Looking For Shells That Are Out of the Ordinary

Because it is March in Florida, the state is overrun with northern visitors and Snow Birds who are here for a few months. Winter vacation brings in the people seeking sun and warmth in the middle of a frigid northern winter.

Bike Week is just winding down, and events are stopping because of the Corona Virus. It’s now so crowded on the roads that I mostly stay home.

But back in February I ventured over to Smyrna Dunes Park and collected a few shells. I was looking for the types of shells I rarely find, and I did luck out.

The walk was invigorating near the water as the temperature was in the low 70’s, and with the sea breeze blowing, it was very comfortable. It was late in the day, but the parking lot was still full. Lots of people take their dogs here.

I walked the boardwalk and then headed down to the sand to search for shells that are out of the ordinary for this area.

Right off I found a big, black ark. This is the place to find black seashells. It wasn’t an unusual shell, but it was nice looking.

As I strolled the shoreline at the inlet and found two golden colored arks with whitish edges. I picked them up. Arks are super common here, but they come in a big variety of colors and can be pretty.

When my son was visiting I found a hairy ark. I assume that is how they look before all that fuzz has been worn off by the waves and sand. I believe this is the periostracum (brown stuff that covers shells) and the clam could be a “bearded ark”, but it’s a guess only.

You can see the three arks in my photo below which do not have any brown coating. That is usually how I find them.

The black jingle shell caught my attention because of it’s large size. Jingle shells are not all that common to find around here either. Both black shells are easy to see in the photo below.

Then I found my favorite shell, the Dosinia (shell at the bottom on the right in the photo above). As I eyed the sand I saw a flattened shell, and sure enough it was something I wanted.

Other than that, the only other shells I collected were broken bits of Olive shells.

I walked around to the dog beach side of the peninsula and then took the sandy trail leading back to the boardwalk. I’ll share some of my water views and jetty rocks on another post, when I get the photos uploaded.