Since I awarded the SAND DOLLAR gold, silver, and bronze medal trophies this week, I knew what I needed to do when I saw this tiny juvenile JUNONIA. I had to award another special seashell medal for the summer shelling Olympics.
The Platinum Shelling medal!
The Platinum Shelling Medal goes to Tobias from Fort Myers!
As we all know, finding a JUNONIA is what we all strive for here in Sanibel and Captiva, but to find such a tiny perfect specimen is very rare… not to even mention how stinkin adorable it is. He found this trophy shell at Blind Pass Captiva near the bridge right where McKenzie found hers last week. Congratulations, Tobias!
So speaking of rare finds, Donnie found another killer shell along with his bronze medal winning seashells this weekend. It’s a little beat up but it really looks like a juvenile QUEEN HELMET!
You can find QUEEN HELMETSÂ in the Caribbean, the Keys and on the east coast of Florida but they are not native to our area so this is a really rare find too. It’s amazing this made it here mostly in one piece with just some bumps and bruises.
Okay, I already gave you a “medal” Donnie, so you’ll just have to add this shell to your other winners. hahaha Which here is a photo of the HELMET with his other awesome finds. He found part of a JUNONIA!
Local sheller Michelle (with Eric) found a piece of JUNONIA too this weekend.
Evan found a SAND DOLLAR and a JUNONIA piece too! Wow! They all found the JUNONIAS at low tide in the same place Tobias found his- Blind Pass.
 Jeannie from Tampa found some great shells too…
She found this nice WORM SHELL (Woohoo! WORMIE!), some pretty CALICO SCALLOPS and a bright orange CHESTNUT TURBAN (I wish I had gotten a better picture of that- i love those shells!).
On the Sanibel side of Blind Pass I met the nicest family from Michigan plucking seashells right out of the surf. Meet Gail, Larry, Laura, Kevin and in the front row- Ella, Theo and Emma.
They had just gotten to the beach but they all already found some faces…
Congrats again to Tobias! Thanks for tweeting this photo!
WOW!!! Awesome finds everyone! To be finding so many JUNONIA’s is awesome! I miss being there!
OMG that is the cutest shell – I love that little Junonia! And, the Platinum Medal is perfect for him!!! That juvie queen helmet is awesome! (I bought a huuuge)helmet shell from Lynnette at LovingCostalLiving and just luv it!
I was so happy to see a shell-bounteous (is that a word?!) post Thanks, Pam!
Love that little Junonia…All of the others shells too. I need to come to Sanibel!!!!
Love the picture of all of the hands together showing their shells, very cool shot!
I like that one, too!!
Oh my goodness!! Being a christian and all…I know I’m not supposed to covet anything that belongs to my “neighbor”, but wow, am I have a hard time not wanting that little Junonia!!! LOL!! It’s PERFECT!!! I sure hope to find my own when I’m there in September! :)
Sweet junonia, can’t wait to find one someday. But until then here is my Cute story…My husband was trying to be nice and came home the other day with two bags of shells that he bought at the Dollar Tree Store. They are to be used for crafting. Yes, everything cost one dollar! ( You see our shelling visit to Sanibel was cut short due to TS Debby and I did not get to go shelling and was really bummed to have to leave early.) Well, to my surprise there were three junonias among the shells. This was a sweet jester but it’s just not the same as finding one on the beach. Congrats to Tobias and all the others who were sucessful in the REAL hunt.
The “junonias” in the dollar shell bags were most likely Babylon shells from the Southern Hemisphere, Indo-Pacific Ocean. Do a Google Search for “Babylon shells” and then look at Google Images and see if your shells look like that. Babylon shells are really pretty, and the coloring is rather like a Junonia, but Babylon shells are more closely related to murexes than they are to volutes. Junonia is a volute.
You’re always teaching us more, thanks Susan, hope to see you again at the AMNH!!
Well, I should be able to work ID Day at the AMNH next year, if everything goes according to plan. But Donna, if you are going to be coming in to NYC before then and want to go to the museum, you have my contact info. Let me know and most likely I can meet you there and get tickets for you (and up to 4 other people) for free. (Also bring any cool shells you found! :))
Thank you Susan H. ! I did google Babylon Areola seashell and that is exactly what my $1,00 bag had inside. I feel silly now…….But, the good thing is that I am always learning something new on this site.
Don’t feel badly, I know for a fact that you are not the first person to mistake those Babylon shells for junonias. And really the Babylonia shells are very pretty, aren’t they? Supposedly there are 19 different species! Wow.
And apparently the meat of the Japanese Babylonia is so delicious to eat that the Japanese call it “the King of Shellfish”!
OMG Susan H! That was a good call! It was like you were the Shell Wizard mentally looking into her dollar bag of shells. LOL
Congrats Tobias on an awesome find…and it was great meeting everyone.
Some great stuff being found!
Incredibly cute baby junonia!
My daughter-in-law and I were on Sanibel July 27-30. We had about an hour to shell the last morning before we headed to the airport so we headed for Blind Pass, Sanibel side. Tide was fairly high so I felt it was pretty much pointless, but we had not been able to shell the Pass while we were there. About 15 minutes after arriving, my DIL found a junonia about 2-2-1/2 inches long, a little pice broken and certainly worn, but a junonia just the same. Seems like there are quite a few being found right now. Beautiful pictures and gorgeous shells! As always, thank for sharing, Pam.
