Shellzam! This HORSE CONCH rolled up on the beach right in front of me!
As the evening tide was coming in at Gulfside City Park Beach, it was bringing oodles of PENS SHELLS, SEA URCHINS and STARFISH…
So many other cool things wash up too like yellow SEA WHIPS, DONINIAS and BONES from CRAB TRAPS. When we have high west winds, the water gets so rough that CRAB TRAPS get tossed around so hard the BONES that are left over from the bait (mostly PIGS FEET) end up falling out then wash ashore.
The Gulf Of Mexico is so powerful, even when the wind dies down the currents still have enough power to wash large live HORSE CONCHS on the beach. Clark and I saw about 6 live HORSE CONCHS wash up on to the beach. We tried to walk them out in the water far enough to not wash up again but all we can do is keep our fingers crossed they stayed there.
And then… there are magical times when one of these big, beautiful shells rolls up on the beach completely empty like this one found by Lynn from Missouri. Spectacsheller!
And then…. another big, beautiful empty HORSE CONCH rolls up for me too! We got to shellebrate together! 
You want to know the most amazing thing? I filmed my find on video so you get to see it too…. hopefully soon. I was filming all of the cool BEACH BLING on my iPhone but didn’t realize that I had been videoing for 6 minutes and 40 seconds. I’ve had the hardest time downloading a video thats so long- Ack! So… as Im writing, it still has 329 minutes remaining to download. OMG Ive already been trying for a day now! So I will show you this awesome unedited video in my next post just so you can see everything single thing I saw on my beach walk and see how I found my HORSE CONCH. Its so cool!
If you want to see it as soon as it’s published on Youtube…. you can subscribe to my iLoveShelling Youtube channel to always be the first to be notified when I publish a new shelling video. After CLICKING HERE- Just click the red button on the right that says “Subscribe”
So until then… enjoy the gorgeous sunset we saw as we walked back to the car carrying my exshellent treasure.
UPDATE: The video is done and I have another post with more photos … CLICK HERE to see it!
Awesome!!
Awesome! We’ll be there in a few days….. I am so excited!!
wasn’t lucky enough to snowy ohio.but what a great time we had on our beach,i will take home over 400 shells loys of welks, sunrise shells,olives ,murexes,nutmegsand many more plus great memories especially finally meeting pam because that made the trip well worth it ,so everyone keep on shellin ,keep on searchin because mother nature has lots to share sincerely r.g.stein
Wow! That is Horse Conch jackpot! How exciting!
You ROCK girlfriend!! Wish we could be there!!
I need to cyber shell!! I’m having withdrawals!
Can’t wait until May!! My daughter and I will be there for 2 whole weeks, and will definitely bring our shelling gear with us!!! My daughter and I have not been so excited about a vacation like this for a super long time!! We hope to get to meet you Pam when we are there. :)
I was lucky enough several weeks ago to have a large empty horse conch was up at my feet. I thought the black knobs were barnacles on the pen shell. Imagine my surprise when I looked closely with my head flashlight and saw it was a beautiful conch!!!
It must have been like walking in a dream!!! Oh how that would be so amazing to experience! Can’t wait to see the video!!
Sanibell island is such a magical place! Thank you for sharing your bit of paradise with us. What a find!
Speaking of cool things washing up, I found a live Atlantic Pygmy octopus yesterday at Gulfside. That was a first for me!
Save some of those huge horse conches for me, please.
Hi Pam
I left you a note on the main sight about giving our shelling tickets to a pair of shelling nuts! Marilyn Patterson is in Sanibel and can’t use them. I had an idea for them, let me know if it’s ok with you! Missing sweet Sanibel but always there in my heart!
Wow. Congratshellations, Pam. And aren’t we so, so lucky to have seen your glee at the moment of discovery! Thanx for sharing. Can’t wait to get to Sanibel next week; I love the sun, but am hoping for one good storm to stir up some bling adventure!
What an exciting find!!! I love Sanibel Island!
I can’t get over the sky reflection in the wet sand! So pretty.
Wow! That was a jackpot find! I watched the video you posted after you posted this entry, and it was amazing! Thank you so much for taking the time to upload your beautiful videos – I appreciate they take a long time to upload, and many of us love every second of them! :)
Great day shelling today. Some nice piles on West Gulf. Saw a number of live Horse Conchs but none empty except for tiny ones. Congrats on finding an empty one.
My husband and I came across 4 live sea urchins washed up on Ft Myers Beach this morning. That was a first for us and we were thrilled. We relocated them to deeper water and hope they stayed there.
I was at Gulfside last night and today. There were LOTS of pen shells,live fighting conchs, live sea urchins. A lot of people were trying to help by putting them back in the water. Great horse conch Pam. Pat
Hi Pam,
I want to plan a trip to Ft. Myers and want to drive to Samibel for a few days.
What beach were you on when you found this huge monster shell?
Can you point out some of your best beaches to check out for someone who will only have few days there? Thanks so much.
Den
Pam, I enjoyed meeting you the day we both found our horse conchs. I was so excited since this was my sixth year staying on Sanibel for the month of Jan. and the first time I have found a large empty shell. I was afraid the shelling wasn’t going to be so great this year since the shells the first 3 weeks were scarce and hard to find except for the minis. Hopefully, next year I can make one of the shelling cruises you go on and see you again.
Lynn from MO