Boom Shellalaka, Baby! Now that’s some extreme shelling! Wendy and Gerry from NY found all of the shells the last 2 days shelling from Blind Pass Sanibel to Bowman’s Beach then displayed this awesome shell photo on the iLoveShelling Facebook page to show us. Wow! I hope you can see what a variety of seashells this it.
Our buddy Donnie The Shellinator snorkeled that same area to hit the “Boom Shellalaka” too! OMG Craziness!
Our friends Dick and Mary can also scream “Boom Shalaka!”. They hit the mother load at Gulfside City Park while wading in the water to find these gems. Congratshellations Wendy, Gerry, Shellinator, Dick and Mary!
Last week, the shells were piling up on the beaches during the Shellabaloo but now you have to get in the water around knee deep to score like these folks. Hmmm…. but now that I think about it, the big HORSE CONCHS and JUNONIA were also found in the water last week. Clark and I walked the Sanibel Blind Pass beach and didn’t find anything until we waded in the water in the evening while the tide was going out. I found a gorgeous FLORIDA CONE with a purple tip. BoomShellalaka!
This past December was the first time I had ever seen this wooden sea wall exposed about a half mile from Blind Pass on the Sanibel side… then the sand covered up again over 3 months time. Now it is exposed again with more erosion within a month. It’s crazy how the sand shifts but that’s how strong the Gulf Of Mexico can be with the help of tides, high winds and strong currents… AND that’s why this is such a good area to shell in as well.
 This is where I found my sweet FLORDIA CONE and Clark found 2 ALPHABET CONES in knee to shin high water.
It’s also a great place to see the changing colors of the sky at sunset as well. Ahhhhh
Oh how I love evening shelling…
Fantastic!
It looks like Donnie the Shellinator found 14 alphabet cones (?) and a nice, really large bittersweet valve, as well as almost everything else you can think of! :)
Love those sunset pictures Pam!
My favorite find was my first Rose Murex.
Love the color of that Florida Cone Pam.
Boom Shellackalacka….lol…love that !
Lovely Rose Murex, bittersweet, cones, etc. That was a lot of hard work, but so worth it.
Every one of those shells constitutes a dive to the bottom while getting slammed by waves…and half the time I came up empty ..handed…definitely not a walk on the beach. Lol….The cones have a way of piling up in one area…it’s really weird…half the cones I did find got tossed back in the water.
I did find 4 more good ones the next day in an hour or 2.
its driving me crazy, what is in the horsey in your pic? cant even guess, gotta know!
Wow! way to go Donnie!!!! Save some good shells for us next Jan. Looks like you started finding some more alphabets again….
Thanks….the Alphabet Cone is my favorite.
Wow, what a haul! I would love to find a tulip or a paper fig. I hope I am half as lucky when we finally get a chance to visit Sanibel Island.
I’ll be there in 3 more days! Let the countdown begin! (Actually, it began about 4 months ago, lol). Save me some shellssssssssss!
About snorkeling Blind pass…this can be dangerous for several reasons. The currents can be really bad there at times and there are” No swimming”signs posted there for a reason. I’ve had to help bring exhausted swimmers to shore who did not heed the warnings or the signs and who did not know their own limitations.
I totally discourage snorkeling the spot just to the right of the jetty on Captiva at the pass….people fish there at night and I’ve come across fish fillets a few times there while snorkeling and I wouldn’t want anyone becoming part of the food chain….especially this time of year when sharks are migrating and Tarpon are rolling close to shore.
Know your limitations and be safe….
Donnie
So those were found snorkeling?
Yes….all of them…very limited visibility. Mask only….snorkel was useless.
As a side note…..I was in the water for 8 hours.
Still have water coming out of my ears…lol.
Sigh….. you’ve described heaven on earth, life is good!
It really is….no shoes..no shirt…no problem.
No stop lights…no Burger King or McDonalds.
Blue waters and tranquil sounds of sea.
Sigh again…. and a whimper or two, I have GOT to stop working so much and play more! Arent we lucky tho??
Sounds like Donnie’s snorkeling was a contact but very productive sport – makes me wish I had tried it last week during our visit. The visibility was not good last week and I am spoiled with clear Caribbean waters ;) Maybe next time I will have to ask Donnie to show me the ropes (and shells).
Lee from Gtmo
I wish we had the visibility you have at Gtmo….some days are better than others here.
