Looking for Florida sea shells. My not so secret low tide shelling spot delivers once again!

Hello beach friends! If you like the beach and seeing critters like this, well, you're in the right place. Today we'll be beachcombing at low tide in Marco Island at my not-so-secret little slice of seashell heaven. We are going to will the weather to cooperate so we don't have to leave the beach early to avoid getting hit by lightning, so that we can enjoy as much of the low tide as possible looking for beach treasures. We are going to find a few pretty excellent goodies, and we're also going to say hi to a critter or two, and then at the end of the video we're also going to see how some of these treasures cleaned up. So if you're ready to go beach exploring, let's go to the beach! Okay, so I'm kind of really hoping that we are going to be okay here with this little bit of a storm that's coming in, and it is just tough in the summer because I want to hit the low tides, but they're typically in the afternoon, which is also when we typically get our thunderstorms, and it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the lightning. Yeah, there's that storm, but I'm going to hope for the best, and we're just going to trudge ahead. Tide is going out, which is why we're here. I want to be here at low tide. Now there is a little slice of the beach. Let's take a look at what's here. This is your typical run of the mill shells. That's kind of what I call it. Where we're headed, it's around a couple of jetties. I'm going to leave a description in the box below, because see what we see here? You know, it's fine. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, but where we're going is going to be kind of awesome, so I will leave a link. I'm not going to go through the whole thing of where we're exactly going. I will put a link in the description box below, so if you want to see exactly where we are, you will be able to do that, and you'll see there's the shells are in the water, and that's why I want that tide to go out, and it just exposes more of the beach, and it's really more of a visibility thing. Like you can't find what you can't see, so as the tide goes out, the visibility gets better, and you can see more of the goodies, and that means there's more fun stuff to find. So we're going to creep around this jetty and see what is on this little slice of beach. Now before we get to the beach, we're kind of still kind of by the jetty, so I'm going to check out what I can. Oh, oh, look at that. It's like glowing orange. I know it's got a little something stuck to it. No problem. I'm going to clean that up. It's going to be gorgeous. No, no worries. That is a juvenile. That is also a Florida Fighting Conch. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but that is a Florida Fighting Conch, as the previous one was, and I kind of have a thing for them. This is an Alphabet Cone. This is also known as a Big Fat Bummer. I'm not going to keep it. Most of the color is gone. I mean, it's too bad. It's great size. It's decent condition, but it doesn't have any color. That's kind of what I like. Now make note of this spot right here. We're going to come back to this spot as we're leaving. It's going to be a lot more calm, and we're going to be able to see a little bit more, but we'll be back here. Just make a note of what this spot looks like now. It's going to look different just a little bit. And an olive. All right, we got a nice, pointy, shiny, lettered olive. Terrific. Oh, now this is a mossy arc, and this happens to be a particularly tall mossy arc. Normally, they're a little bit shorter than that, so it's a little bit weird. I think it's kind of cool. I'm going to hold on to that mossy arc. And a banded tulip. All right, first thing I do is I look, is it empty? Can I collect it? Why, yes, I can. There's no critter in there. Now the next thing, do I want to collect it? Sure. It's a fine looking shell. I'll hold on to that banded tulip. This is another lettered olive. Yep, I'm going to hold on to that shell as well. Now, I have a weakness for these fighting conchs. I'm going to hold on to that one. I try not to actually collect them when I'm early in my shelling journey, so I don't have to carry them the whole time, but it is what it is. Now, this is a collection from the husband. He popped by and showed me, we have a colorful moon snail, a banded tulip, a Cuban land snail. So that snail right there that I flipped over, that is a land snail. That is not a sea snail. And then on the bottom, we have a bright orange horse conch. Oh, couple more. We got a lightening welco pair, welco horse conch, juvenile fighting conch, and a nutmeg. So husband is basically picking up all my shells. That's okay. All right, here we have a rather beat up banded tulip. So I don't feel like a project. I'm