I'm back home in VA now, missing Sanibel already. I wanted to post Team Cheri's last shelling trip. We shelled multiple beaches starting at sunset until....can you believe it, 2:00 in the morning! No I'm not obsessed much, so glad that Cheri is as obsessed and we can share these adventures. One thing is for sure, the Sunrises and Sunsets do not disappoint on Sanibel...this one was so beautiful...
This trip had lots of life....I enjoy seeing what is moving around out there after dark almost as much as I enjoy finding non-live shells to take home.... This Live Sand dollar had his little hairs sticking out in a tiny tidal pool, (click the pic to enlarge) I just love to watch these guys move around....
I never see too many of these beautiful Live Lightning Whelks
Look at the beautiful color of this Live True Tulip...This is one of Cheri's favorites...
Haven't seen very many of these Huge Live Horse Conchs, this guy was particularly gnarly, all covered in barnacles!
A beautiful Sea Anemone, flowing in the water...
Another Live Lightning Whelk out for a Stroll in a tidal pool....
You have to look closely to see this Millipede Sea Star burying himself in the sand...
This Live True Tulip was doing headstands!...
..While this Live Banded Tulip was doing donuts....
...and this live Pear Whelk was just laying around all exposed!
Look at the BEAUTIFUL Yellow on this Pear Whelk....
One of my favorites, a live Medium-sized Horse Conch...
and This live Calico Crab was looking a little bit crabby!
Cheri did find a BEAUTIFUL True Tulip that wasn't live...have you ever seen such a beauty?
I, of course, couldn't resist this Lightning Whelk...
and Cheri found this NICE medium-sized Angel Wing, unfortunately he didn't make it home in one piece. :(
I found another nice Lightning Whelk that wasn't live...
and this Apple Murex that was Purple inside!!!
Cheri picked up this beautimus Pear Whelk...
...and another small True Tulip
This was definitely the night for Pear Whelks of all sizes! Here are 2 more with a worn Florida Cone and Shark's eye or Moon Snail...
I found another Alphabet Cone, far from perfect, but HUGE and he went home with me anyway!
I cannot pass up a Horse Conch of any size, especially with such beautiful color...
This is a Shark's eye (or Moon Snail) collar, it lays it's eggs under this and it surrounds the shell, there were a lot of these out there. Picture the two edges on the right connected, this forms a hole in the center where the shark's eye rests.
This is a Shark's eye Operculum, a first for me, and Cheri found 2 and gave me one!
For me though, the highlight of the night was this guy! Do you know what it is? It's a Rose Murex! Fairly rare, though several have been reported to be found recently....
Cheri found one at the same time, while looking for Wentletraps! Her Rose Murex is on the bottom right, along with several Wentletraps and Sharp edge drills and a tiny True Tulip!
My Rose Murex cleaned up very nicely...
Isn't it beautiful? This will be the last shelling post for a little while, but I do have some Shell Crafting posts to share in a few days! Thanks so much for coming along with Cheri and I on our Journey! She is a snowbird, so will be heading back North in the next couple of weeks, so I may be solo on the next trip... ::Shelllady Hugs::
I'm excited to tell you that I'm back home again in paradise, Ft. Myers and Sanibel. I can never get enough of this place! I have had enough of the cold...though we were lucky enough to miss out on the latest snowfall, I'm happy to say. Though it was a little bit chilly on the beach this morning, a sweatshirt took care of that, and off I went, just before sunrise. I hadn't stepped two steps and was greeted by these guys...A Lightning Whelk, and my Dad's favorite, A Shark's eye. It always makes me feel like he's right there with me. <3
A few steps later, I found this beauty...Another Lightning Whelk, a little larger and more golden...
"Ok self, it's time to be a little more picky, I don't need to keep picking up lightning whelks, I have more than enough, time to pass them by....at least some of them!"
The sunrise was beautiful this morning...
I couldn't resist sharing this...
As well as Lightning Whelks, It seems that today was a day of Jewel Box pairs...
and Scallop Pairs...
It was apparent that there had recently been some wind, there was a lot of 'stuff' at both tide lines, and there was definitely a step in the sand where it had washed away...
There were LOTS of Horse Conch egg cases scattered about also...
I ran across an area where there were obviously buried treasures,
I dug a little bit in the surf in these areas....
Yes, that is an Alphabet Cone, it has seen much better days....but I did find one today!... There were small tidal pools here and there, my favorite type of shelling.... I spy.....a juvenile Fighting conch...
...a worm shell
...an Oyster Drill...
Another Jewel box pair and mini Lightning Whelk...
Do you see them? Okay, your turn...What do you Spy among these ark shells?...( you can click on the pic to enlarge it, then click on the 'x' in the top right corner to return)
Did you see these?....3 small Juvenile Fighting Conchs, 4 tiny Bubble shells, and a mini Apple Murex?....I'm sure I missed some other things too!
So much is going on in these tidal pools....This live Millipede Starfish was partially buried...
This live Sand Dollar was doing Donuts!!
This is a Neon Orange Sea Anemone...
This tiny live Sea Urchin was hiding behind these shells...
...and this?! Can you tell what it is?
Yep, it's a Pygmy Octopus, hiding beneath the shells and sand....at the end of this video you'll see a live scallop that had spit some water at me...so much fun!
This Live Banded Tulip climbed up the side of the tidal pool onto the beach....
I was just about to come off of the beach and head for the car, and noticed a dolphin slowly swimming along the beach, and thought I would get a good picture to share....about the time I snapped, this Osprey dove down right in front of me!!
Lucky shot....I almost missed it on the next few, but just kept snapping the frames in the bright sunlight, hoping I would get something good!
...and the dolphin just casually swam right on by!!
Have I mentioned that I love this place?? Always an Adventure!! Stay tuned!! ::Shelllady Hugs::
