I gotta QUEEN HELMET! Errrr…. But then I’ve heard it’s also called a CLENCH HELMET or even the CAMEO HELMET. The HELMETS are always so hard to identify but what I do know is that I sprung into the air when I found it I was so excited. In the next photo, it’s sitting next to one of the many KNOBBED WHELKS we found and a SCOTCH BONNET – that’s North Carolina’s state shell.
We went on this trip with a bunch of other crazy shellunatic extreme shellers… Joan, Susan, George, Greg, Helen, Clark, (me) and on the front row- Carly, Hilda, Nanette, Jackie and our fabshellous leader Karen and the best shell hound ever- Roxie. We had a blast together!
Colorful weathered shells were scattered along the beach of the entire island peaking out of rippled sand dunes and half buried by high winds and heavy surf. The LIGHTNING WHELKS look so different on the east coast than they do in Sanibel.
SHARK’S EYES were mixed in with shards of broken OYSTER and SCALLOP SHELLS.
Most of the SCOTCH BONNETS were broken or cracked so it made it that much more fun to find a whole one… especially darkened with black or gray. The shells in the Carolinas stained with black or gray were likely darkened by iron sulfide from the sulfurous muck from years past.
Some of the shells like this KNOBBED WHELK have a bright orange, rust, pink or brown color due to being exposed many years to iron oxide minerals in the Atlantic Ocean sediments and fade in the sunlight when washed up on the beach.
The colors, pattern and architecture are unique to each stunning shell.
We found this amazing empty KNOBBED WHELK shell with almost a neon orange aperture that recently washed up maybe a few weeks before we got there.
Our first CAMPECHE ANGEL WING shell! It’s smooth, long, thin and has that high swoop by the hinge compared to our Sanibel ANGEL WINGS.
The internet makes the shell world even smaller… I “met” Greg Diesel about 6 years ago when he showed some of his amazing photos of shells and sunsets of North Carolina on iLoveShelling Facebook page . It was such a fun surprise to run in to him to meet in person for the first time on Portsmouth Island with his girlfriend Chrissy. We saw (well, I should rephrase- we raced passed each other haha) several times driving on the beach – they found a TUN SHELL!
I was thrilled to find a black TUN SHELL too even though the tip was broken off- I’ll take it. Yahoo!
Are you sitting down? Good, because you might have fallen over after looking at NANETTE’S super-colossal (colosshell!) NORTHERN MOON SHELL.
She was over the MOON SHELL! It’s one of many of her spectacsheller shells…
OMG Look at the CHANNELED WHELKS too.
Joan’s faves were a baby QUEEN HELMET and a huge BANDED TULIP.
It was a total score for all of us to find a HELMET – Greg’s was absolutely perfect.
How did we explore this whole island? We four-wheeled it!
Greg and Carly drove their 4-wheel drive Nissan so Jackie, Clark and I piled in to ride the beaches until we saw an area with loads of shells…. then…. “Whoooaaa! Ssssst-aaaaahhhhp! Huuuuge WHELK!”. We all raced out of the truck to scour every inch until someone went back to get the truck to move it down the beach. We’d just stumble on a gorgeous shell sticking halfway out of the sand – Greg named us “The Helen Shellers”. Haha- It was wild!
How do you get to Portsmouth Island? You can only get to Portsmouth Island by boat so we took the morning passenger and car ferry from Morris Marina in Atlantic, NC and while we enjoyed the boat ride we watched a beautiful sunrise over the island.
We stayed a couple of nights in a rustic little beach cottage not far from the ferry dock. And yes, it had electricity and hot running water- thank goodness. 
A special thank you to Karen (and Roxie) for organizing this amazing shelling trip for all of us- it was spectacsheller.
So… does she look familiar? Karen, Helen and Jackie were on the first Shellabaloo. They are the crazy Carolina girls! It’s so cool we have kept in touch throughout the years and shared our shelling adventures with each other.
Clark and I had an amazing time with everybody. (thanks to Greg Diesel for the photo)
I hope to share more photos of our shells in another post but I still have our shelling stop in South Carolina to show you.
So keep checking back with me here because if you think you like this place…
You’ll love our next shelling hole just as much.
Shell-love and peace.
Join me on a SW Florida shelling adventure…
Oh my goodness – I am wallowing in shell-ousy right now! What a blast!! Thank you for adding another awesome place I need to check out! Can’t wait to see the next post too!
Pam, as I was reading this post and looking through all the photos, my jaw was dropped the entire time. (I didn’t realize it until I was through!!) OMG! OMG! OMG! And just why is it that this island is not on a list somewhere of fantastic places to shell? I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a photo with such huge shells of such a wide variety! Un-freakin-believable!!!
Because it’s hard to get to mostly. Uninhabited & ferocious mosquitoes certain times of the year. I live near & haven’t been yet either.
Amazing! Nice finds. Did you stay in the cabins at the park? Looks sorta familiar. Looks like a blast! Can’t wait to see your next post!
