While showing the collection of CONES we found at Little Hickory, you saw a a caboodle of CONCHS scattered along the beach at low tide too but that was only skimming the surface. Do a little CYBER SHELLING in the photo above (just click on it twice to enlarge) to see just how many FIGHTING CONCHS were piled together then check out the video below. Unbelievable. A little overwhelming…. but so much fun to see.
Cant get video to work..youtube is saying we are not allowed to see it!! :(…sad face! Ill try back later.
I couldn’t watch it either!
Me neither :(
Hi, I couldn’t watch it because it says it is a private video.
The video is marked “private”.
Please tell me you picked up the gorgeous wormie on the left side of the photo. On the right side about halfway down is something in a heart shape, any idea what it is?
I’m beginning to go through shell withdrawal because I can’t see the video!!!!!
I was also disappointed not to be allowed to see it….said it is a private video…
Pam, this is a stupid question, I know, but why are there so many shells? “Dead ones” among the live ones…..Looking at all those shells, all the time on your posts, and Sanibel is known world wide for shells…
Also, alot of shells have a small rectangle ‘hole’ where something has got inside to eat the animal inside……what did that?
Thank you……I admire your knowledge and respect your opinions…
Stuck in Illinois with an outdoor temp. of about 30 today. Would love to be able to see the video, too :-(
Just another note to let you know I can’t see your private video.
It worked for me!
Thanks! Loved it!
Oh you guys… im so sorry. Such a busy weekend! I made the vid, wrote the post then had to run out of the house to see the fam so I never even checked it. geez. that was a tease. i think its fixed now.
Gayle, Rough surf because of high north winds will push the live shells up high on the beach. If they get piled up like this, most likely they will die. Hmmmm, on your other question not sure what rectangle hole?
Tana, oh yaya, i got the wormie… but i dont see the heart shaped thingy. maybe a cockle?
Wow, what a drift line!
Yes Gayle, like Pam says, big surf from a huge storm will push both live shells and dead shells all mixed together up very high on a beach, so high up that very often the subsequent high tides won’t reach them until the next storm rolls around.
Perfectly round beveled (countersunk) holes are made by moon snails. Round holes that are not beveled or countersunk might have been made by either rock snails or by an octopus.
Rectangular holes are probably just mechanical damage from the shells being dashed against one another in the surf before they wash up.
Interesting bluish-gray shells at bottom-right (Is that a cone I see?); there’s a nice pale conch near the upper- right corner!
Absolutely fabulous! Thanks so much for your pictures and videos. Finally got to Sanibel this past January for the first time. Can’t wait to go back! Enjoy your posts .tremendously.
Hey Pam as showed here the shells are great at Little Hickory but how is the shelling in Sanibel? Also is there a spot when there is eastern winds??
That’s what I would like to know too ~~ in October shelling was not good on Sanibel but every trip I made to Little Hickory was great . . . and now you are going there too?
Yeah Cindy! I’m in Ft.Lauderdale right now and my mom and I are going to wake up at 3:00 to drive to sanibel for low tide !! We shellers sure are crazy!! I dont know if I should go to little hickory though because it’s just more driving…
w o w….wonderful!!!!….brought back wonderful memories!
Amazing! You could get bucketfuls of conchs. It’s like the treasures were waiting to be founds. :)
Wow! Look at all those fighting conchs. I love digital shelling with you. Strange there are so many fighting conchs on the East coast. I’ve never found a single one… until Sandy and then it was very beaten up and old. (I didn’t bother keeping it.) I found one at Clearwater beach that has purple in the inside. Is that more rare since all those have brown?
I meant strange there are so many fighting conchs on the WEST COAST. Here on the East coast I don’t find any.
Come hell or high water, I’m living on Sanibel when I retire! Happy Holidays!
Lol Becky…Im with you, just have to convince hubby! So far his comprimise is when we retire we can live there from November to March, thats it! Lol…I have ten years left to talk him into March through November!! : P
Ladies, i DID hear that the Powerball jackpot is up to 400 million dollars….i know that i will buy a ticket or two, and will move to sanibel immediately if I win :)
Nice site…wife shells daily on panama city beach..she will never be the same once we visit San island!
Okay finally got to see the video which of course I watched 3 times! I need some of those conchs to add to my collection…lol…hubby says the only conch I need is to the head…hahaha….I hope when we get there in 35 DAYS there are lots of shells like in the video!!! Im so excited…cant wait!!
I was fortunate enough to live in SW Florida for 3 months this past summer (July – October) and I discovered Little Hickory and it ended up being my favorite place!! We went shelling there at least 4 days a week and every single time we went there – that is exactly what it looked like! Literally THOUSANDS of fighting conchs everywhere!! Anytime you go there – you are guaranteed to find thousands of shells all over the place. I always had luck finding fighting conchs, of course, along with horse conchs (I collected many BIG ones there, too), alphabet cones, cockles, welks (big ones, too), scallops, pen shells, sand dollars, etc….anything you can imagine was there. No matter what the weather was, the direction of the winds, etc…..there were always massive amounts of shells there. When we did have the tropical storms pass by – then it was even way better – shell piles 3-5 feet deep!!! When there is a good low tide – walk out as far as you can and you will find a ton of sand dollars there, too. I also always found a great assortment of beach bling, too – such as sea whips, dead mans fingers, etc…..tons of coral, too!! Little Hickory is a shelling mine!!!! I would highly recommend it!! If you want to see some pictures of my shelling collections from Little Hickory – check out my “ArtSea Treasures” page here on FB and you can enjoy some cyber shelling there, too! :)
Thank you for the cyber shelling! It helps this chick stuck in a windowless cube!
LOVED the pic of all the conchs! I have never been to Sanibel but have always, always wanted to go and am bound and determined to get out there one of these years. I was fortunate to live in Mississippi when I was younger and we used to go to Florida all the time. When my sister was about 3, she found an awesome fighting conch that she gave to me. After all these years, I still have it and even though it doesn’t look as nice as the ones there, it is meaningful. :)
Does it mean something is going wrong out there when we find tons of the same kind of shell?