Mark (Iowa) with winning conch
….And in the Sanibel corner with his winning FIGHTING CONCH… is Mark from Iowa! This CONCH is a knock out! I just love this picture with the “bystanders” looking amazed at the “winner” holding up his prize shell. LOL But let me back up a bit….. I was watching a few shellers out on the new Sanibel sand bar at Blind Pass wondering how deep the water was to get out to the bar. Most days there is a rip current running through this water “gully” so this could be very dangerous. The current today was not strong because it was so calm and still so it was the perfect day to check it out. I saw a guy getting ready to cross over the deeper water to get to the sand bar so I took a video….
Then I saw him put on his snorkel when he reached the sand bar…..
Snorkeling for shells
He headed just beyond the sand bar then only five minutes later, I saw him find something big.
It was Mark! We witnessed this whole amazing find so I had to wait until he came back over to the main land to see this HORSE CONCH for myself.
Mark (Iowa)
It was a perfectly empty huge HORSE CONCH…. and of course, as luck would have it, this was his very first time shelling. Huh? He swims over to a sand bar and five minutes later, he pulls out the treasure every sheller dreams about. Crazy.
Mark’s horse conch on the beach
I saw other shellers cross over to the bar too…..
Sheller crossing
Preston came back with this gorgeous LIGHTNING WHELK. It looks like an albino!
Preston (Kentucky)
Then Tommy made it back over on his dad’s shoulders…..
Shelling shoulders
He brought back a LIGHTING WHELK too.
Tommy with whelk
It was an exceptionally beautiful calm day at Blind pass with exceptional shelling. Shellers, birds, sailors, plane pilots, sunners and stand up paddle boarders were out to enjoy the day.
Beautiful pictures. Beautiful, calm and relatively clear water. Thanks for showing. Great time to be on Sanibel Island. Wish I was there.
Absolutely gorgeous!
Hey – that shell isn’t so bad either….
You beat me to it!
I was going to write…that’s a fine specimen…
Very fine specimen… A little beach candy is always a good thing.
It is the best shelling result! Great memory after Sanibel vacation! Keep doing!
Amazing! Better get my snorkel gear ready….
Wow!! That conch is fab!!!
The best shells are in the water… I would be out there with my snorkel too! :o)
WOW and WOW again! What a lucky guy! I am so jealous, tho’ happy for him at the same time…am I bad? Looks absolutely gorgeous out there at Blind Pass. Goes to show ya sometimes you just need to get out there in the good ole H2O and look around. Good advice about the currents, Pam. Just be sensible people and look what you too can find! LOVE IT! Thanks, Pam.
Ah-so jealous. Great pictures. Have a good weekend.
Wow good for them. Wish I was there too.
True True,good for them :):) Such great finds for them all,the smiles on their faces really show how hapy they are. Even if my family don’t find shells like that just to be there is enough,wish time would go by faster though..lol.. :)
Oh man—–I am so envious. Stephen’s daughters will be back in Sanibel in a couple of weeks, I think I got them hooked on shelling—I’m going to tell them to hit that new sandbar.
I had wondered about the current from the beginning when you started posting about the sand bar. I know when I have been there, there was often a strong current and I know inlet currents can be very dangerous. I wish you would talk about this sometime on your blog and explain why this one is not so dangerous (other than a calm day) and why other ones are. Is it a function of water depth or what?
Thanks so much for capturing that moment on your blog. It was a special week for my wife and me, as we were desperate for some rest. It’s been an especially long winter for us, and we have five kids- 9, 8, 5, 3, 1. So Sanibel was like therapy for the soul! We considered the conch find a gift from heaven…
Thanks again for the blog post, which will keep the memories of Sanibel with us. What a truly blessed place.
– Mark
soooo…we decided to tell our kiddos about our long awaited trip to sanibel this past saturday and then sunday morning at church mark (our pastor)tells a story about their trip(and showed the picture from your blog) and we thought–that has to be sanibel! we looked you up when we got home and sure enough, it was sanibel! your site has been such a blessing as we try to ‘manage’ our excitement while we count the days–we have been having a blast looking at your pictures and webcam links–thanks for sharing your shell-joy!