Island shelling on Keewaydin Island. Gorgeous virtual beach walk for shells & beach treasures.

Greetings, beach friends. Welcome back to part two of our Kiwaden Island walk. If you haven't seen part one yet, I do recommend you watch that video first because it explains where we are and how I got to this beautiful island. Just click on that little link in the upper right corner. So, today we'll be exploring Kiwen Island. We will have this beautiful pristine island almost completely to ourselves, and we'll be looking for shells and critters and anything else interesting we find on the beach. We'll talk a little bit about the history of this gorgeous place. So, let's go to the beach. [Music] [Applause] [Music] So, here we are on Kiwen Island. Last week, we got here and immediately started finding amazing shells and beautiful beach finds. And today, we're going to continue. But before we do that, let me set the scene. I've taken a boat here to Kiwen Island and I was dropped off around 9:15 a.m. I have a return trip booked for 300 p.m. So, I have a little under 6 hours total to explore this island, which is why I chose Hemingway Water Shuttle. I wanted to spend as much time as I could over here, and a lot of the other tours were only a few hours. Hemingway Water Shuttle allowed me to choose how much time I wanted to spend over here. So check them out if you'd also like to experience the beauty of Kiwaden Island. I'll go ahead and put a link in the description below. It's funny because Kiwen isn't one of those islands that kept popping up on my shell radar. You know, Koya Costa, some of the other islands did, but not this one. But boy, am I glad I came over here and checked it out. It's uh a really pretty place. So, we're going to continue our shelf finding with little Florida cone. Hey, pretty little guy or a gal. Looks like it might have had to repair itself at some point. That's okay. And a lot of people do ask me about sealass. And I would consider this legitimate sealass. Typically, I don't find that. I typically find garbage, but looks like I found like my sixth piece of sealass. Look at the pattern on this juvenile Florida fighting conchk. It was just beautiful. It's about 10:43. I've been here about an hour and a half at this point and I'm having myself a good old time. Water was really clear and I'm kind of zigzagging back and forth between the water and the beach and trying to cover as much as possible here. It looks like I scooped up a little apple mir and another Florida cone, but dear. Yeah, the top is not so great. I'm gonna keep it anyway because there's definitely something I can probably do with that. All right, that is a very old lace murk sign. Maybe not very old, but relatively old. It's been pretty well rounded down. And this I'm not sure what it is, but isn't it pretty? I I tried to figure it out. I don't know. It's some sort of sea plant. I don't know if it's soft coral or plant or what. I just thought it was really cool and I wanted to keep it. Maybe I'll put that in some sort of shadow box or something in the future. But I thought that that was just another piece of beauty laying on the beach for me to check out. Whoa, that big old roller there. Oh dear. Well, that's an apple murix. Most of an apple mur that has been broken, but you can kind of see inside, which is cool. There's a bay scallop. Nice. Nice little finds. Oh, what do I see rolling around in the water here? Okay, an alphabet con. That is pretty beat up, but I'm going to try with some bleach and a dental pick. I'm going to see what I can do with that guy cuz that might look nice in a craft or something. I know it's a little beat up, but that's okay. It's beautiful. Just beautiful. And this I think is a sponge. Uh I don't know what again I'm not really sure. Believe that's what that is. That's what it felt like. This I know is a lettered olive. I love those dark ones. They're so pretty. So that is a lettered olive followed by another lettered olive. Oo, nice and dark. Oh, beautiful. Beautiful lettered olive. Oh, it's alive. Okay, guys. This is a lightning welk that is alive. And you'll see its operum there. that kind of flat hard shaped thing on the top. The rest of it is its body, its foot. They eat clams and by valves, other things like that. They We don't really know how old they get. Maybe 15 years or so. But that is a live lightning welk, which is kind of fun. Whoa. Speaking of fun, look at the color on that. That is awesome. How does nature create that? Ah, it's beautiful. Love it. Oh, here's another here's a critter. Let's see. You can kind of see him moving around in there. He's got his little I don't know, whiskers, tentacles. I don't know what they got going on in there, but that is a blue-eyed hermit crab that's not coming out, which is really a bummer. They can be real fun and active when they do come out. So, okay, buddy. We understand. You're just not feeling a little shy. That's okay. So, we'll leave him where we found him. Keep it moving. All right, scanning. What are we going for? Looks like an Apple Murx. Oh dear. Yeah, that's definitely seemed better day. I I'm going to keep it or not. I guess I went with not. All right, we're going to look at this paper