going to leave that, but that colorful moon snail, now that I'm going to hold on to that is also known as a gaudinotica. Beautiful little shell. Yay. All right, looking at a pretty decent lightening welco. Yep. Good shape. Nice color. Good size. Empty. Keeper. All right, that you wouldn't know. I know it looks kind of like a slimy green lump with a black thing coming out of it. That is a crown conch. That is a live snail. It's doing its snail thing. Probably looking for somebody to eat. They really like clams and oysters. So we'll just let that critter do its thing. And yep, big hunk of shell that appears to be what is left of a horse conch. That's been here for quite a while and it probably will. Yep. We're just going to leave it there. Then we have a little crab. He was up for a fight. He was totally looking to go to battle, but I'm not interested in fighting you, buddy. I just want to find some seashells. So we'll say hi. We'll keep looking for other goodies. All right. Calico clamshell. A little bit on the older side. Still a fabulous find. I'm going to keep that. And another juvenile fighting conch that I also, again, I mentioned I kind of have a weakness for those shells. They're so pretty. Yep. Let me go hold on to that. Now that little dude hopping around, or dudette, hard to say, that is a reddish egret. And I know that is that kind of bird because they do that weird little dancing kind of thing when they, when they're hunting. So they'll flop around and make all sorts of commotion. So we'll just, you know, kind of take a peek. It didn't really do that much commotion. So I'm going to go ahead and turn my attention back to the shells because this is a pretty decent looking lightning whelk, if I do say so myself. That little bit of green will not be a problem. Fantastic. Nice size, nice color, great lightning whelk. And then in the meantime, I'm kind of, I got my eyes on the sky, got all my apps open. I have a lightning app that will alert me if there is lightning in the area. So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed, hoping we're going to be okay. And just notice where we are. We're kind of up in this green rack line for lack of a better term. And this is just stuff that's been here for a while. Now, as I was scanning that right there, that is not an alphabet cone. Just in case you shellers thought it was, that's a giant Atlantic cockle. I just wanted to straighten that out right there. Here we have, all right, that's a banded tulip. It's a little bit beat up. So I'm going to leave that here. And it's just tough because all the shells are green. So it's hard to say because look, they could be fantastic shape. This one, you can tell it's a fighting cock. Look at nice, deep, rich browns and purples on that. Yeah, I'll clean up. No problem. Fighting cock. Okay. We have a bivalve here. So that is I'm particularly fond of those as well. Now these I have, you know, honestly lately, for whatever reason, I haven't been finding the shark eyes. So this is pretty decent find. It does have a drill hole in it. So another critter drilled a hole. And in that area right there, that's typically what tells me whether it is a false shark eye or a true shark eye. I think it's just like false shark eye. Either way, I'm going to hold on to it. It's fine. It's pretty good shape for all intent and purposes. Now this is a slipper shell. This is an Atlantic slipper shell. Kind of pretty, very, very common, but this one was kind of pretty. I'm gonna hold on to that. And then I'm gonna look amongst this stuff here. And just keep in mind, the tide is going out. So we're not going to be in this area the entire time just for now. And we'll go ahead and take that Florida fighting conch. So that's where we were. Now the tide is going out. I'm kind of starting to work my way into this other area of the beach. Oh, yeah. Fantastic, orangey, big, beautiful Florida fighting conch. Oh, what is this weird thing? All right. So this I typically would bring home, but today I didn't. This is a, ready? Toypedo. There's a dock here. I left it there just in case somebody actually lost it. So I didn't bring it home. So technically I did find garbage, but I didn't. Not going to bring it home and weigh it and all that good stuff. Now this is truly exciting for summer. This is really great just to see shells because it gets a little bit slow in the summer. Hello, Dickman's. Oh, I'll see you one of these days. So Kais Island and Dickman's is out there, but we're taking it easy today again with the storms and everything. Oh, oh, man. That would have been a great lightning welk, but it's only a piece. All right. I'm going to have to check this one out. Yeah, I see why. It's a caramel color, a little purple. It's kind of striped. Yeah. I'm going to have to hold on to that too. This is another shell I really