I may not be a champion but I like my weekend breakfast to be garnished with TULIPS while I fill up on PEARS….
Quite a few PEAR WHELKS …
With a little NUTMEG…
This weekend’s low tides were in the early morning so it was such a treat to see the sunrise… and to collect the shells from the shallow tidal pools.
But I started the weekend running into an awesome family at Blind Pass Captiva around sunset as they were just packing up all the shells they found after snorkeling. Paul, Darren, Gabe, Kyle, Emily, Ellie from Naples are all like shelling encyclopedias. They knew the names of all of their shells and little tid bits about them too. Hmmmm… “Enshellopedias”! Ha! They were so much fun to talk to…
They found lots of CONCHS, WHELKS, TULIPS, COCKLES, OLIVES and all sorts of treasures. You know I love to peek at other people’s shells so I was thrilled to take a look into Paul’s green shell bag. Wanna see too? Ha! I knew it! Here you go… Fun!
The next morning at the Lighthouse Beach, I met Charity holding a double ATLANTIC GIANT COCKLE she was holding like a treasure box. It was a treasure box! She had filled the COCKLE with all of her other tiny treasures she found at low tide.
I met the rest of her family… Janssen, Lynn Ann and Joann visiting Sanibel from the Tampa area…
Lynn Ann told me that they found all of these shell like the fab SHARKS EYE, HORSE CONCH and APPLE MUREXES (and the SEA BEAN) at the tip of the island in front of the lighthouse.
At low tide, it’s always glorious to see and touch live MOLLUSKS… especially this live 14 inch HORSE CONCH. No worries- this creature was very happy to be put back into the water where it could keep healthy and hopefully have lots of babies.
I’ve never been much of a morning person (I know. Sounds crazy for an obsessed sheller like me to say that but it’s just the truth)… so I hope this next season I learn to enjoy mornings like I did this weekend. I meet people like Angela from the Outer Banks of North Carolina who was too shy for me to take her picture but made a big impression on me. It was a pleasure to talk with you Angela!
But now that I think about it, I doesn’t really matter what time of day it is. I always find shells and I always meet awesome people shellers. I meet them finding shells at breakfast time , lunch time , afternoon snack time, dinner and evening snack time. It really doesnt matter! Errrr. I might sleep in tomorrow morning. heehee
Early mornings and low tides are the best….beautiful shells abound!
You should become a morning person, it is the best time to be on the beach! I go out before the sun comes up and get to see the awesome sunrise, which is often just as beautiful as the sunset! Shelling is usually pretty good then too.
Beautiful Pear Whelks! thanks for sharing…I found 2 when we visited sept18-sept30… in the surf near Clam Bayou!!!
This morning we went out and hit a couple beaches early but several other shellers were already there – we still got some goodies including sea glass :) Next time we will be earlier…
Just out of curiosity, do you know about how old those huge horse conchs are. Wandering if it takes years for them to get that big or are they fast growers? I have one that’s about 5-6 inches(& the only one ive seen that size) & several candies as you would call them. I have seen the huge ones but they were all home & thriving =), not sure that ive ever seen any smaller ones alive, only the huge ones. I would guess they are easier prey when smaller & the ones whom make it to adulthood have made it there for a reason & have gained respect & territory lol or a heck of a defense mechanism since even most I see on here are also alive. Do shells die of old age? or is it always a predator?
Hi Gina,
What I’ve been told, Is that most times it only takes about 3-4 years for the horse conch to get that big and they can live 20 years or so. With most wild animals, I think that “old age” means weakening of the muscles and senses …. Which means easier prey for other carnivores. :/
We had good shelling on Turtle Beach this weekend as well!!
Wow-great finds everyone! I’m not a morning person either, but I try to plan ahead before we come to Sanibel. I can’t wait until we come in January. Happy shelling. Pat
Yea! We made it on your blog! We were so happy to meet you! Thanks for being so nice and taking the time to visit with our family- my kids were so excited! I love your blog! I would love to see some of your artwork:)
In the past we loved to shell on Sanibel and Captiva. We now have a home in Kentucky and one near Boca Grande. We have a little beagle that we rescued. We would love to come to the Captiva area to shell again but don’t know if any beaches will accept dogs. Does anyone know?
Sure! I see dogs on the beach every day… You just have to keep your dog on a leash.
I must say that I ‘m just a little envious of the early morning shelling I missed this weekend especially with it being low tide. Early morning shelling is my favorite time to enjoy those moments of peace and serenity. All of you found such beautiful treasures glad that you had such an awesome shelling breakfast. Pam I hope to see you soon on the beaches soon…….
Mmmm, lovely images and just the right kind of breakfast!
I cannot wait! Will be on Sanibel soon!!!