fig. I guess I decided I had enough of those, too. So, I just checked them out. And I couldn't stop admiring the beauty that was all around me. I really It was just beautiful. Here it is at 11:16. So, I've been here on the island about two hours at this point. And would you look at this stunning true tulip. Look at the pattern on the whirl there. Oh, it's beautiful. I love true tulip. So, that is a true tulip and it is gorgeous. Now, as I've mentioned, I'm here on this island and I'm going to be here for quite a while now. It's only April, so it's not crazy hot yet, but it is something that you need to consider. It does get quite warm here, and I'm not going to be able to run over to the snack shop. So, a couple of things you're going to want to consider bringing are water. And I like to bring frozen water because it melts as you go, and that way you have cool water for a good portion of your walk. You're going to want to dress appropriately. Make sure that you check the weather. See what the weather forecast is. It was quite warm when I was there, even though I'm wearing a long sleeve because that is to protect me from the sun, which brings me to number three, sunscreen. Bring sunscreen. You're going to want to reapply. The sun down here is strong. So, you're going to definitely want to make sure you have sunscreen with you. And consider what kind of shoes you might want. Sure, you might flip-flops might be just fine, but if you're doing a lot of walking and you're going to be in the water, you might want to consider something that might stick on your feet a little bit better. And then lastly, depending on how long you're going to be out there, bring food or snacks. My go-to is peanut butter and jelly. It travels really easily, maybe nuts, something that won't melt in your backpack. So, just a couple of things to consider if you do decide to go on one of these awesome little shelling trips like I did. Whoa, all sorts of neat stuff. It looks like I'm going to check out the lightning welk. Pretty guy. And I don't see this often. So, I definitely wanted to stop. I don't often actually see a palm tree like on the beach like that. And I look over and look. It's the bottom of a It's a bottom of a piece of a giant shell. Dang it. I was kind of hoping that might be something, but oh well. Let's keep moving. Okay, looks like I found this little banded tulip rolling around in the water. It's pretty beat up, but I'm going to keep it anyway. Discovered beat up shells are just as awesome. Oh, as perfect ones like this. This also is a banded tulip. And man, the color on that. Oh, that's awesome. And we got ourselves a little parel and a little lettered olive. Those are fun little finds. Oh, looks like I found something yellow and had to go scooping because I almost never find yellow scallops. So, regardless of the shape, I'm going to keep it. I'm going to try to clean it up. There's a cool yellow scallop. Oh dear. All right, that is a horse conchk. It's a little one. Little beat up old one, but I'm gonna keep it anyway. And a sunray Venus clam. I like those guys. They come all different kind of shades and colors. They're just fun finds. And so here I am again enjoying the view. It was spectacular. And you can kind of see how shallow the water is for quite a while. That's why it has that beautiful aqua blue color. That's awesome. That's a calico scallop. Fantastic coloring on that guy. Don't forget to peek around up there in the trees and whatnot. Looks like I found myself a nice lettered olive. There's some other stuff in there. I've decided n I'm just going to stick with this, which is awesome. Bunch of shell piles. Yeah, that's beautiful. Oh, neat. Now, these I don't usually find. Every once in a while, I'll find a shell that color. It's kind of like purplish pinkish color. So pretty. And another apple mir. Looks like two two pretty beat up. Yeah, they're both Apple Murix and we're we're just going to leave them. They're pretty beat up. So, at this point, look in the distance, you can kind of see a boat and we're going to check that out. I thought that was going to be interesting. Okay, another scallop. Oh, beautiful scallop. And I was, it's funny with this one. I was thinking, hey, I haven't found a goddy nautica. And sure enough, there one is. Love these colorful moon snails. That one's in pretty great shape. Oh, I'm definitely going for that color. Yep. Another one of those kind of pinkish purplish scallops. I know it's got some beach stuff on it. I'll clean it up. It's okay. So, yeah, there really was a boat just kind of washed up on the beach here. Um, I tried to look it up. I couldn't find any information, but one of the people on the Hemingway water shuttle said that this was a boat that washed up during Hurricane Irma, which was in 2017. So, this guy has uh been sitting here for a couple years. I don't know how long it'll sit there. doesn't seem to be doing too much harm or anything, but I do feel bad for the owner whose boat is now kind of just stranded on Kiwen Island. Now, originally Kiwen was named Ki Island. It became part of the Kiwen Camps Limited Corporation and eventually became known as Kiwen Island. The island is currently about 85% public