Blog - Seashells by Millhill

Lighting Whelk: The Left-Handed Seashell

two seashells — Aperture comparisons of the crown conch (L) and lightning whelk (R)

On a trip to Sanibel Island, on the Gulf coast of Florida, in 1991, we were able to find many lightning whelk shells. Most of them were inhabited by the mollusk and were easy to spot moving about on the sandy ocean bottom. I had no idea what I was collecting when I picked up the 4 inch long shell, but I knew it was a beauty and I felt lucky to have found it. I lived closer to the east coast of Florida where I’d never seen a shell so lovely. It was long and had beautiful streaks of brown running the length of it and the spiral on top was gorgeous.

I added it to my seashell collection and didn’t think too much about it.

I now know that it is a Florida Lightning Whelk and that it is known as being sinistral, or left-handed. When holding the shell at the pointed end, or bottom, you can see that the opening, or aperture, is on the left side. My photo to the right, shows my lightning whelk next to a crown conch to show what I mean. My reference book, the National Audubon Society’s Field Guide to Shells says that this shell can be up to 16 inches long.

It’s not difficult to find information and pictures on-line of this popular shell and if you are looking for more just google the name. If you get to visit any of the warm water beaches between North Carolina and Texas, you just might find a living lightning whelk.

Lightning whelks (Busycon contrarium) eat mostly bi-valves (shells with 2 halves) and especially love clams which they pry open using their strong “foot”.

A lady at Flickr has an interesting photo (below) of a lightning whelk egg case. If all of these babies had hatched, that would be a lot of new lightning whelks.

Please click this link to read what “biggertree” has to say about her photo below.

Fighting Conch Seashell Coloring Page

The Florida fighting conch is an interesting marine snail. The shell is thick and heavy and can be dark purple in color.

I found a living fighting conch one time up by Ponce Inlet and got some photos and videos.

The conch below is alive and the photo was taken on our boat deck. I put the snail there to get a photo, then he went back into the water.

Live Fighting Conch Shows Himself

This is a photo of another live conch and he came right out of his shell! Read more and see photos of this awesome sea snail here.

living fighting conch mollusk — Wow, beautiful color on this Florida fighting conch

Free Coloring Page of the Fighting Conch Shell

Florida fighting conch shell — Seashell Coloring Printout

Who Is Watching The Gulf Coast Birds?

The enormous and sad task of watching the birds of the gulf coast struggle to survive the oil slick is partly the job of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Now, more than ever the sightings and nesting habits of the pelicans, roseate spoonbills and many others will need to be watched.

Watch a slide show of birds gradually becoming covered with the oil that is washing into their territory among the mangroves of Louisiana.

On a brighter note, the seabird colonies of Breton Island are being protected and I guess that is the most we can hope for, that a few of the many important areas of bird habitats can be left untouched. I am still wondering about the mollusks, and of course there is so much more being destroyed.

If you live along the Gulf coast and want to help with reporting or donate to the clean up efforts, or just want to see what’s going on, visit the Cornell site.
Apparently the media has had restrictions imposed on covering the damage. Read more here.

Seashell Identification
Seashell Coloring Page