Just a little update…. we are having a bbblaaaast at Shellabaloo 4! We have a wonderful wrack line of shells right at our doorstep at Island Inn Resort where we found LIGHTNING WHELKS like Kris from Michigan found….
Sarah from Kentucky found another nice size Lightning Whelk…
And… we’ve been finding all sorts of fabshellous shells! Bette from North Carolina filled up her miniature shell jar and now can add other great shells including part of a JUNONIA to the mix…
Just like the rest of the country, yes, it’s even been cold in Sanibel. But we will take morning high 40s- low 50s rather than the below zero temps that some of our Shellabalooers just came from. Cold weather brings in the shells… so we are very happy! As you can see we are all bundled up like Ron and Cheryl from Maryland…
We are gathering in the evenings to learn about each other and to share our shelling stories together. Here is Kris, Nancy (Boston), Angela (our first return Shellabalooer! She was from our Shellabaloo 3 in August!) and Conne (Wintergarden, Florida). This is a wonderful group!
It’s so cool to have another mother and daughter shellers! Here is Cheryl and Kristin from St Louis
Here is a selfie with Bette and Rick to wish y’all well and wish you were here and we can’t wait to show you all of the shells we are finding. As Kris from Michigan has put it… this should be named ShellaBootCamp since we are shelling all day long even in the cold. But as each of us here have agreed, we wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll introduce to you all of the other shellers on my next post. Oh and…. Shellers rock!!!!
Looks like so much fun!!
Is that a huge wentletrap in Bette hand??? I have never seen one that large?
My question, too! Sherri
What is the white shell in the picture with the jar of shells? The shell next to the orange scallop and the juvenile fighting conch
Whatbis the large white shell in her hand?
Patti, Jesse and brendA…. Good eye! That is a fossil shell she found. I’m going to look up what it’s called but it prob came from a shell parking lot or shell pathway on a high tide and washed out. It’s cool, right?
Thanks that was my ? Too. Good to see Angela a 3 sista. Wish I were there…minus temps in Kansas.
I met a woman at the Blind Pass sand bar when we were there shelling several weeks ago. She had found that same fossil shell rolling in the surf on the Sanibel side. I had never seen one before and couldn’t believe it when I saw your pic of Bette holding the same shell. Curious to know what it is! While we’re on the subject of different shells, Ken found a shell on the Sanibel side of Blind Pass that we cannot find in any of the Florida shell books. He’s found something very close to it in the Encyclopedia of Marine Gastropods, but the shell is native to Mexico. Do you think a shell could travel that far???
it might be a “wedding shell” – from a bought bag o shells from the shell shop (from the Philippines) then spread not eh beach for decoration then taken out with the tide
Lucky finds all. Wish I was there! Kris, Nancy… You picked a great time to be away from the Ccccold CT. I’m in east Granby. ….frigid right now. Would love to see your finds upon arrival? We could swap Sanibel stories.
Keep shelling everyone,
Have fun
Mary Ann
East Granby. CT
The shelling has been phenomenal for weeks now!! Glad to see the tour has started with a bang!
When is shellaballoo 5???? How do I get advance notice??
Thanks,
Annelise….shellaholic
The shells are finally coming in with the strong winds. I didn’t have too much luck on the Friday trip to Cayo Costa, but today (Wed) is making up for it. There is a great shell pile near Mitchell’s I found a nice lions paw and my neighbor dug out a JUNONIA plus a broken one. I’m now sitting here with my hot coffee trying to warm up my feet. It looks like there are still a lot of treasures to wash up tomorrow. I hope it’s warmer. Good luck everyone.
Ahhh, good shelling is always worth it, even if you need to wear some extra clothes! Rough weather brings in great shells after a day or two, and that combined with the beach re-nourishment is a terrific combination.
Awesome! Wish I was there <3
So happy to see my Shellaballoo sister, Angela. Wishing it was February cuz I will be there and hope to find some awesome shells then. Happy Shelling to you all!
Hi Annette! It was really good to see Angela again! And I met your friends- they were on the Captiva cruise with us- so nice. I hope to see yall when you are here in February. It’ll be here before you know it. We missed you both!
Good to hear from you, Pam. Yes, our friends had a great time on the cruise. They sent us a picture of the shells they found — lots of good ones! CU in Feb.
Pam, looks like another wonderful time! I told Angela it looks too cold for me! I can’t wait to get back down there with my daughter and Angela in the summer, bugs and all, for another fantastic time! I love the comment about “Anshella”!
It was too cool to see the fossil shell that Bette found that was in your post Jan 7.
Im the lady that found one just like that at Blind Pass week of Christmas.
I was very excited as had never found anything like that. The man at the shell shop let me look in several of his fossil books but we never made a definite ID
Curious if you found anything out.