 Okay, Folks, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is… the dredging of Blind Pass has begun. But wait. Before you get all excited and envision the seashell fountain of youth spewing out your favorite shells into your shell bucket…. the rules have changed. Here’s the bad news…. the whole area is fenced off for safety reasons and you can’t get near the new sand (and shells) they are pumping on the beach.
This area is right in between Blind Pass and Bowman’s Beach so either way you cut it… it’s a long way to walk to look at some heavy equipment and an orange fence. I know… bummer, right? I’ve always heard about the fun times people have had waiting for the good shells to pop out of the pipes and grabbing handfuls at a time. I’ve never experienced it and I guess I never will now because they’ve put an end to it for liability reasons. I really don’t blame them. That water is gushing out of that pipe so fast it’s crazy. I heard there was an accident with a sheller at the Fort Myers Beach dredging last year so they realized it was too dangerous.
 This is how I see it… for me, waiting outside fence is not a fun way to shell. After these guys do their job, move the big equipment and move the orange barricades off the freshly laid sand, that’s when I will enjoy looking around for shells. I’m not saying it’s not fascinating watching the heavy equipment move around the beach. I felt like I was watching one of those children’s videos that showed tractors and backhoes moving dirt with Hard Hat Harry. Remember those? My nephew was crazy about them!  It kind of put me in a trance  too.  LOL
I tried to ask a few questions but my camera made him very nervous so he was a little short with me. He warmed up after a while and told me he really couldn’t give a date that the new sand would be “available” to the public to sift through because they had been slowed down because of the heaviness of the crushed shell. So y’all, that’s all I really know about this project right now. If I find out anything else thats not worth a whole post, I’ll make comments here.
But hold on. I’ve got other good news. On my way up to the pumping area, I met Sherry Ann, Abby (GA)and Pam (Indiana) who found a shell spot to Sit ‘N Sift.
 They didn’t mind that things didn’t work out collecting shells with the dredging. They understood the situation and made the best of a little shell pile they found…
 Sherry Ann even found this sweet little HORSE CONCH. Can you spy that candy?
 Low and behold, Abby found an ALPHABET CONE! See? It all works out.
Didn’t they just do this?
I live on the east coast and they did dredging about 3 years ago on Juno Beach, they were protective of the dredging sites there too, but when a storm comes the waves bring the shells out of the sand. It was great!
Thanks for the pictures Pam. I was ready to head down for this event. Sounded like heaven to me! Maybe they will stir up the shells out there at least and some will wash up on the beaches around there. Thanks for all you do, love keeping up with the shelling through you. If I can’t be there, this is the next best thing! Learn a lot from your site!
Man oh man – all those shells being spewed and no one to grab them! BUMMER!!!
Hopefully they will be buried and not crushed for when they open the beach back up. Although I doubt if they will keep it closed until I get there in Oct but a girl can dream – can’t she?
Looks like those girls had quite a few keepers in there shell bags….cannot wait for my turn.
Oh no – I did it. I hate when people confuse “there” and “their” and what did I just do? Oh man!! One of these days I will learn to proof before I send…nah
Sure hope it doesn’t ruin the good shelling there! Hopefully it makes it better! Wish I was there!!!
Thanks for the update Pam. I don’t blame them for fencing off the area, got to keep us crazy shellers at a safe distance!!! Otherwise we would be all over and underfoot.
Thank you Pam for your comprehensive report. I must admit that I myself am one of the folks who needs to have the fences keeping me out!! Safety first :(
That’s how its going up here on our beaches too. Orange fences and they get mad when ya cross those barriers. However once they move a bit and expose the new sand… it will be a shelling goldmine. A few weeends ago I found two kings helmet up here on Sand Key. Trust me … its worth the wait!
I was there back in June of 2009 and shelling at the end of the outflow pipe was a weird expereince. We all lined up in a semicircle claiming the area within reach. Then staring at the outflow pipe we all waited for the brown or orange color of the cones then anxitiously stood there as they to roll down. Then the crazy shellers scrambled for shells as they rolled down from the outflow pipe. Everyone was polite and there was no grabbing shells from someone else’s area.
Lots of people, included myslef, shelled a few feet inside the roped off area but only a few feet since we were warned that the mix of sand pouring out was mostly sea water but it looked like solid sand.
Does anyone have a pix of the shell fountian from back then?
The shelling was excellent today on the Sanibel side of Blind Pass! We shelled for a few hours and found a flat scallop, a king crown, great fighting conchs and juvenile fighting conchs, lightning whelks, tulips, scallops, cockles, jewel boxes, etc and then it happened.. I got stung by a jellyfish! Ouch!! Something stung me between my breasts (lol) and was going down my suit! My friend told me to pull my suit down, but then it was getting me down my belly and even on my bottom! Then my friend’s daughter, 9, started screaming bloody murder! She had gotten it on her thigh. We ran out of the water & everyone was so nice to us! Some ladies got water and held towels around me so I could get that suit off, and a boy brought us ice.. Wow, it hurt. We took Benadryl and ibuprofen and went to the pharmacy. They told us to get vinegar. We both had big red spots wherever thr stinging was. We never saw what stung us.. Any idea what kind it could have been? We were digging shells out of the sand.. We feel better tonight and we are ready to go back in, however, we might try the other side of Blind Pass instead. What a day! A bummer we had to leave the beach early but at least we have 2 more days left! Any ideas of what got us, anyone? Thanks! Sherri from MN
Any Portugese Man-o-way floating around? their tentacles are very long- up to 30 ft and deliver a hefty sting…
Yikes! That’s awful Sherri! I haven’t seen any Portugese Man-O-War on our beaches but that’s not to say we could never get them. We do time to time get those huge moon jellyfish that have the long tentacles so maybe thats what got you. I’ve never been stung (here) to know what could have gotten you but I’m so glad you found a way to soothe the pain. My mom used to put meat tenderizer on those jellyfish stings when I was a kid.
