Coquina beach on Sanibel
Hundreds of COQUINAS are washing up on the beach at the east end of Sanibel. Most of them are alive and actively digging back under the sand when the waves come crashing in. My picture above shows that by the late afternoon low tide , they might be getting a little tired of the constant waves coming in. I don’t blame them! That’s a lot of digging…. remember my Coquina Coverup video? I haven’t seen so many on our beaches since that day last month… until yesterday.
Coquina colors
Coquina stripes
The wind has been picking up from Tropical storm Bonnie so the kiteboarders were loving life and for us? There could be some really good shelling ….hmmmm…I’m guessing maybe on Sunday! Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Kiteboarder and coquinas
Kiteboarder in the air
I do have some more exciting news (other than we might have really fun shelling coming up this week from TS Bonnie). I attended a meeting this morning making the 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Show in 2012 the most spectacular week-long seashell event ever on the planet called “Shellabration!”. The fair is normally a 3 day event but in 2012 it will be February 26 through March 3 (as of now). A Shellebration for shellers! Yes! I will keep you posted.
Thanks for joining us in planning Shellabration! 2012. And thanks for spreading the word. We need lots of ideas and community involvement and we are off to a super start.
OOOH…Shellabration? Might just have to see about planning a trip to see what it’s all about! Those coquinas are just about the cutest things I’ve ever seen. Must be hilarious seeing them scurrying about trying to dig back into the sand. I was paging thru my Sanibel cookbook about an hour ago and there was a recipe for Coquina broth…not sure about cooking those little darlings to make soup, but I guess it’s no different than clam chowder, mussel stew.
Can’t wait to hear about the shelling in the next few days! Go Pam, GO!!!!
I would tell you about the time I sent a box of Coquinas from Sanibel to a friend in Cape Cod who ran out in the middle of creating a shell project..the post lady was not happy. So glad to have you helping with the 2012 Shellabration! I have always heard about coquina broth…maybe we should have a shell recipe cook off in 2012?
What a beautiful site!!! All of the variety of colors are amazing!!!! Love them!!! :)
I heart coquinas, ever since my first trip to Captiva in 1971. They’re in every seashell craft I make (well, almost). I can’t wait to hear how the shelling is after Bonnie passes thru. Have fun out there!
I’ve always loved coquinos. Such beautiful colors. Your photos are wonderful as always, Pam-ela. Hope to see you at the Shellabration next year.
We were recently at a private Englewood Beach in Florida, and the coquinas were
abundant there
My young nieces told me about them as we were looking for shells, but I think they mispronounced them as “cochinos”