Shelllady

Shelllady

Thursday, April 10, 2014

A Little Larger Mini adventure--"Shopping for Sea Whips!"


We all need empty hours in our lives or we will have no time to create or dream.  ~Robert Coles

The workers finished at the house around 3:00 so Hubby and I decided to grab the chance to go to Sanibel to do a little shelling, but first to the Sanibel Fish House for an early dinner. The service was slow and by the time we got to the beach it was after 4:30. The wind was still really blowing, and the water was very churned up.

We could tell that it had been blowing quite a bit by the 'beach bling' on the beach, pen shells, egg cases, sea whips and all kinds of interesting things.

They are Horse Conch egg cases! I hope they all got out there and will grow up!! :)
There must have been hundreds of these Ponderous Arks with sea whips attached!
Twins!!
How about this for Saddle bags!!
This was all perfect for me because I was actually looking for Sea Whips for an idea I have for a project! How many people that you know can just go out and 'shop' the beach for what they want? I think it is just awesome, and it felt like shopping.  I was looking specifically for minis of all kinds and sea whips! We only stayed a little less than 2 hours, but it was so nice to finally get to the beach.  We only have a couple of days left. 

....back to the adventure...

Hubby actually stumbled across several of these huge horse conchs when we first got out there....aren't they beautiful in an old crusty sort of way?

When we were heading back in, I ran across this little guy, he is called a pygmy octopus, he is a little smaller than the palm of your hand. He was well out of the water and obviously not at all happy about it.  I took the opportunity to snap a couple of quick pictures and then picked him up in a large shell and took him out a little deeper so maybe he could make it.  I wish I could have videoed him while I was carrying him, he was very active, it was so cool!

I have only found one skate case, or 'mermaids purse' in all the years we have been coming to Sanibel, and that was many years ago! Today I found 2 of them and they were quite large! I couldn't tell if they were still in there, but I put them back in the gulf just in case.

Here is a pic for you to do some cybershelling should you have the urge!
We didn't get a lot of shells, but we did still find some minis and a few other goodies...
I have some idea for these pen shells as well, they are very colorful! 

A tiny painted egg cockle (found 3 of them)and even tinier murex! 
if you look closely you will see a baby's ear! and dog whelks I believe
...and I did a good job "shopping" for sea whips!



I have always been fascinated by the sea whips and there must have been thousands of them on the beach, most were attached to live shells, but I did find many that weren't. I hope they keep their beautiful maroon color, I cleaned them well and tried to seal them, we'll see how they do.  Stay tuned, I have plans!

We decided to go out this afternoon instead of first thing this morning....Hubby is telecommuting....how about this for an office!!
::Hugs::

Cheri

4 comments:

  1. That's a perfect office view!

    Love those horse conchs. I have yet to find one, occupied or empty. I like the sea whips too. I just dunk them in beach water and let them air dry.

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    1. I know, who wouldn't love an office view like that?? I rinsed the sea whips really well in clear water and let them dry, then sprayed them with clear lacquer....wasn't sure if they would keep their color otherwise!! Thanks for the info Kim, I will try that next time!!

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    2. First, thank you for sharing your life through the forum and this blog. I enjoy reading both. I have always wondered how do you tell if the tiny mini shells are live or empty? I really like the tiny shells, but always feel like they are baby shells and shouldn't be taken. Most of the larger shells I can see inside, but not the tiny shells.

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    3. I always try to look at and rinse it in the water and look for movement! I love the minis!! I have messed up a couple of times, and gotten one or two that were live. I check them again when I take them out of the bag, just to be sure! Thanks for coming along on my journeys Sue!!

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