I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Hubby wanted to go shelling with me this morning! We headed out a little later since it would be light sooner with the time change! Still early enough to catch a beautiful sunrise...
The first thing Hubby found, was a HUGE horse Conch buried in the tidal pool, we normally would take him home, our neighbor loves them, but this one had a broken tip, so we left him for someone else to find! Good way to start the day! There was a nice tidal pool, and we got to see lots of life.... Bunches of Lighting Whelks were out for a morning stroll also...
Along with a Beautiful Kings Crown...
I love live Scallops, but as hard as I tried I could not catch their Hijinx on video...they are so silly, this guy was clacking his shell open and closed over and over again real fast....until I got the camera out....
This tiny Jellyfish was slowly coasting in the water, just relaxing as he moved down the tidal pool!!
There were lots of Sea Urchins hiding beneath the shells...
Every day is an adventure, and every day is something new... Hubby picked up a pretty little Red True Tulip....
Then I found one too!!!
I found a nice size Nutmeg....
Hubby found a small King's Crown...
I found an Alphabet Cone, right in front of Hubby!!!!....Not sure if it will clean up well, but we will see...
Hubby found these two, a few yards apart....both in bad shape, so they didn't come home with us....
There were LOTS of Paper Figs, I had to force myself not to pick them all up, but I couldn't resist this one because of it's pretty color!....also a Worm Shell and a tiny juvenile fighting Conch...
I came across and area that looked like there were bunches of shells just under the surface....I ran my hand through the area and came up with these guys....
Hubby found this Awesome King's Crown, but it was live, so he went back....
Then I found this...... A beautiful Florida Horse Conch, Great Size!!!
Please, Please, don't be alive......
Woohoo!! It wasn't, but it was very stinky.....so awesome, it will look great all cleaned up.....it looks like it may be an Albino (all white) with an orange tip, the little white dot is still on the tip!!
I can't wait to get it all cleaned up!!! A few more checks in the area and I had all these....Lightning Whelk, More Banded Tulips, a Nutmeg and Olive....[sorry, I obviously put a finger print on the lens of my camera at this point] that is another Banded Tulip under the smudge....
When I was emptying our bags to start cleaning I found out Hubby got an Angel Wing! He says it was just laying there on the bottom of the tidal pool....
I'd say we had a pretty good day....here are the rest of his finds....
and here are mine.....
I can't complain!!! Tomorrow is Shellcrafter day, but I'm seriously considering hitting the beach early beforehand!! ;) Stay Tuned.... ::Shelllday Hugs::
I finally got my act together for early morning shelling yesterday morning. I got all my flashlights fully charged and what a difference... I could see so much better and it wasn't nearly as creepy out there! There is so much to see at the beach after dark, or should I say before sunrise.... There were lots of Live Lightning Whelks....
Even a Live Albino Lightning Whelk!
It seems strange to me that the body is pure white, but the critter inside is the same color as the one above! The beauty of extra low tide, is that the water retracts and shows all these little pockets of shells....
You can do some virtual shelling here...(Click on the pic to enlarge it, when you are done click the X to return to this post) in this pic you should find an Olive, Florida Cone, and several Fighting Conchs....and a Tiny Dusty Cone.... can you see them?! I found this cute Angel Wing, but he didn't make it, I dropped my shell bag when I got home and it busted all to pieces.... :(
Before I knew it, the sun came up...isn't it beautiful???
The rising sun revealed a couple of Nutmegs and a beautiful Orange Horse Conch...
...a Very lacy Lace Murex...
and a tiny Deep orange True Tulip...
and another Lace Murex, and a nice shiny Olive....
Today the tide was even lower, so much to see, and so little time! Today there was a lot more going on.... There were live Cockles....
A tiny Thorny Starfish riding in the waves...
A live Pear Whelk out exploring next to the tidal pool....
Live Lightning Whelks nestled all snug in the sand....
...and Live Sand Dollars...
and this guy....a Calico Crab in the bottom of a tidal pool........
chomping away on something...
I had to take a video of him..... Beautiful little guys, I just love them!
The full moon helped light the way, the whole time.....
and another beautiful Sunrise.....
I couldn't resist this bright orange Fighting Conch...I have SOOOO many of these, what could it hurt to get one more, right?! Same thing with these Lightning Whelks, this one had an unusual color too, so it's okay to pick up just one more!?
Okay, maybe 2 more....Today was obviously Double Jewel box day too....
Another, with a Nutmeg....
Before I left, I ended up with 7 of them!!!! Finally had to stop picking them up!
This Apple Murex has a slight pink color to it, can't really tell in this pic, but he came home with me too.....
Hundreds of birds just sat on the sandbar watching and talking the whole time I walked ....
I found a Sunray Venus half also, they are a fairly unusual find here....
and I found 3 today.... I usually boil my shells before I put them into a bleach/water bath for cleaning....an interesting thing I found out, If you boil a Sunray Venus shell, it changes color! Just like a lobster or a crab!! No other shells I have boiled do that....
The one at the bottom was boiled, can't decide which I like better....the ones at the top are the natural color....so there is your fun fact of the day!!!! Stay tuned!! ::Shelllady Hugs::