Nice helmets, tuns, and bonnets! It looks like a lot of fun!
Oh, my goodness! Another place to add to the Shelling Bucket List! It’s nice to see one does not have to go far from Sanibel to find different shells. Lovely picture of you and Clark.
I found some nice shells in January at Sanibel and Ft. Myers Beach. Always looking for sea glass too but no luck. Do you ever find sea glass?
This is too funny. I was there at the same time! We missed the 7:00 ferry and they told us a bunch from Florida were on that one. We went on one of your shelling trips last December. Too bad I didn’t run into you. We found a lot of shells to. I actually found 3 scotch bonnets that weren’t broken!
Pam, You’ve found the best place in NC to shell. I would’ve loved to go when the cabins first opened for the year, but just had too much going on.I’ll bet I know where you plan to stop in SC. We will be in SC in a couple of weeks. Hope you left a few for us. Glad you got to the Carolinas. I’ve enjoyed my trips with you in Florida.
Oh my!! Love all the pictures, Pam!! So much fun—I could feel the adrenaline y’all must have been feeling as I read it!! Thanks for sharing 😍
So great to see you there! Glad to share this memory. -GD
This looks amazing! Tom just bought a new atv (side by side) and this would be perfect. He gets to drive it up and down the beach and I get to shell. I called him as soon as I read your post and he said “go for it”. It is about a 9 hour drive from home, so not bad. All I have to do now is figure out the dates. Thank you for this great inspiration.
I hope you are able to visit your family while you are up here. :)
if you go to the northern end of Portsmouth island, the old village buildings are still there and you can walk around. Just bring super duper bug spray! (to get to Northern end, you go from Ocracoke Island – which itself has good shelling and you have to take a ferry to get to). All good stuff :-)
So happy you made it to the Carolina’s to shell!! I was there last Mother’s Day and had a extra fun time because I was able to see one of my treasures …….. My son who is a Marine and was able to spend a weekend with me!!! The shelling was incredible and so much fun and very interesting!! If you haven’t been it’s definitely a place to add to a list of “must go’s!” Thanks Pam for beautiful pics and the insight!!! I was very lucky and found shell 1st’s…..scotch bonnets, channel whelks and gorgeous, huge scallops…..
Pam, these are beautiful! and I am going there next weekend!! can you give me some tips on where you found these wonderful shells? Did you dig? find on low tide, travel to certain parts of the island? I won’t have a 4×4, unfortunately, just going to walk and walk and hoping to score like you did! But I would sure appreciate some pointers from you! thanks!
I have a photo I’d like to e-mail and have circulated to all the citizen scientists who are also beachcombers. I found my find on Flager county Florida beaches. It is not uncommon at all, but the professionals haven’t been able to identify “it”. I believe it’s plant; one pro doesn’t. Another pro said decomposing turtle grass; I don’t think so. See the situation I’m in!?!? It is NOT uncommon and I bet there are people who follow iloveshelling who know what it is. Please, someone, anyone provide me with an old fashion e-mail account so I can attach this photo. I do not have a smartphone, don’t bother telling me about Facebook. Please, just an e-mail. One pro suggested I contact an international group called TAXACOM because they love a mystery. Well, we love a mystery, too, and I think several of you can crack this case. Thank you for your time. Kathy Crawford kcrawford46@yahoo.com or kcrawfordfl@gmail.com. Kathy Crawford, Ormond Beach, FL
Just moved to coastal carolina and really want to make this trip, but am scared of the boat ride. Tried the pasdenger ferry to shackelford snd bawled in fear the whole way! It was aweful!!! Is this ferry slow? Fadt? Through channels or big splashing open waves? Thanks for any info!
My parents, husband, sister and brother-in-law “discovered” Portsmouth Island in the early 1970’s when an old fisherman agreed to take us there in his wooden fishing boat, just big enough for us. What a trip! We walked and scratched, scratched and walked, and finally found shells to die for- AND dig for!! A recent storm had buried lots of the smaller ones, but there were actually piles of lightning welks we could just look through. We had nothing to put them in- I think the guys took off their shirts and carried them that way. I just gave a jar full of perfect scotch bonnets I found that day to my niece, who has become an avid shelter. North Carina has a very active Shelling Club which holds an annual meeting in Wilmington, NC.
Our family has been shelling for many years from Galveston, Texas to Emerald Isle, NC, and nothing beats it. Regular shelling along the beach front where the crowds are isn’t as good – lots of early morning shelters!
Loved your blog and the pictures- it brought back wonderful memories! Thank you!
I love this! I will be visiting Portsmouth Island this upcoming weekend and look forward to (hopefully) discovering some of these beautiful shells. Is there a certain part of the island that has the best shelling? Or are there shells covering the entire island? I hope to find some awesome shells to add to my collection!
I had wondered why so many of the shells we found in NC were stained either black or yellow. Thanks for sharing!