Congrats Donnie!
Pam, I had to smile and laugh out loud when I read the title for this post.
All those shells ate mind blowing!!!
it sound like we should have stayed on, oh well next time will be a longer stay. We did find a few shells that we didn’t find on the island but Sanibel is the Place To Be.
Sharene
In Transit to Cold Canada
WHY does this always happen when I’m in Tennessee????????? Bummer!!!! Oh well, maybe soon I’ll be a full-timer. Wow – beautiful stuff!!!
Holy Shells, Batman…or should I say “Shellman”! Those are amazing and awe inspiring shell finds. Congrats to you all! It’s inspiring. And Donnie, I know what you mean about the right side of the jetty at Blind Pass. When we were there in April the wave action was fierce. One evening there was a mother and her teenage son down in the water battling the waves. It was scary. They seemed oblivious. Guess they knew what they were doing. I wasn’t going anywhere near the water. So yes, please everyone be sensible. I understand the “lure” of the hunt for treasure but it’s not worth my life! Hmmmm…well maybe in shallow water closer down toward the lighthouse. Blind Pass down to Bowman’s can be pretty “wavy” with churning waters at times. I guess as I get older I want to live to shell another day! Thanks for sharing all the wonderful shells. Pam, you the Shelling Blog Queen!
The rocks can be dangerous when you are standing in the surf be slammed by waves. I’ve stood side by side people waiting for the shells to roll down the shell piles.
On a side note…there are so many different ways to to be shelling.
So true…there are many ways to be shelling! Some more adventurous than others, right? I would love to be able to snorkle and/or go out further onto sandbars but I guess at 60 years of age my sense of self preservation, most times, outweighs the urge to do more risky business.
Great layouts!
Yesterday I found a bright orange Chestnut Turban at Bowman’s beach just before sunset. Since it’s bright orange all over, and not brown/mottled, I took it to the shell museum to get an accurate ID, and I found out that, yes it is what I thought, but they don’t have a single example of a Chestnut Turban on display. Some of you folks who have loads of them ought to give them a sample or two. The one I found is 1.5″ in diameter and the folks at the shell museum said they hadn’t seen one that large.
What???? They HAVE to have chestnut turbans in their inventory! I’m floored! I will have to see if they want one of ours… yes, we have plenty of brown and orange ones to choose from. THANK YOU janet for letting us know this! Oh.. and congrats on your finds. :)
That does seem odd that they don’t have any of those…some have beautiful color.
I love the orange ones the best and haven’t seen many lately.
Okay, I emailed the shell museum to see if they really needed some examples of chestnut turbans. Thank goodness, they have plenty. Dr Leal explained that they don’t have room to display all local shells in the exhibit halls since there are more than 300 species in local shallow waters. Of course! They are always there to identify local shells though and have all listed on their website. I thought I’d pass this info along so that the shell museum doesn’t get boxes of chestnut turbans mailed to them. Lol
Thanks for reminding me to go buy a powerball lottery ticket….if I win, Sanibel, here I come!!
Wow, the quantity, variety, and colors are simply amazing! We’re VERY VERY shellous up in here in NY!!
lol almost didnt catch the “shellous” lol
Save some for me in 31 days!!
Wow! *So* jealous of these gorgeous finds! I was in Sanibel April 22-26. I found 3 lightning whelks but they all had someone home so I had to toss them back :( I found a ton of scallops, cat’s paws, many types of clams, tiny Florida jewelboxes, a 2″ paper fig buried in the sand under Blind Pass bridge, a gorgeous 1″ lace murex in perfect condition, many many broken/pieces of whelks and paper figs, a broken piece of a junonia, and about 15 other species of shell.
The coolest thing I found was a whelk egg casing washed up on the beach. I’m 99% positive it is the source of a bunch of super tiny whelk shells I found mixed in with sand that was in the bottom of the bag (yes I dried it out and took it home. I am a huge nerd). We’re talking “almost fit on the head of a pin”, tiny. I’m storing them in some 2″ perfume sample tubes so they don’t accidentally get knock over and disappear into the carpet.
I’m looking forward to another trip to Sanibel sometime this fall/winter after the sun isn’t as intense. Being a blonde northern girl, I managed to get 2nd degree sunburn after a mere 3 hours on the beach. If anyone saw someone with a bright red face walking around with a black umbrella, that may have been me :)