I visit the “i love shelling” blog from time to time to see what vacationers to Sanibel Island, and the writer herself, have been finding along the Gulf Coast beach.
On one visit I found a chart for sale to identify shells. But now the link no longer works… so…..
So, instead I will direct you to her page about identifying seashells common to the area.
I also have a page about Collecting Seashells and the types of shells you may find.
I recently had a reader ask me if the treasure she found along the beaches of Sanibel, Florida was a Sea Biscuit. I have a couple of sea biscuits, which are puffy sand dollars, but I didn’t find my large one, I bought it at a shop years ago. I may have found the small one, but don’t remember.
Anyway I really don’t know much about the sea biscuit so I checked with my favorite shell blogger, Pam at the “i love shelling” blog and she had one page, with lots of cool photos, of many things, but no sea biscuits. Pam lives there and goes shelling most every day (how lucky is that?) and she also mentions that she hasn’t found any Sea Biscuits on Sanibel. According to her they are found in the upper Florida Keys.
She does have photos of “potato” or “heart” urchins on the beach.
You can visit that page here.
Do you have any info to add about the Sea Biscuit sand dollar? Leave a comment to help us out please!
For more on Sand Dollars:
The Sand Dollar
Visit Pam’s wonderful blog about shelling on Sanibel Island:
i love shelling
The southeastern U. S. coastline, particularly the Gulf coast of Florida, contains some of the best shelling in the world. Sanibel Island and the surrounding area, including Captiva Island are situated just right for “catching” the shells in the current of the Gulf waters and when visiting you’ll find yourself doing the “Sanibel stoop” right along with all the other tourists who are hoping to find the best beach treasures.
When you are tired of shelling on the beaches, take a shelling cruise to the outer islands which are only accessible by boat, where the crowds will be fewer (I assume) and search for more treasures. Taking living shells is NOT ALLOWED – in fact, it’s against the law on Sanibel and in the area.
I’ve never visited the The Baily Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel Island, – it wasn’t built when I vacationed there and opened in 1995 but every shell collector should find it interesting, and most likely helpful in identifying seashells. The Museum contains tons of seashells (of course), but also a history of the Calusa Indians and how they used shells in daily life. Here is a listing of exhibits at the museum.
