 Donnie Benton found his first JUNONIA! He sooooo deserves it. He was at the lighthouse beach at 4 a.m. at low tide  searching for ALPHABET CONES (his faves) when he saw those beautiful spots half buried in the sand. Congrats Donnie! I know it’s such a high.
I first heard of Donnie when his 5 year old daughter Alyssa found a JUNONIA and a SCOTCH BONNET within a few months of each other. I met Donnie (Ft Myers) in September and quickly realized that he was …. well…. he is obsessed about shelling. ;) I showed you some of his finds last week from Blind Pass while I was at the golf cart parade. They were good but now he has the golden treasure.
He was the first one on the beach for the low, low tides (negative .5) on Friday and Saturday and these are just some of the shells he found. He even picks up trash (the sunglasses and goggles)…
 Here’s another shot of the Big J, some of his ALPHIES and a few more…
We were on the beach at sunrise when we saw Donnie and found some goodies too but this was the coolest. It’s a live PAPER FIG with the mollusk wrapped around its shell.
 I couldn’t help but pick it up to look at the other side…Wow!
 Oops! I forgot to show you this! Some of you noticed the odd round “thingie” in the photo above of Donnie’s haul. We think it’s a vertebrae from some very large animal/fish/mammal. Whatever it is, it’s very cool.
Congrats again Donnie!!!!!
Wow! that’s the most perfect Junovia I’ve ever seen. Congratulations, Donnie, on your first! OOOOH and I’m the first to comment on it. (When it’s winter in Michigan you have to take your shelling thrills where you can!)
Great find! Congrats! I have been a shelling guide in the islands for over 15 years, that is hands down the best one I have ever seen collected. The tip, the spot markings, and the inside color are amazing. I am still shaking my head. WOW.
Thanks Brian…I still the vision memory of it sitting in the sand…a few spots showing…what a thrill it was when I pulled it out and washed it off…I’m so lucky…and Pam’s camera really showed it well. I have become real picky as to the condition of the shells I keep(except for Junonia and Scotch Bonnett pieces)…and I tried to find an imperfection on this shell…but there truly isn’t any.
I agree!!!! Beautiful Junonia and beautiful other shells, too – great find, Donny!! The Pear whelk is interesting!
That junonia is huge and perfect – what a beauty! I see a nice shark eye there too and the cones are excellent as well. Nice haul. The other night I dreamed that I found a junonia – maybe I’ll get one on my next trip!
Wow! That is the prettiest Junonia I have ever seen! Can’t wait to find one of my own! And that live paper fig! Very sensuous. Or is it sensual?! :0)
I’m so jealous, but also very happy for you Donny! I have found great shells at both places that were mentioned; Blind Pass and the Lighthouse. I was there this past May and I am hoping to get back to Sanibel this March. I love shelling but it is an obsession with me as well…I need to start the neck strenghtening exercises now…so it won’t bother me while I’m constantly looking down at the sand…Beautiful and perfect Junonia! The other treasures were beautiful as well!
I know what you mean as far as your neck is concerned…and your back and calves after a few hours of serious shelling…not to mention your feet after walking on shells for awhile.
I workout with weights 4 or 5 times a week…but shelling requires different muscles.
Any good ideas on neck exercises that would help? I always flare my bad neck up after a Sanibel trip! It is worth it, though. I am also obsessed with shelling! Wish I lived there.. Lucky you! That junonia was absolutely amazing and the shark’s eye was perfect! Sherri from MN
I tell people all the time that the action is before the sun rises. Flashlight shelling rules. Congrats Donnie.
Congrats Donnie!! We run into each other al the time around dawn over at blind pass. Not been there in a few weeks tho working on the house over on Bokeelia. I’m tellin ya he deserves it, we usually get out there early dawn and anyone that dedicated really deserves it!!
I have been wondering where you have been…and Thank You. I remember the last time I saw you…you gave Alyssa a piece of Junonia…she loved that.
Thank You all for the kind words…and I can tell you that I never expected to find this after picking up so many pieces of Junonia’ over the past year. I remember saying to myself “Please make getting up this crazy early to go shelling worth it”.Pam…it was great seeing you and Clark combing the beach again…and soooo early too…lol. ;-) I know how fortunate I am to live here in paradise and how nice it is to meet so many people who share the same passion of shelling as I do. Thanks again Pam for providing us all a place to share this great hobby.
