Category: Beaches

Ocean and river island beaches around Florida.

Red Egret, Blue Crabs and Tiny Dosinias

We took the boat up to Disappearing Island the other day and spent some time in the water. On the way, we passed this huge yacht. (Disappearing Island is at the mouth of Ponce Inlet in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on the East coast. I hate to read blogs when I have no idea where people are, so thought I’d just include that bit of into.)

The ocean and Indian River water temps are now in the mid to upper 80’s, and hotter in shallower water. The air temperature was also very hot, so I pretty much stayed submerged in ocean water as much as I could. It was not refreshing, but at least I didn’t feel like I was baking in an oven!

However, I did walk around a bit and got some photos of a few interesting bits of wildlife, which is all mentioned below. I saw the usual crown conchs, lightning whelks, shark’s eyes, pear whelks, which were being carried along by hermit crabs. I write about those endlessly, so search my blog posts if you are interested.

I also found many tiny Dosinia shells, which are a favorite seashell find of mine. Usually the ones I see are much bigger. Maybe the back of this island is a good place for the babies to hatch, I don’t know, but something ate these. It could have been a red egret, like the one I watched feeding in this area. Actually I don’t know if they eat mollusks.

Tiny Dosinia seashells
Little Dosinias

This Egret Was Fun to Watch

The top photo is mine, and the bottom, much nicer photo, was taken by another Floridian who shares his photos on Pixabay. Since I am not at all a good wildlife photographer, I had to show my readers what a pretty bird this is.

I watched as this egret danced around, apparently to confuse the fish, then he would grab up a little fish to eat. He worked hard for his meal!

  • Red egret
  • Red egret, Florida bird

The Fiddler Crabs

Fiddler crab
Fiddler crab

The Fiddler crab lives in sandy grass areas and we see them quite a bit out on the islands. They are very small – maybe an inch across – and scurry into their holes as soon as a human approaches. I had to stand very still to get the photo of the crab just emerging from his hole. I don’t have patience, but soon enough the little crabs would peek out.

Sheepshead fish love to eat the Fiddler crab, and fishermen use them as bait when targeting Sheepshead. I’m guessing that hundreds of fiddlers live in this grassy area. I see them run as I approach!

Grass and sand where fiddler crabs live
This is home to fiddler crabs

The Blue Crab

This crab with the blue legs and claws must be a Blue Crab, but it doesn’t look like the other blue crabs we saw, which were bigger. It was either a juvenile or a female – at least that is my guess. I don’t know much about these crabs.

blue crab young juvenile
This little thing made himself all big and bad by showing me his outstretched claws!

As I approached this little crab he / she stood up on back legs and spread her claws. As I got closer she tried to spread them out wider to fend me off. Pretty brave little thing! I didn’t want to bother her too much so took a few pics and left him / her alone.

Water, Water Everywhere

Florida is a state that exists just above sea level. I feel like one big tidal wave could wash us all away.

Beached behind Disappearing Island
Enjoying the hot summer at Disappearing Island

This last photo is looking east, toward the ocean beaches, with the high-rise condos. Before we beached our boat here, we rode out the inlet (Ponce Inlet) into the ocean (photo below). Our Hewe’s Redfisher flats boat is not made for ocean boating, but my son likes to go out, just off the inlet, when the water is calm.

Below is the photo I took looking back at the beach from the ocean. So basically these photos are front and back of the condos.

The Rules About Collecting Seashells in Florida

Sometimes a reader asks about the legal side of seashell collecting here in Florida. I’ll be honest and I never really thought much about it. I know from living near the East coast of the state, I never heard anything about shell-collecting rules. It could be because my area simply does not have many shells along the public beach. No one really gives them much thought.

Rule #1. Never collect anything that is alive. A shell filled with something (mollusk or crab) is a home to that animal. Leave it where you found it.

Pen Shell

These days when you pass the beach ramp stands and pay your way, the person in the booth lists off the beach rules. Drive slow, windows down, radio off, trash in the cans, stay off the dunes, etc. – something to that effect. She says nothing about collecting seashells.

My own personal rule has always been not to collect anything living. Taking a living creature away from it’s ocean habitat will kill it. That, to me, is common sense. I’ve come across some beautiful shells I would love to have collected, but photos will do nicely. Take a lot of them and then say good-bye.

Often I have taken some fun photos of the creature inside the shells too, as was the case when we found big horse conchs on offshore islands while boating.

broken whelk on the beach
Broken whelk on the beach at Ponce Inlet

The Laws on Sea Shell Collecting

Read this page at FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) entitled “Recreational Sea Shell Collecting” says in part that a Florida saltwater fishing license is required to keep any living seashells collected anywhere, including onshore.

So this sounds as if I could keep living shells, because I have a fishing license. I wouldn’t want to, and there are exclusions that apply in certain counties.

