Sanibel

Take it From The Pro – The Sanibel Six (Seashells That Is)

I recently came across a picture on Pinterest and thought it looked familiar. I clicked on a picture of six tropical seashells with the title “The Sanibel Six” hoping it would lead me to the blog I thought it was associated with, and it did.

Blogger Pam writes the “i love shelling” blog and she has a great post about the six top shells she has discovered that people collect while visiting Sanibel Island in Florida. She would know, because her blog is all about shelling (as you may have guessed), but not only the shelling she does, but the shelling vacationers to “her” island do. She lives there (don’t let your jealousy show), and has decided to share with the world what she sees going on at the beaches. Mainly what the tourists are collecting.

She has a wonderful blog and it’s the perfect idea since she spends lots of time on the beaches too. Why not get to know the people who are sharing island space with you? It’s such a great idea and I always learn something when I read her blog. She includes awesome videos too.

She is my hero, and when I retire to live on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway), I plan to be spending my time shelling too. It’s not the same as Sanibel, but the little islands up and down the ICW in Florida contain some great stuff too. I may not blog about it since I won’t be running into many tourists out in the boonies of the Indian River, but I know I will discover and maybe collect some great stuff too.

Back to the story at hand. Of the six seashells she chose, I only have two of them. So what are the six shells that are most widely collected on Sanibel? I’ll give you a hint, one of them is pictured here. As for the others, well according to Pam, they are these.

Identifying Similar Small Shells on Sanibel Island

I don’t live on Sanibel Island and I haven’t even visited the Island in Florida for almost 20 years, but fortunately I know of a great blogger who lives there and shares her shelling knowledge with the world.

Recently she posted some photos of four small, similar-looking seashells that she had collected from the beach and without a keen eye, you may think they were all the same.

Pam does a nice job of pointing out the differences between the Mauve-mouth drill, Pitted Murex, Ribbed Cantharus, and the Gulf Oyster Drill. Go see!

Kudos to Sanibel School (dschuldenfrei.wordpress.com)
The Amazing Lion’s Paw Seashell (seashellsbymillhill.com)
Royal Shell Announces Price Break On Sanibel Vacation Rental Weeks (prweb.com)

Pictures of Seashells From Sanibel Island

Sanibel Island is located on the west coast, the Gulf coast of Florida.
It is well known as an excellent location for collecting seashells. On the shores of Sanibel Island and neighboring Captiva, a wide variety of sea life and various types of shells wash up on shore. I visited and stayed there twice in the 25 years I lived in central Florida, but it would have been nice to go without kids so I could have strolled the beach leisurely…but I have NEVER been without kids…so I enjoyed the area from a kids view, which meant standing close by as they swam.

Nevertheless I did collect some nice little bivalves, like the spine jewel box shells in my photo below.

The gulf area is perfect for young children because the water is generally calmer than the Atlantic water and therefore not much of an undertow. It’s perfect for anyone because it’s just so beautiful. We watched gorgeous sunsets through the palm trees and were up early every morning to scour the beach for good shells. I’m lucky that I got to visit before it became so full of people.

One of the pretty shells found along the beaches is the jingle shell. They are pretty colors when collected on the West coast. On the East side of the state I often find black shells.

We’d see Stingrays gliding along just off shore. Beach shoes of some kind were necessary because the beach is made up of shells which are crushed and whole. We were afflicted with the “Sanibel Stoop” just like everyone else vacationing there! It happens when there is so much to view close up on the beach that you are in a constant stooping position.

I have large jar of shells that mostly came from the beaches there (in 1990 or 91) and I have recently been trying to identify them. Some of the shells in the image above are called “kitten’s paw” shells. I photographed them alongside a daisy flower to show how small they are.