Tag Archives: red tide

Fun-sized Mini Shelling

ThThunder

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Gulfside City Park was our destination last night, as rumors circulating around here stated that there was an influx of minis to be had. The rumors proved true. Who knew TMZ had a Shelling Division?

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Although Mote Marine showed no red tide, as soon as we arrived we could smell it in the air. We didn’t see any dead fish, but the fishy smell was abundant.

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But, the weather was nice (84 degrees) and the water was calm – and those are two things that make a beach visit worthwhile. There were a number of wild-dead (as opposed to wildlife) remnants on the shore. Like these whelk egg cases:

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The rake proved its worth, as we began reeling in a bunch of keeper minis, like this teeny tiny sand dollar that had the Queen whooping with joy:

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The Drills and Murexes were rolling in, along with tiny Horse Conchs, Bubbles, Dusky Cones and my favorites – Olives:

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Drills and Murexes:

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Dusky Cones:

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The Olives – take a look at the gray one on the left:

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I’m hoping as both the weather and water warm up that the treasures continue to roll in. Another successful Thursday Thunder!

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And now that the weather is back to warm, this weekend we will be going to Anna Maria Island for the February stop on the Florida Beaches Royalty Tour. Our plan was last weekend, but 59 degrees? Nah.

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Saturday Morning’s all right for Shelling…

As far as temperature and sunshine, it certainly was a perfect beach weekend. It was a bit chilly Saturday morning with a temp hovering around 50 degrees. The Queen and I decided to wait it out until a bit later, since nothing says “let’s go back to bed” like a cold, chilly morning. So we waited a bit and took our time driving to the island. Once we got there, the temp was nice enough to set up shop and get down to business.

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The water was ice cold, but the visibility wasn’t too bad. It was a good day to get into the water and shell, despite the wind. There was a slight smell of Red Tide in the air and with the wind whipping as it was, there was a good chance there would be some remnants to cap off the weekend. There was, as I’m pretty stuffy right now. But, it was worth it because we got some great shells this weekend.

I left the Queen and her Mother on the main strip of BP and made my way North along the beach as usual. I wanted to see how clear the water was, as I’d already made up my mind that I was snorkeling. I had that “feeling” that there were some real treasures in the water….and there were. Like these below – see that fossil Florida Cone on the right?

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I saw the Queen on the Sanibel side of the jetty rocks, where there had gathered a small shell pile. We looked through it together and she was able to find quite a few really nice shells.

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I made my way a little further up, towards the bridge and just started raking and raking, pulling in shell after shell. Soon, the Queen joined me in the same spot. We both knew it was a honey hole, so she grabbed the Queen Mother,  and after a little while I changed into my super hero costume (the wet suit) and jumped in.

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The shells were just laying there, waiting to be snatched up. I could have spent hours raking and raking, diving and diving and come up with probably hundreds upon hundreds of shells – but wet suit and all – the water was just too cold. But here are a few pics of the shells we were able to find.

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I’m already a sucker for colorful scallops, but there were just hundreds of brightly colored ones everywhere. Too many to count. The Queen and I are mainly after the orange and pink variety now.

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The Queen Mother put together this cool little drift wood piece on our counter and I had to snap a pic of it. Here is a closer look:

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As we were warming up in the sun, the ladies began finding tusks – lots of them. 1-26-3wm

Take a look at that Bittersweet Clam there in the middle. As I’ve mentioned before, the Queen loves the Bittersweet. But this one is especially cool. No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you – it is pink! Neither of us had ever seen a pink one before, so it made its way onto our coffee table display.

All in all – a great Shelling Saturday. I’m certainly paying for it this morning with a stuffed up nose and headache – thanks to the leftovers of Red Tide. But I’d do it all again if I was out there now.

Hmmm…there’s an idea…..