kind of like. This is a broad-ribbed cardida. And strangely enough, they're related to cockles of all things. Go figure. So that is a broad-ribbed cardida. And this one I really did. I thought for sure it was an alphabet cone. That is not an alphabet cone. So it is raining a little bit. You can kind of see out in the distance into that big cloud there. It's raining right here. We're just fine. Still pretty little bit of clouds. Lovely evening. Since we're here and it's not raining and lightning, we're just going to keep picking up some seashells. Here is another really fantastic fighting conch. Awesome. And then if I'm not really sure what I'm looking at, I will test it with my foot and then I'll go ahead and pick it up because I'll pretty much pick up anything. And that's just disappointing. That was a piece of a Florida horse conch and obviously not going to hold on to that. This is a giant Atlantic cockle. One of the smaller versions of a giant Atlantic cockle. And then the background, I saw this fighting conch kind of rolling around and it had some cool zigzags. Yep. Going to have to hold on to that shell as well. Now this is a little bit larger version of the giant Atlantic cockle. Yep. I like checking out the inside, the outside. Both sides are pretty. A lovely Atlantic cockle. And here is another one of those crown conchs. So earlier we saw, it's just kind of like a green lump with a black thing sticking out of it. So that's what they typically, well, this looks a little bit more like a crown conch. You can actually tell what the critter is. The animal is actually really beautiful. It's a black and white colored animal. And then that black thing sticking out, that's going to be a siphon. And these guys, like I mentioned earlier, they eat oysters and clams. But if they do come across something that's just kind of there and dead, well, they might go ahead and eat that too. So they are considered opportunistic feeders. So they'll hunt things down, but there's a little snack there. They'll go ahead and take advantage of that too. Oh, yay. A nutmeg. So these are typically, you know, white, brown, any of the colors in between that brown and that white color with that lovely beaded pattern. Lovely little nutmeg. And a banded tula. Yeah, the aperture is chipped and that's pretty typical sometimes. So at any rate, I'm going to hold on to it. This spiny jewel box with a bonus because it's hinged and it's got a beautiful purple interior. So that is a hinged spiny jewel box. Fantastic. Oh, it's a smart aleck. I can tell just by looking at that. And then these guys are distantly related to lucines. Go figure. All right. Looks like, to me, this kind of looks like a little bit of a sweet spot. Oh, oh, do you see it? It's definitely sweet. That is super sweet. Even with that big lump on it. So that is an alphabet cone. Very desired shell. Super happy with that. I'm going to go ahead and just pop off that little piece of stuff. Yep. All right. Little black stuff underneath, but nothing bleach can't take care of. So really happy with that little alphabet cone. And while I was down there in this little sweet spot, I did look at the variety. So these are all the juvenile fighting conchs and they just come in such a variety. Yeah, I can't. I'm going to take them all. Another shark eye. All right. Terrific. It's a little bit better shape. Other you can really see. So that is a false shark eye, but it looks good to me. So I'm definitely going to hold on to that. And another nutmeg. Now this one has a lot more color in the base, a lot less white, a lot more of that kind of brownish color. Fantastic little nutmeg. And okay, a top snail. These are fun little shells. I like them. I guess because of the nacre because underneath them, it's got that like shiny. Now, what do I know? I just like shells. It's a shell. I pretty much like it. So that is a banded tulip. Yep. I absolutely like those as well. And hold on to that. Another little lightning walk. Fantastic. So lightning walks are one of the two shells that will get real big. The lightning walks and the horse conchs will get really big and they're the only two. The other ones, you know, like that's a fantastic size shark eye. Again, a false shark eye, but that is really a terrific size shark eye, but that's yeah, you can find a, maybe a little bit bigger, but that's about as big as they're going to get compared to some of the, those other two shells. Actually, speaking of big, that's a pretty big lace murix. So that is it. Look, it's in, it's in rough shape. I know, but I am definitely going to bring that home. Now you can see the operculum is still in there. So I don't know what happened to this poor little critter. I don't know if it got stuck up on the beach or I don't know, slurped it out, but we got ourselves a little project. We'll