Gone East!

Liz, her husband Mike & I got up REALLY yesterday morning and headed to the East Coast. Shelling there is like another world, it's always an adventure! We went to a little beach between Ft Lauderdale and Hollywood Florida. Many of the shells there are very different than here on the west coast, at least around Ft. Myers/Sanibel. Like any other beach, good days and bad days....I'd say today's adventure was a good day. Heck, to me, any day on the beach is a good day!! ;)

My first find was a Bolingi Olive!!! Much larger than the one I found a couple of weeks ago....I had never found ANY, now I have 2!!

I also found a tiny Alphabet Cone hiding under a rock....

they are even a little bit different than here, the 'spots' seem to be much smaller, and more uniform...

I found so many of these sponges all over the beach, 

they look like something you would see in an aquarium....they were in all sizes! I just thought they were interesting! (I even brought a small one home with me, we'll see how it holds up!)

Also scattered among the High Tide Line....were these two guys....

Yep that's a Portuguese Man of War!! A jellyfish with a terrible, terrible sting I understand.....I didn't test it, even though they seemed to be around a while, I understand they are normally very blue, and there was some blue along the edges, but I just took a pic and left them alone!!

I also found this tiny little sea Urchin on the inside of a Bittersweet, he was so prickly, much like a sand spur! I believe he was still alive, so I returned him to the sea....

Much of the beach had these rocks on it, and Liz and I spent a lot of time, walking on them, and looking under whatever rocks we could move....

Needless to say, it was quite a work-out! I found this tiny guy under a rock...he too was alive...

forgive me for not naming most of these, it is going to take some research...I'm not familiar with many of these shells...

This is obviously some sort of Oyster, I just thought it looked cool, so I grabbed it up as well....

This area is known to have Queen Conchs,....I was hoping to find one, and there was evidence all over the beach that they had come in....HUGE pieces of broken ones :( so thick too....I kept hoping I would find one intact!

I found 2 pieces of a Hawkwing Conch that would have been a gorgeous find!

The Atlantic is gorgeous....just look how beautiful it is....such a tropical blue!

Here's my finds for the day...

Her's a closeup of the minis....I'll try to name some of them as best as I can...

Keyhole Limpets, False Limpets, tiny dove shells, a couple tiny flats, some rice olives (I think) Rose murex (that are white?), I believe the gold and white shell on the left near the bottom is a Margin shell, and below it a Nerite, then a star shell or Modulus

Some of my favorites, a Juvenile Queen Conch, the Bolingi and Alphabet, and some (what I call) flower coral

and I actually found some Sea Fans, I'm going to try to clean these guys up and see how it goes, if it turns out, I'll show you how it looks! Liz actually found a Large sea fan on an earlier trip and has it in a shadowbox at her house, it looks beautiful!!

Here is some more small pieces of coral, and some colorful bittersweets!

The beaches are covered with all different types of coral, from very large to tiny....so different from what we are used to!

Liz found some real treasures! Including Frond Oysters still on the branches, Bittersweets, Thorny Oysters, and a Flamingo Tongue!! (Yes, it's a type of shell!)

Here are her minis....Across the top are False Limpets, I believe those Conchs are also Juvenile Queen Conchs, mini tulips, Horse conchs, dove shells, rice olives and Keyhole Limpets at the bottom. The Flamingo tongue is out of the tray just to the bottom left, the white shell....!!

She also found some tiny Bittersweets, Rose Murex, and some Milk Moons, and  some tiny cones!

Liz also found some Dove shells, and we aren't sure if those are barnacles or Limpets, 3 Margin shells (?), and a pair of Nerites!!

She posted these as some favorites...a Flat and a Sunrise Tellin!!! It would have been my favorites too....LOVE that Tellin!!!

We had a great day, and it began to rain just as we were ready to leave....so it was good timing! Hoping for a few more adventures to share before I leave so stay tuned!!!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Girls Trip!

We girls decided to take an adventure to the East Coast, and what fun! 

It's like going to another planet...all the shells are different than anything we get on the West Coast of Florida. I don't know the names, and we can't find a book to look things up, so I might need your help with some IDs on some of these! The first thing I always notice is the beautiful water! It's that tropical turquoise color...and very clear!

Unfortunately most of the beach was covered in seaweed....but we don't give up easily!

We found an area on the other side of that jetty that had less seaweed to start our search...
Cheri and I started finding Limpets right away...they are very different than the ones we normally find...The ones on the top are called False Limpets...

The ones on the bottom are like our Keyhole limpets, just much more colorful....

Jodi and Cheri hit the jackpot with Nerites....
Here are a few of Cheri's... I believe they are called a four-tooth or bleeding tooth Nerite... 

Jodi hit the jackpot with a bunch of them! I believe most of these are Checkered Nerite...

I even found some live ones on the rocks along the jetty...

Most of the shells we found were minis...and we will be researching them... Jodi got a bucket full of Frond Oysters, Limpets, worm shells, coral of all sizes, coffee bean trivia and all kinds of treasures!

The find of the day was a FREAK Scotch Bonnet that Cheri Found...

We continued searching for minis....but I needed to stretch out a bit so I went for a walk down the beach....boy did I have fun! I found lots of beautifully colored Thorny Oysters...

I found a teaser piece of a Lions Paw and a baby thorny!

and there were so many pieces of Flat Scallops....they looked huge and so colorful! I so wanted to find a whole one....

...and I did!!

Can you believe the size of this? Most of the ones you find at Sanibel are smaller!
I also found a Flamingo Tongue! I had one that Cheri had given me from our trip last year....but this time I found one myself!!

I also found this strange oyster kind of thing....I didn't keep it, but had to take some pics! I think it is a Leafy Jewelbox pair....kinda wish I had kept it!!

I believe this is an Operculum (door) of a Milkmoon Snail...it was beautiful...kind of pearly....

and check out this beautiful neon orange Scaly Scallop!

My little walk was proving to be quite an adventure in itself!
While I was gone...Jodi continued to find more minis...and some really cool coral pieces!

 She also found a Bolingi Olive, 3 small cones..Carrot Cones(?) and a Cowrie (?) 

Cheri found several small Rose Murex...

and so many other minis....and some coral.  I believe the two long shells below the Bonnet are called Hexagonal Murex...

I picked up this little guy...not sure what it is...maybe a baby Triton of some sort??

It was an awesome day and so interesting! With lots of color!!

I was fascinated by the different colors and kinds of Limpets!

I found several small Cones too...

and of course, I couldn't pass up the coral!

or the colorful Flat...pieces and that Huge Frond Oyster....(left)

I spilled my box...and couldn't resist this photo opportunity...looks kinda cool, right?!

I need to be more creative with my shell pictures...like Cheri and her flip-flop! I'll work on that! 

Well these awesome trips are over, Jodi heads home tomorrow, and I leave in a couple of days. So sad to see it come to an end, but we will be doing it again! We all talk daily as we are Admins for a facebook page...but we don't get together very often...and what fun we had, I love these ladies! 

l to r: Jodi, This Cheri, Cindy and the other Cheri!

Stay Tuned! Hopefully I will have another post...or two, soon!

::Shelllady Hugs::