Tag Archives: sanibel

A “Bubblicious” Thursday

ThThunder
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Pretty cool night for shelling, I must say. Gulfside City Park was our destination for last night’s Thursday Thunder and it did NOT disappoint. I personally wasn’t really “on the hunt” last night. I just felt like relaxing. If we found anything, cool. If we didn’t, still cool. It was 90 degrees outside and Summer is just about in full swing here. No better place to be in my opinion than a beach on Sanibel Island.

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I’m almost at the point where I can’t contain my excitement about the weather. Last night’s water temp was 79 degrees. It’s just cool enough (to me at least) to make me gasp when I fully immerse myself, but just warm enough to really get in there and feel around for shells. Another 2 or 3 degrees upwards and it’s time to snorkel. Heck, maybe even this weekend!

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There were a whole lot of your typical Sanibel shells along the shore line, and lots and lots of shell piles.

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But it was pretty windy, as you can see below as the wind kept blowing my shirt up every time I did the Sanibel Stoop. Good thing I’ve got rock hard abs and the body of an Adonis.  Otherwise, it could have made for a really sloppy and somewhat embarrassing photo.

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Queenie was having all kinds of good luck in the shell piles. She found a couple Thick Lipped Drills, a Flat Zig Zag scallop, a ton of mini Olives and NINE Bubble Shells.

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…and as she was sitting on a shell pile, this really pristine Banded Tulip just rolled into her pile.

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I wasn’t having the same kind of luck. Oh, I found the occasional Olive or Juvenile Fighting Conch, but nothing spectacular….

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…until I happened to look into a shell pile at my feet and found this:

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That is an Arrow Dwarf Triton. Wow, an awesome find to say the least. I’m not an expert or anything but from what I hear, they’re not a common find around these parts. I didn’t even know what it was until I hit the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum website and discovered its name. Then I got very excited. :D

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The Queen also found this killer Gold Jingle in another pile at her feet. I’ve never seen a gold one before….

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Next weekend we’ll be making the April stop on the Florida Beaches Royalty Tour. Looking forward to that one.

But we’re stoked for this weekend. See you at Blind Pass!

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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