My mind is blown by how many spectacsheller SPECTRAL BITTERSWEETS cover the beach on Jupiter Island, Florida.
This is a “Throw Back Thursday” since I never posted this trip my good friend Diane and I took from Sanibel over to the east coast of Florida in January to visit some other girlfriends- Girls Getaway! We couldn’t stay for very long so we packed in everything we could… including an hour on the beach for shelling. Of course.
We hit the mother load of SPECTRAL BITTERSWEETS at Blowing Rocks Preserve which has beautiful rock formations exposed from ocean currents depositing drifting sea shells and sand to form an underwater bar of COQUINA LIMESTONE about 125,000 years ago. This is the largest rock formation of the Anastasia Formation from St Augustine to southern Palm Beach County.
We mostly found the SPECTRAL BITTERSWEETS around the rocks but I did find a big ol’ LIONS PAW frag too (which I kept- heehee).
Along with the gorgeous view, the excellent company and a beautiful day, I found so many treasures on the beach to remember this quick girls getaway trip forever.
PS- Just so you can see the difference between the SPECTRAL BITTERSWEET (left- we’ve only found 2 on Sanibel that I can recall), in the middle is the COMB BITTERSWEET (we find lots of them on Cayo Costa and Big Hickory) and on the right is the GIANT BITTERSWEET (on the right and one of my faves in SW Florida)… here’s the 3 BITTERSWEETS lined up together.
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PS- And we visited a SEA TURTLE rehabilitation center too- so cool…
Wow! Can’t believe you were in our old stomping ground. That is one of our best shelling beaches in Jupiter. We love these beaches but it is always great to get over to Sanibel! If you do it again, we must meet up!!
Thank you for showing the side-by-side comparisons, I love it when you do that. It makes it so much easier for a layman like me to understand the differences.
The sea turtle rehab would be so interesting to see. I think I heard that the number of nests on Sanibel is up so far this year. So cool!!
Oh so nice! I love those spectral bittersweets!!!
Pam, they dredged for 4 months on Palm Beach. We have been finding beautiful shells. It was very rough a week ago and my friend and I have gone at different times and the shelling has been fantastic. We even found sharks teeth which is a rarity for our area. They dredged and dredged and dug up some amazing stuff. We are finding 4-5 inch scallops. I was in Sanibel the first week of May and believe it was the wrong time to come. The winds were blowing the wrong direction to bring in the shells. Just thought I’d pass it along. If the surf picks up again 3-5 feet in Palm Beach, the shelling will be great again. There are also all kinds of treasures in the dry sand that’s up on shore too.
Very interesting!! I’ve never seen a Bittersweet in person.
And speaking of turtle rehabilitation, when my hubby & I were in Sarasota in 2012 we visited the Mote Aquarium and saw some turtles that they were caring for permanently. (One was blind and I forget what was wrong with the other one.) Anyway, the gal taking care of them was gently rubbing the shell of one with her fingertips and I asked about that. Imagine my surprise when I learned that they can feel that!! Anyway, I teared up and cried a little at the good things being done for these turtles and other marine life, which they help that are in distress. (I’m so sensitive about animals.)
I love those bittersweets! My favorite one is the giant one. I would love to find a spectral. Back in 2013 I found what I think is a decussate-at gulfside. It’s a mottled brown and white. The bivalve book by Trish Hartman doesn’t have the spectral. Enjoy your teaching posts. Pat
They look like chocolate candy!
Last summer our family spent a week at The Island Inn and just down the beach from us we found a beautiful shell memorial someone had made by sticking branches deep in the sand then hanging shells and trinkets on the branches. The shells had names, dates and messages written on them. It seemed to have been there a while and I was hoping it was still there so I could show our family members who are coming with us in July. Have you seen anything like it?
Ha…now we know what’s up! Have a great trip Rambos. Take lots of pics for us.
I love finding smaller Giant Bittersweets- they’re so cute!
My husband and I go to Captiva every year and I find a lot of the Spectral Bittersweets. I don’t know if you ever shell there, I recently found your blog (love it!), so if not you should definitely check it out. I’ve always had better luck shelling on Captiva.
We’re actually headed down on the 13th of this month for a week. If you’re not tied up I’d love to go shelling with you!
12 days until my shelling adventures in Jupiter continue! In the market for some new pieces to make into jewelry!!