Exploring the 10K islands

Liz and I got together and went on a charter from Goodland Florida, (near Marco Island) to go shelling among the mangroves in the 10,000 islands. These islands can only be accessed by boat so normally the supply is much more plentiful....and interesting than the public beaches. We have done this before and enjoy this trip every time....there's just not enough time there! ;) I didn't take a lot of pictures as I wanted to cover as much territory as possible in our limited time. 

It was the coldest morning we have had since I've been here, so we bundled up in many layers!

I saw many live shells out there, always fun to see....these BEAUTIFuL Lace Murex were all alive....

Notice there is a Live Horse Conch (orange) and Lace Murex on each side of these roots!

Another live Horse Conch...it you look closely you can see that his body is actually Orange! These guys, especially this size are pretty close to the top of my list as favorites!!

The highlight of the day is Liz found a Golden Olive....the pictures don't do it justice, It is a gorgeous bright golden color, and quite the find!!

She said it was just laying there, waiting for her to come along and pick it up!! She even was lucky enough to get her picture posted with it on the Charters' facebook page!!

I did pretty well, found many favorites.... and some Sunray Venus shells to paint for hiding!

I picked up more than 3 dozen Olives...(these are the normal colors for Olives)

Top shells, Horse Conchs, Gaudy Nauticas, Lace Murex, A couple Alphabet Cones....love the tiny One, True Tulips

More Horse Conchs, and Both sides of a Spiny Jewelbox with a yellow center!

They are all soaking in a bleach bath now and are cleaning up nicely!

I also found these Brittle Stars....unfortunately they were already dried....

We had a great day....again, it's never enough time....but I'll take what I can get!!! It was a great day and we both had a blast! 

We finished up the day with a nice lunch on the water!

Oh and this guy....an Orb Spider greeted us when I was dropping Liz off....how about that for freaky?!

On our way out, we came across some dolphin that played in the wake....I also posted a video at the bottom! So fun!!

Hoping for more adventures before I have to head back up North, time is growing short.....Stay Tuned!

::Shelllady Hugs::