Also state parks may be governed by their own rules, but I have never read anything about seashells and collecting them. To be safe, always check the rules for the specific park before you visit.

Prohibited Sea Life

The Bahama Starfish and Queen Conch are always prohibited, unless the Queen conch shell is already empty. It’s unlikely you would find this shell just sitting on the beach! I’ve seen video from the Bahamas where people dive down and collect the queen conchs to pull the meat out and eat. Conch is something served in restaurants where tropical type fare is eaten.

Strombus gigas
Queen conch, bought in Florida- 1980’s -I no longer buy seashells

Don’t Plan to Make Money From Seashells

My only plan to make money from seashells was in using my photography for products I designed in my Zazzle store, Millhill. Over the years I have sold some of my photography, but it’s not a big money maker. My seashell images are only a small part of what I design and sell. I do not sell shells, nor do I want to. I’ve bought shells, like the conch above, back when I didn’t know any better.

If you are searching for ways to sell your shells, or make money from collecting seashells, this is the wrong blog for you. Some readers have left comments asking me about this. I write here to inform others, and end up learning a lot myself from my research.

Sea life is pretty amazing, and I enjoy sharing my photos. I especially think of the many people who never, or seldom ever, get to visit the ocean.

I’ve read some pretty horrible blogs that tell you making money by selling shells is possible. One blogger wrote that live seashells were worth the most! What? If you collect a living mollusk it will die, but maybe he was referring to selling it to an aquarium owner. I don’t know, but I believe in letting these amazing creatures live in their own wild habitat. They have it hard enough without people stepping in and collecting them.

I have come across some really awesome shells in my area that I would have loved to add to my small collection. The beautiful knobbed whelk that I found out on an island was one such shell. It was broken, but look at that color and size! The mollusk that built it was gone, but a big hermit crab was tucked way down inside! I took photos and put it back into the water.

opening of knobbed whelk
About the Knobbed Whelk Seashell and Mollusk

Taking Seashells Back Home From Vacation

Florida is a tourist state. Visitors come here year round. Many of them stay on or near the beaches, or at least visit the beach at some point.

The Gulf coast is known for it’s abundance of seashells because the water is calmer and shells are deposited like treasure along the coastline. Of course, it’s where everyone wants to go and the area has become extremely overcrowded. For this reason I am glad my side of the state is not known for seashell collecting. It’s crowded enough here without all that!

If you want to bring souvenir beach shells back home with you and have to fly, it’s okay to pack them in checked bags – as far as I know. Check with the TSA, since rules and regulations change quickly in this world.

If you are interested, Pam at “i love shelling” has some good advice for packing shells to keep them safe from breaking on the journey home.

Skittle the cat with two big horse conch seashells found empty out on the islands at low tide
Two horse conch shells and Skittle the Cat

Related Blog Posts

Pigs in Paradise

We went boating when my youngest son visited in January, and I visited one of my favorite islands. The idea was to take a little charcoal grill and grill some hotdogs. (We already know that catching and cooking our own fish is a pipe dream!)

Pelican party
Pelican gathering

We first stopped at a camping spot near JB’s but the water was murky and the beach area was small. It was a boring spot. There was a bit of high ground so I took a picture of the view from the cliff… haha… Florida doesn’t have many “high” spots.

Boating beach tied off
Looking down… LOL

I wanted to go to the big beach island with opportunities to scout both the ICW main channel beach and the backwater beach for shells. There would be more for me to do while the boys played with the cooking part.

Oh, I forgot to mention that my son brought everything except the actual grill! So he had to cook over charcoal while we held the hotdogs one at a time with tongs! Right before that he tried to heat oyster shells over the charcoal chimney to cook over… Wow… don’t ever try that. They exploded! It was a learning experience. And next time remember to bring the grill.

Cooking over oyster shells
Do not try this at home

Big Beach Island (my name for the long beach we usually visit) always contains some trash. It’s a place where anyone can set up a tent and camp out. This time we landed our boat at the end spot, and the tide was high. I couldn’t get over to see the rest of the beach without following some trails through the brush and trees. It gave me a chance to see more of the island and it disgusted me.

The views are beautiful, if you don’t look too closely. Nice houses line the main channel and lots of water and greenery on the backside.

Up on the island itself I saw discarded batteries, a dirty diaper, and even a USB cable among much more.

  • Trash on the beach
  • trash batteries in the sand
    Batteries thrown on the beach
  • abandoned frame
    Abandoned tent ? frame on the island
Some of the trash I found around the island

Why people believe that the world is their trashcan is beyond my comprehension. From throwing empty beer cans out car windows, to littering parks and trails, some people simply don’t think. Or they wish to leave the pick up to others. It certainly won’t disappear on it’s own. If I’d had a plastic bag I would have collected this stuff.

We had a nice day in the sun despite the cooking fiasco and seeing the litter from pigs who don’t care.