Image by mathewingram via Flickr
I am not a seashell expert, just an everyday person who has recently taken an interest in identifying the Florida shells I have collected over the years.
While walking the Florida beaches during the many years I lived there, picking up pretty seashells was just part of life. It was something to keep the kids happy on vacation and we always went home with a bucket of their favorite shells. …..continue reading
Shells, Culdaff Pictured on the beach (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If I was walking along the beach today I would be looking much more intently at the treasures beneath my feet than I did ten years ago. Shelling has taken on a new meaning for me now.
Going to the beach was a regular activity years ago, but I lived around 30 minutes away. I’ve never been lucky enough (or rich enough) to live on the beach but in Florida you are always fairly close to a beach of some kind. And like so many things we get used to, we don’t appreciate it nearly enough.
I’d be walking at low tide – and hopefully that timing would coincide with few visitors to the area so I’d have the place mostly to myself. (Good luck, right?) And I’d check the seaweed washed up along the water line for hidden things caught in it.
I’d walk with my pants rolled up and my feet in the soft sand near the surf, peering out into the water for any sea life just off shore.
Maybe I’d find some limpet shells like the ones pictured, or maybe I’d find something more interesting and beautiful – like a whole conch or sand dollar. I only know that I would be looking more closely knowing that it was not an activity I can do all the time any longer.
If you are walking on the beach today, enjoy every moment and happy treasure hunting!
Busycon sinistrum Hollister, 1958 English: Lightning whelk egg case at Sanibel Island in Lee County, Florida, U.S.A. With defensive purple dye. Français : Ponte de Busycon sinistrum, photographiée sur l'île Sanibel, en Floride (États-Unis). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sanibel and Captiva Islands on Florida’s Gulf coast is a popular tourist destination for the serious seashell collector. It is possible to find some quite rare shells there, and it’s impossible to not find any. Some of the beaches on Sanibel Island are nothing but shells!
But if you travel to Florida’s east coast – which is very long – you’ll still find your share of seashells. Just don’t expect them to be as plentiful. You will probably also see some very interesting sea life, dead and alive along the shore.
One of the best times to get out looking for specimens on the beach is when few other people are doing so. I always loved to stay at the beach and go out walking after supper when the atmosphere was more relaxed and the burning sun was no longer an issue.
We have found seagrass, driftwood, bits of coral, crab claws, seaweed, jellyfish, egg cases (that is one from a lightning whelk in the picture, but it was found on Sanibel), crab shells, horseshoe crabs and more while strolling the quiet beach. We used to see things that actually looked pretty gross and we had no idea what they were.
As far as seashells, most often we would find clam shell or cockle shell halves, but occasionally we’d get a piece of a sand dollar. You can also find jingle shells and kitten paw oysters, jackknife clams and pen shells. In fact most of the shells in the pictures along my blog sidebar (to the right) were found along the east coast. (Some of my larger shells and the sand dollars were purchased.) We used to find some very big pen shells as I recall.
My kids used to play with the little mole crabs (or sand fleas) and try to catch one to keep in their bucket for a while. And of course the tiny and colorful coquina shells are plentiful, but usually occupied.
I didn’t know anything about seashells back then, so who knows what we threw back and didn’t keep, but we usually kept the pretty ones that were in one piece. We also kept pieces that obviously broke off something much larger and could only dream of what the seashell once looked like.
If you visit Florida’s east coast, keep your eyes peeled for interesting wildlife and seashells. Just remember not to take home anything living!
Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Are you planning – or have you planned over the winter – a tropical vacation and trip to the beach? So many people in New England, where I now live, head to Florida for April (Spring) vacation that when I lived in Florida I dreaded that month. With the state overrun by tourists, Disney World would sometimes have to close it’s gates when filled to capacity – and that’s a big place! My sister-in-law and her family would come stay at Hotel Carter (my house) and drag us to the attractions which we had visited too many times already, and force us to spend money we didn’t have.
But Florida is a great place to visit and if you want to avoid going in the mid-summer heat, then for those of us with kids, who have to work around their vacation time, April is it. And if you have relatives you can mooch off of down there – go for it!
April is a great time to stay at the beach too. The water may be too cool for locals who are used to the 80 degree summer water temperature, but northerners would most likely love the ocean water. Being around a beautiful beach is more my idea of a vacation than standing in long lines, with millions of other people at Disney World, so my vacation would take place at a beach. (And Disney, Universal Studios, etc. are centrally located so you can always take a day trip there.)
New Smyrna Beach was always a favorite and it’s close to Daytona so visiting the Daytona Speedway and Museum would be fun. I went there on a field trip with one of my kids and we got in a bus that drove us around the track. You wouldn’t believe the steep sides where the drivers race! It’s worth the visit. There is a small lake nearby that was made when they dug up the dirt to make those driving hills.
If it’s shell collecting you want, plan to visit or stay on Sanibel Island on the Gulf coast. It is the 3rd best shelling spot IN THE WORLD! (updated to say: Sulu Islands, Philippines and Jeffries Bay, South Africa are #1 and #2.) I wish we’d have been able to get over to Sanibel more often when I lived in central Florida. It was only 4 hours away, but the cost was just something we couldn’t afford back then. We did get there a few times. Now the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is open with interesting seashell info and history.
Don’t forget to visit the numerous state parks all over the state. And head out on the water on a charter boat or rent a boat yourself and navigate the IC (Intracoastal Waterway). Doing some low-key, untouristy-like trips may make some excellent memories.
Have a great Florida vacation!
The jackknife clam is an unusual shape and you’ll be able to identify it right away as the one that is sometimes called the “fingernail” shell.
Long (3-4 inches) and whitish colored, the shell is curved in a fashion resembling someones overgrown fingernail. We used to find them along the eastern shore of Florida.
I recently had a reader on my Seashell Identification page ask what it was. She found hers near Panama City. My reference book says that the green jackknife (Solen viridis) is often found in north Florida and has more of a straight edge on one side, and the other type is called the minor jackknife (Enis minor).
Some of My Seashells
Even if you live miles from the ocean or don’t have any seashells yourself, you can give a gift of seashells to your child’s school.
Recently my eighth-grader came home and actually told me what he was doing in school. “We are studying shells”, he said. Then he stuffed himself with junk food and disappeared into his room to play video games. Continue reading
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