property and about 15% private property. So, there are a few homes and private lots that dot the island. Kiwen Island is a barrier island that has no cars, roads, or bridges. It was going to be the next developed barrier island after Marco Island was developed in the 1950s and60s. But during that time when the government was planning a road and bridge to the island, about a thousand local residents signed a petition to stop the road in any future commercial development. They wanted to avoid the pattern on barrier islands at the time. In fact, highdensity high-rise structures line the shores on most barrier islands in Florida, except a few, notably like Kiwen, where the environmentalist movement finally got enough momentum to stop the bridge to the island. As a result, Kiwen remains primitive, with the only infrastructure being dirt pathways connecting private docks on the eastern side of the island to the houses on the western side. Locals and visitors can relish the experience of a visit to a pristine barrier island and its ecosystem. Mammals such as wild boar, bobcat, and white-tailed deer live on the island. And the gopher tortoise also finds sanctuary here. So, lots of little information about this gorgeous place called Kiwen Island and all the gorgeous things you can find here, like this scallop. Oh, that's pretty. And so we're just going to say goodbye to this cool boat. It's about 10:06, so I've got a little less than two hours to kind of finish up here, which is a bummer. I start feeling that clock kind of ticking. Okay, another lightning welk. Want to mention that those guys opening is on the left instead of the right like a lot of different shells. Oo, shell pile. Oh, can't resist those orange shells. We have ourselves a calico scallop. Oh, yeah. It was pretty. So, I always always respect and enjoy the time that I'm on the beach. I can find this beautiful glowing orange scallop. I know how lucky I am. And another Oh, so that looks like one of those pinkish purplish ones. And the white just kind of has turned a little yellowish, which is kind of cool. Now guys, this shot cracked me up. I'm looking for a white shell. And there's a shell in the shot. Do you see it? See, I don't even see it yet. Sometimes it's hard to see. I don't see it yet. Oh, there we go. There was a baby's ear just sitting there. It cracked me up because it I was literally right on top of it and I just I didn't see it. Sometimes it's hard to see when the light is so bright and your sunglasses and polarization and you know it's a it's a whole thing. But I was happy I didn't miss that. I would have been really bummed if I came home and I looked at that footage and I forgot to pick up that baby's ear. So here we are. And I don't know if you can see but there's a couple little things on the beach here. This is one of the homes that we had talked about. One of the private areas. How cool is that? Now, there's no service here, so that would have to be a self- sustaining, you know, solar type of home. But look at that. Wouldn't that be awesome? So, yeah, I thought that was pretty cool. So, now, originally, I wasn't going to pick these up because they're heavy. But now that I'm headed back to the boat, I'm going to pick up whatever I want at this point. Oh, like this gorgeous banded tulip. It's a little broken, but it's beautiful. Definitely keeping that. Come on. And a lettered olive. What's not to like about those glossy fantastic creatures? A pair welk. Real pretty. Really, really pretty. And that is a old beat up crown conch. Just a piece of it, but I'm going to keep it anyway. Now, this guy was this perplexed me. This is a ribbed canththerus, and I believe that they have operumulums, but the sh the snail inside seemed to be kind of holding on to a shell as an operulum. So, I didn't quite know what was going on, but it was alive. And so, I put it back and managed to grab this. It's a little chipped on top, but that's also a banded tulip. Sealass. All right. This, in my opinion, is garbage. This is not sealass. It's not rounded. It's not anything I'd want to collect. That would for me would go right into the recycling bucket. And that's typically what I find. So, it's not that nice rounded sealass like we found in the beginning, but I will throw that in my bag to throw it away because I don't want anyone else accidentally stepping on that. So, I'm going to recycle that appropriately. We have a little little horse conchk. And dang it, the time is ticking away. I got less than an hour now, so I'm really kind of starting to feel the pressure. Oh, that beautiful scallop and a third. So, really pretty. I know I'm trying to kind of hustle and cover as much beach as I can, but I also want to take the time to make sure I don't miss any beauties. Ooh, that is a juvenile Florida fighting conchk. And that is really cool pattern on that. Awesome. Definitely keeping that guy. And what do we Oh dear. It's relatively broken. That's too bad cuz it's beautiful. Doesn't it look like something like a sea turtle took a chomp? It might have. Sea turtle season is here. So maybe maybe that's what ate that parel. And we have a live. All right. there. All that perryostricum on the outside, the beach