I know after they dredged my area here in Deerfield the shelling has been great! buuuuuuuut I could never find anything “big.” I then read about the dredge operation -they run the “sand” through a 3/4 in. screen so the beach wouldn’t be full of chunky rocks and shell. It’s disappointing to see freshly broken pieces of what were once big, beautiful shells…. btw they had the same orange fence up as well…kinda thought that would happen in your area too.
I have been reading this blog for some time, I really find it really nice and interesting to read (your enthusiasm is highly infectious :)). Also, compared to the beaches where I normally look for shells (I live in the Netherlands), Sanibel looks like heaven :). I do hope to be able to visit it in the future. With regards to the dredging, do not grieve too much. They do it every now and then in the Netherlands as well, and I sometimes encounter shells that I know came from the dredger years after the fact… I do not know what type of equipment they use in the US, but here the pipes are apparently quite narrow, as the shells that come out are often a bit damaged on the edges from bouncing around in the pipes. So when I find a shell on the beach with peculiar chips on the edges, I always know where it came from…
Keep up the good work!
Hi there! I’m new to this blog, but I’ve been going back to read most of the posts. So, I’m not sure, but this is probably a silly question….but is the part of Blind Pass on Sanibel still ok? Also, does anyone know about how long this will take, because I’m going to Sanibel in two weeks, and I was really looking forward to shelling on Blind Pass, so I’m just trying to figure out which part is still open.
aww. i hope they don’t take too long. I’ve been reading your blog since last year and have really been looking forward to traveling to Sanibel! We arrive in another week or so. I kinda hope the machines are gone by then :) so all the shells are left behind!
Hate to rain on everyone’s party, but the velocity of the shells banging around in the dredge pipe typically breaks most of them in some way. It’s been debated over the years that the dredging usually makes the shelling worse as the sand covers up the shells. The heavy shells sink to the bottom of the sand/water slurry and end up underneath many inches of sand. I have witnessed the aftermath of 2-3 dredging contracts over the years on Sanibel and Captiva and never found the quality or quantity that we had all hoped for after the work was completed. A day or two after storms stills seem to be your best bet as it stirs up shells from further out in the Gulf of Mexico and pushes them over the sand bars. I’ve spoken to many of my longtime shelling buddies over the years and we pretty much concur on these opinions. WE all hate to hear of these dredging projects as typically the shelling falls way off afterwards. Would love to hear from other long time shellers outside my circle of shelling buddies to get their opinions.
HI THERE, DON’T GET TOO EXCITED ABOUT THE DREDGING AND ALL OF THOSE SHELLS THAT COME UP. I LIVE ON SAND KEY JUST SOUTH OF CLEARWATER BEACH AND WE’VE HAD OUR BEACH RENOURISHED 5 TIMES IN THE 40 YEARS THAT I’VE LIVED HERE. WE USED TO HAVE GORGEOUS SHELLS LIKE YA’LL ON SANIBEL AND CAPTIVA, BUT AFTER THE ‘NEW SAND ARRIVES, NO MORE SHELLS’. ALL THAT’S THERE IS HARD, CRUSHED SHELL BEACHES. WE COMPLAINED, SO THE LAST TIME AND WHAT IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW, THEY USE A CAGE THAT THE PIPE SHOOTS THE SAND OUT OF. THEY BROUGHT THE SAND IN ON BARGES FROM 12 MILES OUT. THOUSANDS OF TONS OF ROCKS THAT THE BULLDOZERS CART TO THE PARK WHERE THEY ARE PURCHASED BY SOMEONE. FROM YOUR PHOTOS, I DON’T SEE A CAGE, IT LOOKS LIKE THE SAND JUST COMES RIGHT OUT OF THE PIPE WITHOUT IT BEING FILTERED. GOOD LUCK. THEY DID SIFT IT AFTERWARDS THIS TIME AND IT WAS PRETTY NICE, BUT NO SHELLS EXCEPT FIGHTING CONCHS FOR THE MOST PART. WHAT WE GOT THOUGH LASTED ONLY 2 WEEKS, TROPICAL STORM DEBBY TOOK IT ALL OUT TO SEA. IT’S ALSO VERY NOISY. THEY PUMP AND DOZERS MOVE IT 24 HOURS, 7 DAYS A WEEK.
I don’t like to read alot of things,in case it says it all ready! When will the dredging be done? I am coming 2nd week of august.
In Juno Beach a couple years ago the renourishment produced oodles of fabulous large shells with a pile so grand 20-30 people were digging on top of it at any given time. Junonias, lions paws, too many olives to count, queen helmets, and on and on. People got too close to the trucks in blind shelling anticipation there too, so the company moved the dumping to a undisclosed location. Still some good things uncovered here from time to time when wave swells are up.
Have fun everyone!!
One can ALWAYS find good shells on the Islands :)
Pam, Just figures out what the 15 ft shelling device is made of. It is an extention pole to change lights. You can make your own, get it at a hardware store.
HELP !!!!! We celebrate Thanksgiving with family right at Blind Pass/Sanibel.
Are you saying no shelling anywhere between Bowman’s Beach and Blind Pass.
And do have you heard how long the dredging will take place?
Thanks.
Seaglass from Palm Beach County
Seaglass, no worries… this post was 2012