Wentle Hunting

Team Cheri headed out again this morning into the dark for low tide at the Lighthouse searching for Minis and Wentletraps. Cheri's radar is finely tuned for Wentles (as we call them) she can spot them very quickly and can squat down and stay there to survey the area. Me? That's another story, I don't (can't) do the squatting thing, so I am doing the Sanibel Stoop all the way down the beach.  I suppose my New Years resolution should be to do some exercises so I can also be a squatter....lets see how that goes!

Though a bit chilly, there was a lot of life out there in the dark, lots of live Cockles....

I believe that's a tiny hermit drawing patterns in the sand....

 These are live Bubble Shells, they were all over the beach drawing all kinds of pictures....

a live Olive....

 and I can't help but think this live Sand Dollar was attempting to use the sand as a blanket to keep warm...

I thought this was interesting, though creepy... a skull of a bird of some sort...

 Cheri found a tiny Calico Crab that was still live, but very still.....she put him back into the warm water after his photo op....

This guy was high and dry up the beach, I tried to carry him back to the water, but Cheri ended up rescuing him in her net and putting him back into the Gulf, she said after a little while he happily swam back into the deep....I think he was some kind of an eel, he had a 'fin' that went down his back, was pretty awesome looking when he swam.

The Wentletraps started showing up in the dark.....there is a rice olive in this picture too, see it?

another Wentle...

The sunrise never disappoints here....

It made it much easier to see the minis.....

Check out this beautiful mini Lace Murex...

Cheri found another Arrow Dwarf Triton....(sorry, bad pic, a bit out of focus)

and a pretty Lacey Lace Murex...

You have to look very closely for the Wentles...you never know where they will be....

see it?

This was my fav of the day, this guy was a 'biggie'!

I'm not sure how many Cheri found, but here is a picture inside her container at one point....looks pretty good to me!

...and mine...

When the day was done, I counted 45 wentles I found....

along with LOTS of other minis!

Love those minis!

Stay tuned for more adventures....I hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year! See you next year!!!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Golden First Day Back!

I hope you all had the Merriest of Christmases with your families! Hubby and I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to our favorite place, our home in Ft. Myers. It seems the whole world had the same idea and headed down I95 south, so the first day was mainly avoided the traffic clogged interstates. We made it, in good time, so now it's time for some Beach Therapy!

I couldn't let this morning pass without at least trying the shelling on Sanibel. The weather has cooled off, but it still is so much nicer than up north! I met my best shelling buddy Cheri, and we headed out mid-tide, for a quick early morning stroll....I didn't expect to find much, just needed the therapy!  Cheri started out the morning with a beautiful Golden Olive! Here it is between two Lettered Olives she found... It is perfect!

How awesome is that!

I found a perfect Lady-in-waiting Venus Clam

and a HUGE Calico Scallop....with this Horse Conch Cheri pointed out and saved for me!

She found a Flat....also called a zig zag Scallop, this one will take a little cleaning....

I also found a Gaudy Nautica, these are quickly becoming my favorites with all the intricate coloring....

and I found another one for the books!

If you know what this is I would appreciate the information. After checking several books, I think it is actually a Tampa Tellin....it's the only thing close, it is shaped like a Sailors Ear, but is very smooth on the surface...it's thin and fragile, I will keep this one, and investigate further!

I enjoyed this morning's mini adventure, we will start paying attention to the tides this week since they are going to be Negative lows (really low!) ;) Hopefully we'll have some great adventures to share!

Stay tuned!

::Shelllady Hugs::