rustypants speaks

the past two days have been wild ones in the hunt for seashells. something’s happened with the tide or the season or…? because we’re finding things we’ve not found since last year and in such abundance that we’re standing around scratching our heads (until we bend over to pick up another one).

the unofficial tally looks a bit like this:

• lightning whelks – 15
• nutmegs – 7
• scotch bonnets – 7
• banded tulip – 1.5
• whole sand dollars – 11
• florida cones – 14
• florida fighting conchs – 10
• lettered olives – 50
• rare cream-colored olive – 1

but lise and i agree that the shell i found today is the catch of the year. sadly, i left my seashell classification book at school, but it’s a variation of a lion’s paw shell.

the thing was just lying in the sand on the beach and it was SO bright red that i walked past it, basically ignoring it and assuming it was a piece of fabric or plastic.

closer examination revealed it’s shelly nature and of course a brief dance of joy ensued. that made my day.

they’re rare to find and especially rare on the beach.

strange tides bring in strange shells!