clean that up. I'll show you at the very end of the video. Oh, and here we have, all right, two for one. These are both lightning walks and it's, it's nice to see the variation. The one on the left, obviously a lot more dark, richer colors where you kind of have that more of orange color on the other one. A little hinged sunray venus clam. Wonderful. Terrific little shells and little horse conch. That color orange is reserved for really just a few shells. And one of them is the Florida horse conch. They will be that orange color when they're juveniles. Oh, and an apple murix. And those also kind of come like this, I would consider the chocolate color. And then there's almost like a caramel color, a little bit again of the variation, but that is an apple murix. And another juvenile Florida fighting conch. Wonderful. Really? I'm just happy to be finding shells. Another shark eye. Oh, it's a true shark eye. And it's a Paul Newman version because it's a little bit blue on the inside. They call that a Paul Newman shark eye. Awesome. Very happy with that. And another lettered olive. So you kind of see what I mean now that the tide is really kind of going out. It's really helping with that visibility. And everything's really kind of popping out. We're not gonna keep that one, but we will keep that juvenile fighting conch and the lettered olive. All right, we got ourselves another lightning walk. I feel like our pace is picking up a little bit here. Oh, yay. And this one's even more spiky. So it is another hinged jewel box doesn't have that pretty purple on the inside like the other one, but nice. A little bit spiky. Yeah. Those are really fun to find a spiny jewel box. Another top snail. This one doesn't have the holes. You can only see a little bit of that underneath kind of that mother of pearl maker. Is that what I? Yep. An alphabet cone and it's so pretty. Really nice, rich color on it. It's a decent size and the aperture is not broken. Yeah, we got a little shell jammed in there. No problem. Oh, that is gorgeous. Fantastic little alphabet cone. Yay. All right, now I'm really feeling good. I found this kind of like sweet spot. Here is another banded tulip. It's in great shape and a lightning welk. And again, it's a visibility thing. You know, what you can, you know, you can only really kind of find what you can see unless, of course, you're digging. So we have two lightning walks and a banded tulip. Oh, another one. Do you guys see it? Dead center. It's another alphabet cone. And so look, sometimes the shells can trip me up. I mean, like the juvenile conks look like crown conks. I mean, some of the shells really look like other stuff, but every now and then. Two? Okay, sure. I'll take two. Let's check this one out. All right, the aperture is a little bit broken, but that right there, fantastic alphabet cone. Maybe not as fantastic as that other one. This one is really, really great. I know it looks like there's stuff on it, but it's a nice size. It's got rich color. It is going to clean up just great. Really, really happy with that. I want a buttercup lucine. Wow. All right, that is a full fat with extra gravy buttercup lucine. Fantastic color on that. There we have a pelican diving for their dinner, and we are just going to take a minute. We're going to slow down and appreciate the beauty so that line up there, that's the green stuff that we were in, and we have a whole new line of shells, and again, the visibility. You can really kind of see what's going on. If the water is too deep, I do encourage you, feel around with your feet, maybe just start kind of scooping or picking things up, but it's always easier when you can kind of see what you're looking for. All right, looks like we got ourselves a little gulf oyster drill. Tiny little thing, but that little critter would drill holes into other shells, and this is a colorful moon snail. So that is also a moon snail like the shark eye, so they are kind of like brothers and sisters, but that is another type of moon snail. This is another fighting cock, but apparently I could not resist because it was that rich, beautiful dark brown color. Yeah, all in that one. Yeah, because it's kind of got that like mustard orange color. Yep, I'm gonna have to hold on to that one too, and it really is pretty out. Now I say beautiful, but either way, now that the storm is pretty much kind of, it's not threatening anymore, it's just kind of leaving these gorgeous clouds in the background. So I like to pick my head up once in a while and just appreciate the beauty around me. Now I'm really checking these guys out because critters do like to hide in there, so if I'm shelling in the water, especially with the ogres, there's a bunch of them, really give it a real good look before I put that in my shell bag. All right, looks like the husband also got