Donnie
Congratulations Donnie on your beautiful Junonia !!! I will NEVER forget the feeling I got when I found mine back in July !! My knees got weak , heart was pounding , and I felt like I was having an out of body experience . I kept saying to myself , OMG OMG OMG I found a Junonia as I held it so tight to my heart I was afraid I was going to crush it !!! LOL !! And yes Donnie you are very fortunate to live in paradise , but I too will be there 1 day soon !! Everyone here back in Missouri knows my dream , my passion of calling paradice my “HOME ” !! So Clark , remember when I get things tied up here in Missouri I will be calling you to help me find my little slice of paradice to call my own … LOL !!! So congrats again Donnie on your Junonia & hope to run into you SOMEDAY on the beach at 4 a.m. !!!!
I never get tired of looking at seashells.
Me either!!!
Congrats to you Donnie on such a beautiful junonia!!!! I met you and Alyssa near the lighthouse back in November and saw that beautiful scotch bonnet you guys had found. It was good to meet you and have “show and shell”. You had told me that you were suppose to be shelling with Pam that morning she found her junonia and now you found one of your own. Can’t wait to get back down there (it’s 29 degrees here in Michigan and I am freezing…lol) Until we meet again, happy shelling….:)
I remember you…It was nice to meet you as well…29 degrees…..cooooold…you know…if it was that cold here…and it was lowtide after north winds…I wud be on the beach looking…lol…I’m ate up ;-)
I would be looking too if we had shells here…..too bad our “great lakes” aren’t full of them….lol…..my back is still recovering after a week of shelling, but it was worth it!!!
The extent of shelling on the Great Lakes is collecting zebra mussels– and they are not native but illegal imports via the shipping industry.
it’s always fun to find beach glass!!! Hey at least we have something!!!
Yup, beach glass and Indian beads are the big collectibles on our beaches. Others have colorful stones — like Petoskey stones and geodes but it sure isn’t 70 outside now in Michigan.
That is a stunner!!! And the sharks eyes and the horsies and figs…..OMG!!! I think it was totally worth getting up that early!!! Congrats!
I’m so glad the shells are starting to roll back in. That dry spell lasted for too long!
What a beauty! Congratulations Donnie!
Thank you :-)
Holy cow and Merry Christmas. I hope I don’t have to wait as long as you to find mune Pam. :)
Thanks again for the incredible pics.
I’ve been studying the rest of Donnie’s haul, beyond that amazing Junovia–I recognize the sharkeyes, apple murexes, cones, figs, olives, candies and tulips.
(Almost sounds like a dinner menu!)
But what are the two circular shells on the right side of the pic near the paper figs? One touching the whelk and olive is dark– maybe a large scallop? The other is beige with a lighter center– perhaps a moon snail? And beneath the cones, are those nutmegs?
One is a large scallop…the beige one is a piece of vertabrae from a large fish or mammal…Pam took some close pics of that due to the oddness factor….and yes those others are Nutmegs…one of my favorite shells to collect.
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. I’ll be on the lookout for nutmegs when we visit in March– I haven’t found any of those yet. The vertebrae is indeed interesting–almost looks like a giant “Indian Bead”– a fossilized crinoid that we find on the beaches of Lake Michigan.
One day I just randomly dug my hand down into the sand at Lighthouse Beach to see if anything might be there. I pulled out the most beautiful nutmeg ever! None of it had been showing! KSo now, wherever I am shelling, I dig just to see!!
Wonderful! Thanks for showing off the find.
I forgot to add the photo of Donnie’s cool vertebrae he found! I just added it to this post so you can see it too. Thanks for asking about it Linda SWM!!
Your Christmas gift from the sea! Wow!
He found a beautiful Junonia!!!
I need to find another one soon…lol.
That is such a beautiful junonia, Donnie. Conratulations! You are so lucky to be out there shelling as often as you are. I would love to do that! :)
I am pretty sure it is a shark vertebrae, since that is what this link is to. Check it out! And thanks for sharing :)
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=shark+vertebrae&hl=en&sa=X&biw=964&bih=588&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=UFQ162bTUmNQDM:&imgrefurl=http://www.paleodiscoveries.com/Shark.html&docid=N792tQ7YRaILcM&imgurl=http://www.paleodiscoveries.com/gallery/25207.jpg&w=307&h=279&ei=pziMUMuYJ5H68QSey4DQBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=227&vpy=263&dur=3496&hovh=214&hovw=236&tx=133&ty=132&sig=113129445505896413257&page=1&tbnh=150&tbnw=165&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:155