What can I learn at the beach? Lovers Key beachcombing after renourishment.

Mahatma Gandhi said live as if you were to Die Tomorrow learn as if you were to live forever now we are at Lovers Key and Lovers Key has taught me a couple of really great lessons lately I do give guided Beach walks here and so I haven't shared a video but I have been here a couple of times now one thing I want to show you is that the beach has been renourished I was here back in January take a peek kind of at that tree there and then we kind of see a little tiny bit of Beach and then Gulf is is right there well today there's the tree on the left there and there's sand and sand and sand and the gulf is all the way out there again that's because there's been renourishment now when I've come here a couple of times it looked so flat and there didn't look like there was anything here but there was look at this so this is a painted egg cockle don't get to see those all over the place but here at Lovers Key they've been showing up for months and again look at this rack line there's nothing here or is there here's another painted egg cockle so I have learned that the beach can be very deceiving here is a rough scallop oh that's terrif nice color you can actually see the little roughness on it this little fella I think maybe is a dosinia Lucine if um if there is such a thing yeah or I mean I know there is such a thing but is that a dosinia Lucine I'm not sure I'm going to hang on to that see if I can maybe figure that out check this out giant Bittersweet what the heck are you doing over here on Lovers Key is that from all the dredging renourishment maybe how cool is that that's probably one of the nicest ones I've ever found all right here's another painted EG cocko I promise I will not be picking well I actually am going to be picking them up all morning but I won't be recording it so I will spare you picking up a painted egg cockle every two seconds now I've really wanted to come here because when I give my guided Beach walks I don't keep anything all the shells that are found go to my guests it's kind of low tied right now I mean it could be better but I just really wanted to come to Lovers Key so here we have a Calico scallop along with a painted egg cockle but that Calico look at the color on that that is wonderful and again it doesn't look like there's anything here but not to worry they're definitely is look at this an Atlantic Pearl Oyster I mean it's it's really beat up but I don't see those very often so that even just seeing a piece even if it's beat up still kind of cool all right go slow I have learned there's plenty of good stuff here here's a chestnut turban relatively beat it I've seen ones in better condition but we'll still probably hold on to that okay Calico scallop oh that's very nice scanning oh look at this here's another like Jewel box of some sort again that's more of something I would expect to see on the East Coast but like I said there are going to be so many fun things that I find here today things that I was not expected things that I sometimes see things that I was really hoping to find and then I am going to spend a little bit of time flipping over some slimy things in hopes that I find a crown conch or two but for now I'm going to stick this little sea star this crazy yeah I think you're okay it's it's still pliable look at the with the shells all it looks like it has a head and everything's all like yeah just kind of stuck to it it's okay we're going to get you into the water buddy yes the immediate Mission get the Critter into the water and then if you're ready to see what Lovers Key has in store for us today let's go to the beach [Music] [Applause] [Music] so yes I've come here quite a few times however I have not kept any of the shells so I really wanted to come here and see it's been flat you can see there's really not a lot here but yet there's a lot here see what I mean a baby's ear now for me that's crazy is things are just kind of like spread out all over the place but there's still great specimens here look at that baby ear oh that's great so that's a white baby's ear where there's one there could be more so that's kind of there's stuff here and what I've learned is that just go slow like normally I might have just kind of speed walked past all this look at this another giant Bittersweet oh that is so cool that is oh the color on that fantastic and they get quite a bit bigger but that is a lovely little shell so I'm excited to finally be here and I can keep some of the shells or yeah I can keep whatever I find so that is a regular egg cockle the egg cockos they get up to about 3 in whereas the painted egg cockos they only get up to about an inch here is a chestnut turban look at how beaded oh it's so pretty I don't know what else to call that I kind of tried to look it up instead of calling it a beaded like I don't know what the scientific name is I just if somebody knows if you can leave me a comment below that'd be great this is a corrugate Jewel box kind of a strange looking shell but that's what that is a corrugate Jewel box now this I've kind of mentioned it a couple times this is a jingle and it's hinged so the valve we normally don't get to see has a hole in it and it's got threads that that the animal puts through that hole and attaches it to a rock or something isn't that neat so that's a jingle we typically only get to see the top part see oh isn't that pretty and they're so shiny so here we have another one of those painted egg cockos lots of pretty color on that a lovely lovely seashell oh my gosh so sometimes it pays to know what the bottom side of shelves look like too because that's a flat very very desirable yeah I think we're looking at can't tell if that's a zigzag or a round rib zigzag I think that is a zigzag flat is that a round rib flat it could be either way either way it's a flat and that is flat out fantastic now check this out that is a Mexican telon I was erroneously