stuff. And we're going to put that live critter back in the water. Oh man, that is the top of a true tulip. They get much bigger than the banded tulips, but I have never found anything quite that big yet. And a turkey wing. Needs just a little TLC. Clean that up a little bit. Great size, though. Pretty decent color. Look at the color on this. That pattern with just those purple flares on the side. I thought that was really cool. So, like I said, that the clock is ticking. Let's go. Here is another orange calico scallop. So, frantically trying to find as many cool things as I can. Oh, yeah. It was really pretty. Now, as I'm walking, I'm still looking down because just in case, right? So, I'm looking down as I'm doing that shot. Have found myself another one of those flat scallops. Yep. It's a little chipped. It's not perfect. I'm keeping it anyway because those flats are not easy to find. Okay. What am I coming upon here? Okay. It's a broken lace mir. It's pretty. Uh I Isn't that pretty, though? I know it's broken. I'm gonna keep it. I can use that for something. And look at this one. I don't think I've ever seen coloring like that. I thought that was really cool. There we go. We have a hinged giant Atlantic cockle. Now, these guys have a little nickname. Actually, they have a bunch of nicknames, and that happens with a lot of these different shells. But this is also called one of the heart cockals. Look, looks like a little heart. Now, there's a bunch of other cockals that are called heart cockals, but just kind of a nickname. What do we got on this little shell? Oh, another flat. Oh, dang it. It's got a hole in it. I don't care. Look at the color. It's beautiful. I'm keeping it anyway. And okay, so this is one of the thing. Do you see it? What about now? It's don't look color, it's shape. Yeah, it was this lace murx that was just sitting there. It was definitely hard. It was the same color as everything else, but you eventually learn to kind of look for shapes. Now, ordinarily that would be awesome, right? And I know it's got a hole in it. And this time, I'm going to keep it because I found something similar to this on a sandbar out in Marco and y'all yelled at me. So, I'm gonna keep that one. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I will keep it. And I found myself two turkey wings. Kind of wrapping up at this point, but trying to quick scurry around and get what I can. All right, here's another big old Whopper, but it's really kind of broken the same way that that other one is, and it's in much worse shape. So, I'm gonna leave that one. Hope that's okay. Yep. I'm going to pick up heavy shells. No problem. Florida fighting conchk. You're lovely and you're coming with me. And so here I am at the very south of the island. This is where drop offs and pickups happen. So I'm just as I'm getting back to the boat quickly scanning. Beautiful rough scallop. It's broken on the bottom. That's okay. What do we got here? Oh yeah, we got nothing. And penshells. Now penshells I do not usually I I check them out but I don't collect them. But there was just a pile right there. Pile of pen shells. And that was it. Back on the boat, back to the marina. And just thinking about how fortunate I am, how lovely the day was, how lovely that island was. I'm happy that I went the way that I did because I was thinking there was a lot of other tours I could have kind of gone with and it just it wouldn't have given me as much time on this island. So, I'm really happy the way that everything worked out. Never mind the beautiful views on the way there and on the way back. That is the island of Capri, which is just a hair north of Marco Island, which is where the marina was out of. So, I had myself a Hey, look, you can rent yourself a little tiki hut. Will literally go tooling out on the water like a little boat. How fun is that? I've seen them. They have them up by Fort Myers Beach. How fun is that? And then this I thought that was kind of interesting because I'm moved here from New Jersey and we have a boat here that goes back and forth from New Jersey to Florida. So this is some of the haul. You know, I didn't put all of them out there. It represents all the different types of things we found. So there's a little bit of sponge, that big lightning welk, I think coral, some soft corals and whatnot. The Atlantic cockle, the sand dollars, all the alphabet cones, which are really cool. Bunch of flats, which is weird. They all weren't in great shape, but still happy with them. A couple of those lightning welks, a couple of the banded tulips, a bunch of apple murks, beautiful multicolored scallops, all of those paper figs, which are really cool. I see a couple jewel boxes in there. So, I mean, we from a variety standpoint got a little bit of everything, which was outstanding. And I had so much fun and a lot of it. I would like to thank my producers who are my patreons. Actually, I thank all my patreons and all my viewers, but especially these guys who do help me monetarily and allow trips like this to be possible. So, thank you for coming along with me. Thank you for all your love and support. Leave me a comment. Let me know what you thought. And I'll see you again next week.