albino fighting conch

 I used to think that all white FIGHTING CONCHS were just regular shells that were bleached by the sun until I saw the albino conch Lee Garret found and Mary Ann’s photo of multi color FIGHTING CONCHS on my post in February… Prettiest Speckled Tellin . I’ve been looking for one ever since I saw theirs so last week we found one that was albino-ish but now we found an unmistakable shiny white ALBINO FIGHTING CONCH. I love to find a special shell that I’ve probably overlooked in the past but now have learned to appreciate it so much.

albino fighting conch aperture

 We’ve had rain in the mornings at low tide the last few days but even in the rain, I found other shellers. As you can see the shoreline at Blind Pass Captiva, there may not be any new shells coming in but there are still shells on a high wrack line to pick through.

Rain clouds Blind Pass Captiva

On the Sanibel side of Blind Pass, I walked out to the beach (in the rain) and met shelling sistah Cecile (AL) soaked to the bone but having such a good time scooping shells in the surf. She said until she hears thunder or sees lightning… she’s gonna be shelling. All she needed was little mini windshield wipers for her glasses. She had just found a WORMIE!

Cecile worm shell Blind Pass in Rain

 As soon as she said that, we heard a little clap of thunder in the distance so we both walked back to our cars where it was a pleasure to meet the rest of her family. Since it was raining, Irene thought she’d stay in the car and wait for Cecile to get her shelling fix and wait for the goodies to be brought to her. Talk about special… it is her birthday next month. You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you how old she is gonna be….. 92! Happy birthday Irene!

Irene nutmeg shell

Birthday girl Irene with a nutmeg

I was excited to meet a couple more shelling sistahs for the first time yesterday at lunch. If you’ve ever read any of the comments here on these posts, you probably “know” Roxanne Reinhart and Sheri Zipp! I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for almost 2 years now and they have been dear to my heart for giving me such good feedback and conversation for almost the whole entire time. I have no idea how they found iLoveShelling to begin with but I’m grateful and that I saw both of them together. Here’s a picture of my special “finds” Roxanne, Sheri and Sheri’s daughter Samantha.

Roxanne, Sherri, Sam Sanibel lunch