Ten minutes. This is how long it took to find these little minis in the surf line by Fulger Street yesterday evening. Yes, I have an advantage, Super Sheller Clark was with me ….but still, it’s a nice little assortment. There is a beautiful sand bar visible at low tide that collects miniatures shells and lots of the big FIGHTING CONCHS, WHELKS and basically the Sanibel Six right in between the bars.
Here’s a video to show you exactly where we were, what to look for and how to pick them out…
We found other goodies too yesterday …..
No, I didn’t find these three lovelies all together like this but I found all three in the shallow water half way buried within…oh, maybe 20 yards of each other. Then a walked along to find these….
A few other finds along the way…..
I call this the “sea cucumber sandwich”. Ha! I found this SEA CUCUMBER inside a double DOSINIA. A cuke in a blanket!
The CALICO SCALLOPS are so colorful!
Michelle and Aggie (MI) were collecting DOSINIAS, COCKLES and FIGHTING CONCHS.
Michelle found a few empty ATLANTIC GIANT COCKLES with both sides together.
Aggie was especially happy she found this little sweet PEAR WHELK.
Shallow water wonderland.
Love, love, love the super dark brown whelks! I especially like when they have a blue ting in them!
If you park at GSCP which way & how far is the Sundial?
If you park at Gulf Side City Park (I also call it Algier’s some times too), it’s about a mile east (head to the left). You can see the parking info at http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/parking/ . Just click on the map on the page, zoom in to Middle Gulf Drive and click on the parking tabs I’ve made to see where GSCP is. If you zoom in enough, Sundial is marked on there as well. I have a resident parking pass so we park at Fulgur St which you will see on there too. Or we ride bikes and not worry about parking…. makes it more fun!
Will be there in less than two weeks!!!
Always love all your info….Do you know what the other Scallops are called…I don’t even know the terms…but where they “hinge together” and one side is longer than the other…wing side???…Can’t seem to find these scallops in any of my books. Hope you even know what I’m talking about..
18 days!!! Thanks for the shelling tips. You got some nice ones in such a short period of time. I am taking notes!!!
love your shelling site. first thing i look at in the am when i get to work. thankfully i work for myself so i can spend all the time i want on your site
hey martha…BUSY time 4 us rite now…but janet texed me 2 check out u & ginger @ sanibel…LOOKED GREAT!! hope 2 c u soon….
Ahhh!! Soon, soon that will be me!
Pam, thanks for the info on Sundail. We’ve parked at the Algeries before but know we know were to look. Thank you for all the posts. We will be there this summer.
Counting down the days.
Wow…where were those shells all hiding when we were there? Love the horsie…my fav!!
In the first photo, is the small orange shell a turrid?
Yes! It is! I found another one last night so I’m going to talk about them in my next post. I don’t find them that often.
From the single picture, the small “orange” shell looks to be the Tampa turrid, Pyrgospira tampaensis, http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=117 and http://www.gastropods.com/1/Shell_15281.shtml , but Pam will most likely show us better pictures. So, we will just have to wait and see for sure. The smaller shells are so much fun.
Those are some nice “not so little wentles” in the center of the first photo!
Awesome photos as usual! We’ll be there a week from Saturday. So excited to come back to Sanibel!
Hi, We’re here in Sanibel at Sanibel Siesta. I have never seen so many shells with little crabs in it. This is our 5th year here and we love the shells.
Not as good as being there, but almost :-)
Lee
You found some great shells! Thanks for the shell identification on my blog! Sometimes I just don’t know what they are, and can’t find any info on them. In the future if I’m in doubt, I’ll come to you first, Pam.
OH MY GOODNESS! I JUST LOVE YOUR SITE. WE WILL BE IN SANIBEL IN A FEW SHORT WEEKS AND CAN’T WAIT. YOU HAVE FANTASTIC INFO AND IT HAS BEEN GREAT FUN WHEN NOT THERE TO GET THE FEELING THAT I AM BY SEEING ALL YOUR WONDERFUL PICTURES AND VIDEO. HOPE TO RUN INTO YOU WHILE THERE TO GIVE YOU A THANKS IN PERSON.
Can you still collect empty sea shells there? Here in SC most beaches say there is no collecting. I don’t know if this is a law or a scare tactic.