Tag: books

“A Drop in the Ocean” is a Book Worth Reading


I love to find a book to read that I really enjoy and “A Drop in the Ocean“, written by Jenni Ogden, is one such book.   The author lives on a remote, “off the grid” island near New Zealand. She had some real life experiences to draw from, and she makes you believe in the places and people she writes about. This story is unique and original and well written.

This book contains an affiliate link to Amazon where you can buy it for a Kindle, in hardcover or paperback. I could earn money if you decide to purchase it through this link.

But, I am not advertising the book to make money. I sincerely enjoyed this book.

I seldom go by reader reviews because some people give great reviews to junk. We all like different things, and what may appeal to me, won’t appeal to you.  I like unusual stories written by intelligent people.  This story is one of those. If you love the sea and the creatures in it, this book is worth a read.

Often I don’t fall for choosing a book because it has “beach” or “ocean” in the title. Sometimes titles can pull you in and you find your time wasted reading useless drivel.

In this case, A Drop in the Ocean really does have to do with a tropical paradise and the ocean and creatures in it. I especially love the parts of the book about watching and tagging the sea turtles.  

Here is a green sea turtle photo, which the author mentions in the book.

green sea turtle
Green Sea Turtle (photo credit: Pixabay)

The story is fiction, but the remote style of island living is totally believable. It is set on a small island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The woman at the center of the story is a loner, accustomed to living for her career without time for dating, marriage and family. Then, an opportunity arises which changes her forever.

I live near the ocean, but nothing like this.  Imagine walking out your door and putting on snorkeling gear to swim among the creatures of the ocean every day!  I don’t want to say more, except that her writing flows along and draws me in.

Photos of Creatures and Trees Mentioned in the Book

When you read A Drop in the Ocean you may be tempted to discover photos of places and animals described. I managed to find some of these things at Pixabay and have posted them below.

I am trusting the tags mentioned, by each photographer, to describe each photo correctly.

Shearwater birds
Shearwater birds
white heron
White Heron
Casuarina trees
Casuarina trees
Clown fish
Clown Fish

The jungle beach photo at the beginning of this page is an Image by grebmot from Pixabay.

Identifying Your Seashells, Where to Start?

How to identify the seashell you collect.

picture of tropical seashells collection
Some of my Florida seashells

You’ve just returned home from a vacation at the beach and each day you added to your collection of treasures amassed from walks along the shore. As you clean the shells and carefully add them to a glass bowl, you begin to wonder just what they are called.  Is it possible there is a rare seashell in your bucket?  To begin a search for names of shells, I have a few pointers to pass on.

Besides this blog, I have written an article about Types of Shells where I include photos and descriptions of some of my seashells.  I am not a seashell expert, so although I will try to help you identify something, I usually find helpful information in my favorite seashell ID books.

bookMy favorite Florida beaches ID book is Florida’s Living Beaches by Blair and Dawn Witherington.  It covers more than seashells because Florida beaches also contain bugs, birds, turtles, driftwood, sea glass, animal tracks, flowers, plants, dunes, and even rocks.  It is a complete beachcombing guide.

Most people don’t realize the abundant variety of shells out there. To make it easier to identify the shell in your possession, first narrow down the field. If you search for “seashells” you will be overwhelmed – mostly with photos and not too much info. The truth is that most people love seashells but that is where it stops. Most, I believe, don’t ever give much thought to what lived inside and how the shell was created, or how it got to the spot where you picked it up, much less what it might be called.  So photos online will be easy to find, but where is that picture (and info) you need to identify what you have?

Gastropod or Bivalve?

The first thing I suggest when searching online is to narrow the field by searching for either “gastropod” or “bi-valve“. If your shell was made all in one piece it is a gastropod (univalve), and if it’s in two sections hitched together, like a clam, (even if you only have one half) then it’s a bi-valve. That should give you a bunch of pictures to view. Also mention where it was found.

old worn conch and whelk shells
Worn horse conch and two broken knobbed whelks

Sometimes shells with the same name will vary in appearance.  For instance, the gastropod you found may be a juvenile (baby seashell) and doesn’t look at all like the large shell it would have grown into.   See my Lightning Whelk picture, with mature and juvenile  shells side by side.  It took me a while to figure out what that little one was!

Scallops and clams are found in a variety of colors and sizes as are many other types of shells. Shells which are covered in periostracum (a flaky black substance) may look nothing like the beautiful photos you find online.  And shells that have been worn, broken and filled with tiny holes (like my photo above) may be tough to identify.

Search Using the Scientific Name of the Shell

I suggest buying a good seashell identification book.  Buy one that is specific to your area, or the area you plan to visit, because the same types of shells are not always found everywhere in the world. The great thing about having a book to reference is that it should give you the scientific name of the shells.  The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashells (National Audubon Society Field Guides) is the book I started with.   Once you find the scientific name of a shell, it’s easier to search online for a picture.

The more you learn about seashells, the less you will take them for granted, and the more you will appreciate each shell you collect for the diverse and amazing animal that created it.