super duper lucky. Gorgeous pair of alphabet cones. Now we're back in that spot. Remember what I said earlier, kind of pay attention. There's a whole bunch of water here kind of sloshing around. Well, the water is gone because the tide is out, and I'm gonna score myself yet another fighting cock because it's pretty. Another banded tulip probably won't hold on to that, but this on the other hand, especially since I know I'm kind of winding down, yep, definitely holding on to that as well. So at this point, I just told myself, all right, I know, you know how I feel about the fighting cocks. There's other stuff here. Don't get distracted by the fighting cocks. So even though there's a whole bunch of them, I'm looking for something that's not them. So I did get this lightning whelk and I just felt like there's something here. Don't pick up the fighting cocks. Look what I found. So we would call this, we would call this a pony. This is a Florida horse conch. It is on the decent size, so it's not really, really big, but I am thrilled with that. So I was very happy that I told myself to not pay attention to the fighting conchs. And then after a while, you know, I can't fight it too much. So I just went ahead and picked up a couple that I absolutely couldn't resist. And again, like I said, I know my shell bag is going to be a little bit on the heavy side, but oh, look at all that purple. Yeah, it's kind of worth it. So this little piece here, I've been here before. If you've come along with me here, you know, you can only get here at certain times. So when the tide is higher, you can't walk around here. And I would imagine it's just too dangerous. So I just kind of keep an eye on the weather, my schedule, the tide apps. Take a look at this view. So I felt really, really lucky that I was able to come down here, that it was low tide and I didn't get struck by lightning. I'm gonna say that is going to be the biggest bonus. What a pretty night. And I'm really kind of bummed that I can't stay for sunset because when the clouds are like this and the sun is going down, it's absolutely gorgeous. But we are going to make our way off the beach. It is still 80 degrees, even though it is in the evening. It is Florida after all. And it is a wee little walk back to the parking lot. And like I told you, look at that sunset. Isn't that pretty? That was beautiful. So let's take a look at the things that we managed to find today. We'll start with my fighting conchs because I just love them. So I did get a bunch, small, medium, pretty, all of them. And then we got that weird land snail, a couple of top snails, the drill, the slipper snail, the mossy ark, some of those clams, the whelks, the pear whelks, and the lightning whelks, banded tulips, colorful moon snails, regular moon snails, a couple of those scallops, some of those nutmegs, some urix, some of those lettered olives, the buttercup lucine, the Atlantic cockles, the augers, one serith, a couple of those horse conchs, including kind of like that pony. But the stars of the show for me were the alphabet cones, the hinged spiny jewel boxes, that bigger lightning whelk, and we're going to take a look now at that lace myrix, that bigger one. It really was a really nice size and I knew it was going to clean up okay. And I wish I could find a different method. So this is just that shell kind of dried out from the kind of couple days kind of hanging around. And all I did was soak it in bleach and kind of pick it clean. I wish I could find a different method other than the bleach, but it just works so well. And it doesn't seem to, it doesn't damage the shells. So unless I find something else, I'm going to keep up with that. And there was the little operculum in the shell, which it would be, is unusual to find on a shell that didn't have an animal in it. So kind of happy about that. And these are just two of the, those orangey mustardy looking fighting conchs that I'm telling you, I just know they're so pretty. And then I did clean this one up too. I wish there was a method again, that maybe would leave a little bit of that periostricum on that, that brown stuff. But the bleach is really the best way to remove the barnacles. They really just kind of flick off. I probably could spend a little bit more time with this shell, but boy, did I have fun. I mean, for summer when it's a little bit harder to find shells, to be able to go here and again, with everything working out, I felt really, really lucky. Patreons, thank you. Big fat shout out to my Patreons who monetarily support me and everybody else who comes along. Thank you so, so very much. Next week, we're headed back to Sanibel and I am determined to find wentel traps. So we're going to find out next week, how that goes for me. I hope you have yourself a terrific week and I will see you again next Sunday.