under the impression that some of these shows that look like that were speckled Talons but the it's actually a Mexican Talon and a flat that is wicked awesome so I am psyched look at this so here's an alphabet cone all right and it's so funny the ones that I find down in the 10,000 Island so south of here they're always like that chocolate color see feel like the ones up here are more of that golden color so I know it looks kind of spread out but there's so many goodies here I this used to make me kind of like would make my heart sink but but nope I know better it's kind of like well it's just like a debris field you know there's there's shells all over but there's actually good stuff here so I spent a couple minutes picking up some of these Calico scallops I happen to really like the white ones so kind of partial to White shells so I think those are swell all right great there's another one of those Calico scallops and here is an egg cockle too big to a painted egg cockle plus the coloration that's pretty there's something very just very basic about it but yet beautiful so A beautiful egg cockle along with a Calico scallop what else are we going to find oh here's another one of those Atlantic Pearl oysters I mean it's beat up again cool still kind of cool not going to keep it maybe somebody else can use that as a starter shell for their collection yep NOP this don't bother me anymore it used to I used to really be panic but nope just take your time there is a Fighting Conch it's a little juvenile Fighting Conch another paint I mean I'm here so might as well snag that painted it might as well grab that one too there's a chestnut turban a lot of beach stuff that's okay very beaded again or whatever name we de to call that another a couple of more fun shells all right there we have all right that is a Sunray Venus and here there's a a spiny Jewel box it's not particularly spiny but it's just very evenly spiky is yeah that's pretty I'm going to hold on to that a channeled duck clam or a sailor's ear or an elephant ear they have those deep channels in them I guess that's why it's called a channeled duck clam because there are different types of duck clams that one's a channeled one oh a sea star another one oh it looks like it's pretty big too let's take a quick a quick High how beautiful oh Isn't that cool and then they have their little tube feet and so that's what they will wrap themselves around a clamp clam or something and they will Outlast the clam they're quite strong and they will pull open their prey there you go little little sea star and okay a Calico box crab normally I don't save those just because the color doesn't stay this time I did decide to hold on to it I did seal it it's fine it's not as vibrant as it is when you find it on the beach oh yes I never get to see these these Mexican Talons so I'm hoping I get to find a lot just because like I don't think I've ever found them before or well I thought it was a u a speckled Talon but it's not it's a Mexican Talon all right here's a keepable Sunray Venus clam lovely yeah that's very very nice very typical fancy clam The Sunray Venus very very thin rack line but there's goodies here here is a paper fig wow all right the aperture The Edge is a little broken that's okay I got a Dremel I can probably even that out oh that's lovely a lovely paper fig oh here's another yeah maybe I'll leave the edge as is but yep another lovely paper fig okay there is a bottom of a alphabet cone some of the clams cockos pens shells disc doas some fighting con or parwal egg casing this kind of scanning slowly let me know if I missed anything I did catch a couple things that I missed all little sand dollar npe never gets old picking up those sand dollars especially the little ones oh it's adorable little five hole Keyhole sand dollar oh wow how be oh it's so pretty another Chestnut turban and then that white stuff there that's from calcarius tube worm sometimes you kind of see that on shells there's a scallop with a bubble in its mouth y on the eyes you can see the eyes there we'll get that Critter into the water and back back to the rack line okay another turban fantastic that was a pretty good day for Turin and Beed ones at that like really ornate well I for a hot second I thought it was albino so wow so it's a nutmeg but it's just so pretty that's beaded too now I know sometimes they look like that but normally they'll have like lines versus like little beads colorful moon snail or a Gody Nautica you choose whichever term you like some of these shells have more than one name some of them have three names so that is also colorful moon snail or G natica still on the hunt there's a couple of different Florida Moon snails I've only really found the shark eyes and the godes see that one has more like lines on it this is a nutmeg so it's kind of Beat It on the one side kind of lines on the other just interesting interesting all right another turban kind of kind of a hot mess but that's fine I'm holding on to it anyway so a hot mess of a chestnut turban not albino a Florida well or West Indian Fighting Conch so that is a Fighting Conch lovely I'm still on the hunt for like an albino I guess I found like albino is ones oh hello phon notice pomel or apple M so all the shells have a common name Apple MX and a scientific name this one is photus pomum in the process of learning a couple of them another Chestnut turban ooh that one's really pretty wow Super Why are they all so beaded today I wonder if that's from the dredging and but I mean the dredging has been over for a while now I guess residual oh wow you're really pretty too oh who knows why these really beat beautiful shells are showing up but I'll stick them in my bag and worry about it later oh Centura huntera or banded tulip that's the common name probably not going to hold on to that we'll let somebody else grab that yeah what is that another gy yep very light GTI almost colorless moon snail but that is a G natica