Life in the Dark

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::