I know there is no official count of the junonias found each year– unless Pam keeps a tally and isn’t telling us ;) but maybe all these finds is an indication that the population is healthy and increasing
That baby Junonia is sweet!!
Wow! Nice finds! I love the helmet.
Can anyone recommend a beachside hotel or motel that will accept pets and not charge a $500.00 deposit. My wife and I are planning on coming down this weekend and would love to bring our little dog with us. We have found a place in Sanibel that will accept our dog but we would like to be on the beach. Any ideas where we could go? I have all my shelling gear ready. My turn to find a junonia or maybe some beautiful scallops.
Thanks Brent
I have had no experience with this place myself, but I see that Beachview Cottages on West Gulf Drive is pet-friendly and is on the beach:
http://www.beachviewcottages.com/Pages/pets.html
It gets pretty good reviews on TripAdvisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34616-d288067-Reviews-Beachview_Cottages-Sanibel_Island_Florida.html
They charge an extra $20 a day for the pet.
There is also Mitchell’s Sandcastles/Forty Fifteen. I believe it is mitchellssandcastles.com I have stayed there (we do not have a dog) and I saw other people with dogs. It is small and quiet, but right on the beach. We liked it.
I see that Mitchell’s Sandcastles charges an extra $15 a day for the pet.
http://www.mitchellssandcastles.com
and on TripAdvisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34616-d602275-Reviews-Mitchell_s_Sandcastles-Sanibel_Island_Florida.html
The beach in front of Mitchell’s Sandcastles are GREAT for shelling. When ever we’re in Sanibel we head down to the beachs on West Gulf dr. It seems to me it’s better to go shelling by the homes on West Gulf dr.instead of the condos. The homes are vacant most of the time and condos are rented out weekly so there’s always more people out shelling.
The juvenile Junonia is the cutest shell I’ve ever seen, and I have seen a lot of shells! Congratulations.
I agree!
Wow! So excited for all those who found these treasures. The baby Junonia and the helmet are wonderful. Loving the flats too. Can’t wait to be back on Sanibel.
Love the shell, will be there in sept, leave me some!! Does the dredging have anything to do with the great finds, how is that going?
Wonderful finds everyone! Love the “baby” Junonia! The flat scallop is gorgeous as well… Were all the shells found under the bridge at Blind Pass? Some day I hope to find a Junonia,,,they seem to elude me! It only means I have to come back next summer! YEAH!
Oh my, congrats Tobias on that sweet lil junonia shell…. Luv it!!! Love the helmet shell too! Great job guys!!
Keep shelling everyone!
Shelling & sharing!!
Mary ann
CT.
Pam. Was just on Facebook. You are a shell-ebrity!!!!! Can I just say I am so proud right now. Big, huge and heartfelt congrats!!!!!!!!
Thank you Roxanne! If yall havent heard yet… Sanibel, Captiva and the Rambos are featured in the New York Times! Check out the online version here… http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/us/florida-island-draws-seashells-and-their-hunters.html?_r=1
The print article should be in the NYT tomorrow! Yahooo!!!
Wow, I just read the online article. It’s Great! You guys are truly shellebrities now! Really a very nice article all round, and good publicity for Sanibel too!
I will have to go downstairs and take a look in the copies of the New York Times that are delivered to our building so I can see in the in-print version.
I don’t know what other people feel about this, but I think it would be really interesting if you put together a blog post explaining how that NY Times piece happened, how they contacted you, where you went with the guys, what photos they took, how long did they interview you for, and all that…
I agree, the article seems to have just magically appeared…Pam, we know you are (even more) famous now, but can you indulge us with the backstory for the NYT article??
Thats a great idea. I was going to mention it on the next post but after I met Sean and Danita, I didn’t want to take anything away from their story. They were way too special. I did take a few photos the night we were interviewed so I’ve saved them to share when (or I was thinking at that point “if”) the story got published. Thanks for your suggestion and thanks for wanting to know!!!!
Oh.. and it did come out in print yesterday too!!!
I think many of us would be interested to know all the details of how the NYT article came to be, whenever you get the chance to write the story and put your photos in. The print version in the New York Times is fabulous, more fabulous than the online version, I think! Actually you were fortunate that it was kind of a “slow news day” nationally so they decided to run the story! I am so happy they did!! It came out really great! Both Jose of BMSM and the Sanibel Chamber of Commerce must be real happy too!
Pam – I just read it, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I am going out on my lunch break to buy the NYT. I’m so happy for you. I feel like a know a real celebrity. haha.
Pam, congrats to you and Clark on the article. I check your blog every day to see all the wonderful shells people have found. We’re coming back down in Sept and I can’t wait to get on the beach and start shelling.
Good morning all you iLoveShelling FANatics! (I’m not sure I’m allowed to post here any more, Pam and Clark are too famous now. LOL!!)
The juvenile Junonia shell is adorable.
I actually have a very nice immature Queen Helmet shell that I’d found on the island years ago. Like the one shown here: http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=297
I look forward to another visit to the amazing shelling shores of Sanibel.
Pam, I finally got ahold of a copy of yesterday’s paper. Wow! I am hoping that you got some paper copies for yourself as well as looking at the online version?
The piece ran in the prestigious Main Section of the paper, on page 9, the beginning of the “National” part. It was the LEAD story on that page and the picture of you and Clark on the beach was HUGE, 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches!
Fantastic!
I love shelling too! Especially if it’s with Jeannie!