oh a little coffee mampus fun little shell they only get so big and they kind of have like those stripes on them and it reminds me someone asked me to compare the difference between a coffee mampus and a bubble so the coffee mampus it does you know they're going to be a little different from specimen to specimen but that opening on it very different than the bubble so the bubble's more like a barrel and it's got a much bigger aperture a much bigger opening on the shell whereas the coffee M lamp is it's got you know it's got a little bit little bit smaller hopefully that helps for me it's really just picking them up over and over just exposure exposing yourself to these shells you should really watch every Sunday so that is a Fighting Conch I think it's a little topheavy those are my favorite ones where all the spikes are kind of concentrated on top I think that's all awesome here's a little parel you are so cute so just a juvenile version so some shells obviously are just like juveniles and others they only get so big now this area that we're headed into yeah Ian took care of this we used to not be able to get through here but Ian pretty much blasted all the trees out of here so now we can kind of explore beyond the front part of the park so that is a Fargo worm snail or West Indian worm snail that is a sinistra fulgar sinistrum or a lightning wel yes very special open on the left side very cool sinisterra fulger sinistrum I think if I just keep saying that it'll sink in okay yep I'm back here for con or the crown con I fighting there's a Fighting Conch but I am looking for those little spiky purple brown shells so I'm going to head into the mud in a minute oh yay I didn't find another one on the Gulf side but here we have another baby's ear awesome awesome it also looks like there's a little periost come on there cool all right I was not expecting to get baby's ears today that is awesome all right I'm going to take my time all right here's a little rose petal ton didn't find too many of those over in Fort Meyers Beach good to know they're still here at least oh yep there's another fantastic so they they I guess you know it's funny cuz I guess they like mud which doesn't make a lot of sense I normally find them over on like I said Fort Meers Beach but this is more of a muddy area back here so perhaps they do oh there's a Florida worm snail it's a little bit more delicate than the Fargo SL West Indian worm snail and then it freaks out it starts uniform and then freaks out because they eat sponges and so that body shape helps it kind of anchor itself to the sponge so it can hang out and have a little Buffet all right we're going to head into the mud this is a taking my life in my own hands here it is slippery it's very slimy very slippery but that's where the crown conks hang out all right we got a critter okay I'm in the right place very sorry okay there you go buddy so the tide wasn't super low today but low enough where the some of these areas are going to be exposed all right what do we got here oh well it's a crown conch but yeah probably nothing I want to collect all right that's okay you know I remember coming back here and kind of poking around I didn't find any no live ones no shells no evidence of them so at least they're here all right sorry buddy so sorry right just kind of looking for a triangle shaped lump or if you happen to see the spike oh that's what I'm talking about empty and I do see some purple color on there so I do want to find maybe a little bit more of a puddle to kind of rinse this off anybody else anybody else here all right we're going to just that one so all right there's color there we'll check it out at the very end of the video we'll see how that cleans up so hopefully we'll find a couple more let's see Critter a sorry Critter empty okay I'll take it there's some color on the inside it does look a little bleached out that's okay well like I said we'll at the very end of the video we'll see how that Crown conch cleans up you empty a well yeah could could keep you but I'm not going to oh there's another one let's see are you empty no you are not all right so I did spend a couple of minutes kind of flipping over some of these Crown conks look at this one oh that would have been beautiful but there are live and yay because eventually you know they will expire and leave their shells here nope alive yep alive my ratio of alive to not alive things um I guess I'm going like 20 to one alive and alive uh so that's it that's yep all right so I think I found any of the empty ones and so I'll be on my way continue look at how beautiful that is so that's an egg cockle continue hunting out of the mud now I'm on nice steady sand so take oh that's beautiful egg cockle and a rose petal telon terrific oh it's so vibrant it's funny and sometimes like the iridescent they they're actually iridescent they look almost rainbowish sometimes yeah maybe a little bit on that one whoa oh the color is so pretty so I like them no matter what but if they're really vibrant makes it a little bit more exciting wow it's beautiful yeah that hinge is kind of dried flat at that point so yep it's either going to break or it's going to stay flat and just with some of those shells that's just the way the hinge Works pick how you want it and then once it dries out that's it so I spent a little bit of time picking up some of those rose petal Talons was very excited to see them I pretty much yeah that's probably a seashell I don't ever leave behind if I see one I do pick it up the rose petal ton yep and I'm going to need something to put them all in right so look at that Atlantic giant cockle you are just lovely oh look at you're a little weird so it looks like a channel duck clam that kind of like didn't put a lot of effort into those channels a channel is Duck clam there's also a smooth duck clam but that that's a channel duck clam all right slightly miscolored shark eye very nice a puman shark eye oh a false shark eye it's got the false Shar eye depression there yeah they're a little different shape those false shark eyes aren't they so that's that's what that Critter is oh a clean Crown conch wonderful yeah hold on to that it's not quite as spiky as it could be that's all right it's got some nice color to it oh that's a base scallop isn't that pretty wish it was bright yellow but that's okay so the Bas scallops they will come in yellow couple of different usually ones I find are that brownish here's a rough scallop very nice so it's nice that we have at least a couple different kinds of scallops on the west coast of Florida oh a cross hatch loine oh that's so cool now they don't get very big they're about that's about maximum size but I just love finding them and I love that little cross-hatch pattern on it so that is a crosh hatched Lucine oh that's fun I don't get to find those all the time that is fantastic wonderful oh wow look at the color on that so that's a Calico scallop almost like a looks like a strawberry this was fun like this be really made me work harder but I was rewarded I think it's I'm having a great time that's a dark serth a so that's either a broad paper I think that's a spiny paper cockle but it's all broken so bummer bummer but that's okay plenty of unbroken delightful specimens oh this was so fun now I will probably start Meandering toward the front of the park in the meantime I'm going to be quiet and allow you to all have some beach time all right I do enjoy a good white seashell that is a Calico scallop I'm having a great old time yes I have been picking up lots and lots of those painted egg cockos I don't know when they're going to disappear and it's hard to say when I'll ever see one again so I figure while they're here might as well collect them and then we'll see what else I know it looks rather flat but looks can be deceiving and it's a lesson that I learned because normally I would look at the beach and be like there's nothing here but there absolutely is so I just need to slow down even though the Tide's rather high at this point let's see what else is out there little horse conch fantastic that white part that's going to be the protocon so it started out as that littley bitty shell and just kind of grew its shell oh no way another one now it's not in as good a condition as that clearly not as in good a condition that's okay I'm going to throw that in Bleach we'll see how that cleans up yep that's fine another flat still still a good good find even though it's not in great shape oh yes back to the Mexican ton territory and that one also almost all of of them had a little hole in them they must be delicious like the shark eyes because it just seems that everybody wants to slurp their content so that's another Mexican tal and then this one too cool all right that one that doesn't look like a hole that looks more like a break like I mean yes there's a hole in the Shell but I mean like it doesn't look like a circular drill hole oh cool another cross hotch Lucine awesome wasn't sure if that was maybe going to be one of those do lucinia Lucin that's a crosat Lucine don't want to miss anything man this I'm tell it's like very scattered oh another one of those Atlantic Pearl oysters I think I'll hold on to this one it's almost completely intact yeah it's really cool there was a lot of them today wasn't there yeah that's neat I haven't found one of those in a very long time another one yes woohoo another Mexican ton and yep that one got looks like somebody ate that Critter but theoretically only half of the shell would have a hole in it because the other half is is a b valve it wouldn't get drilled into both of them right well that was super fun everything I wanted it to be um I will leave a link in the description box below if you did want me to take you on a guided beachwalk but Lover's Key has been great lately even though it looks flat it's been awesome so I managed to remove a tiny bit of garbage 2 oz but it adds up over time I have removed a little over 75 PBS of garbage from our beaches and a couple of seashells too so there was spiny jewelbox some worm snails that flat the Apple miric the bubbles there's a jingle there and here's a bunch of those Calico scallops a dark serth over there a Bas scallop the Atlantic Pearl Oyster some maybe doin Lucin a kitten paw rough scallops uh Sunray Venus clam shark eye we're lightning Wilk uh the rose petal tons Florida Fighting con yeah we're just going to go with that and yeah I picked up a couple of those painted uh egg cockos a couple of regular egg cockal Atlantic giant cockle uh corate jewelbox colorful moon snail some of those Channel duck clams paper figs pear welks a lot of those Chestnut turbin nutmegs and we're going to slide into my favorite stuff which is the flat the two baby ears all those Mexican talents the giant bitter sweets the cross hotch loose scenes and we'll give an honorable mention to the coffee mampus and the alphabet cone so that was super fun let's take a look at those Crown con so cleaned up the little guy yeah I figured it was going to clean up better than the big one so that's okay probably could use an acid dip the pigment it is what it is it's harder when they get bigger the colors just kind of seem to fade away so nice size maybe I hold on to it I don't know what I'll do I'll figure it out some other time patreons thank you so very much for supporting me and coming along with me every week I appreciate you more than I really can express and everybody else who decides to watch and comment is just involved with the stuff I'm doing thank you so much still have that kind of fun announcement I'm still holding back on that I'm going to wait till I get some footage I want to like support that with something next week we're going to the east coast we are going to find things that I don't normally get to see super excited to share so until then I hope you have yourself a great week I'll see you again next Sunday