Shelling Gulf Coast sandbars and islands from a kayak. No boat, no problem! PART 1

How do you feel about starting your beach day before the sun even comes up? Or what about kayaking over to a giant sandbar to go shelling? Or maybe shelling on an island only accessible by boat? Well friends, today we're going to find out about all of the above and I'm going to share all the places I visited and all the treasures I found. Welcome to part one of my kayaking shelling day. Let's go find some treasures. So here we are over at again in Marco Island at a marina. My friend and I are launching some kayaks and we are going to be visiting a couple of sand bars, a couple of islands. It's going to be really fun. So the sun sort of started coming up so we weren't actually paddling in the dark of night. So we had a little bit of light and when we made it over to that first sandbar, this is what it looked like. Sun is not up yet. There's nobody out. It's awesome. It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. And then I look over and the first thing I see is this big old alphabet cone saying, hey I hope you have a great day. I'm quite sure what that was for. So I'm feeling pretty good about everything so far. We got that alphabet cone. We got ourselves a little banded tulip. That's a pretty little guy. The water is super clear. And here we have a little horse cock. Nice bright orange little horse cock. Oh first critter. It's one of those common sea stars. Weren't they awesome from last week when they were just kind of floating around? But this is a common sea star. We'll just say hi and put her back. And another tulip. Awesome beautiful little banded tulip. So this is just a sandbar. It's not even really an island. There's no vegetation on this particular place where we're at. Just a little sandbar and it's so awesome. All right let's talk about where we are. See that little red dot? That is where we started. That is the marina and that island there, that's Marco Island down and this that's the Ten Thousand Islands. And then specifically, so let's zoom in, that's where we started. That's the marina and so we paddled over to that big white area which is really just a giant sandbar. So that's where we are right now as the sun is coming up and we're just walking around looking for shells. It was really awesome. I highly recommend you get yourself a kayak and paddle out here safely. Make sure you pay attention to the tide. You have someone with you. I mean safety first always always. Looks like we got ourselves a sun ray venus and a little spiny jewel box. Spiny jewel box looks like he could use some bleach and maybe we'll see a dolphin. Yep so awesome. It was a beautiful day. And here we have another banded tulip. Gorgeous little shell. Oh and a fat shiny olive and pointy. Oh man awesome. All right what else we got? That looked like a nutmeg but that is just a piece of a larger banded tulip. And it looks like an olive. Yep now I don't always pick up the perfect ones. See I do pick up ones like that. I just don't always show you. But I wanted to show you this. The sun is starting to come up and it's gorgeous. And here we have a lightning whelk. It's in relatively good shape. And here all right a piece of an apple murex. What else we got? Oh oh a large, well that's not really large, a nice size beautiful banded tulip. Oh that's awesome. And here this little guy was just calling to me saying pick me up I'm an orange scallop. So I had to oblige. Always pick up those orange scallops. And a shark eye. All right nice. Nobody even drilled into him. Lots of time those guys have drill holes but not that one. And another tulip. All righty. Complete with another little shell jammed in there. Cool it's a twofer. Beautiful, beautiful banded tulip. It looks like I went up out of the water to pick up this gorgeous scallop. Oh the coloring on that. Beautiful. Look at the coloring on that guy. That's a shark eye. It looks like candy. Oh man that's pretty. So that is a moon snail but specifically a shark eye. Looks like another tulip. Yep another banded tulip. I love those guys. Oh really pretty. Awesome. And oh well all right that's a horse conch. He's definitely seen better days. And what we got another tulip. Okay so I do you know sometimes I will pick up a shell and it'll be a dud and I just won't put it in the video. So it's not like I'm running around picking up you know these gorgeous shells one after the other. This guy definitely needs some bleach. Looking at an alphabet cone which are super cool finds. I like them. And pick my head up again. Yep the sun is really kind of rising now and I'm having the best time. Another tulip. Oh bummer that's a true tulip. Oh oh well that's kind of most of a true tulip. And a top snail. All righty nobody's home. Cool. That is a keeper top snail. And this I just wanted to show you this is a piece of a true tulip snail shell. So that would have been just crazy awesome but all we got is that piece. Oh man. And another alphabet cone. Unfortunately that is just a little bit too beat up for me so we'll just take a peek and leave it leave it where I found it. Another olive. Okay see all shiny and pointy and awesome. Yes as a matter of fact it is an awesome lettered olive. And another top snail. Very cool. See if there's make sure nobody's home and you're getting those shells in the water. Always got to be really careful. Here's a real pretty scallop. I think it might be a rough scallop. I mean the coloration is off but I think that's what that was. Yay another alphabet cone. All right still a little chewed up but still awesome. Nice alphabet cone. And a nutmeg. Well hi there nutmeg. Awesome little shell. And a lightning welk with some green stuff. All right that green stuff will come off no problem. Another tulip. Oh they get chipped a lot on the aperture so I'm always super excited when it's intact. Awesome. So there here we are this little uh sandbar and this I wanted to give you a little bit of a close-up of what I'm actually what the conditions are really kind of like. So lots of stuff. Lots of arcs. Looks like there's rocks and clams and so you kind of there's definitely a lot to go through. Lots of commons. Lots of stuff you wouldn't pick up but as you know we are finding some goodies and we're heading over there in a little bit but we're still here. Look at there's a common sea star. He's just kind of hanging onto this rock which I thought was kind of neat. And all right that's an apple murox. Most of it's kind of chewed up but not terrible shape. It took me a minute but here we have a beautiful alphabet cone. Oh man that's not mine. That's my friends but it's beautiful. And a gaudy nautica. So my friend and I, just the two of us, we're out shelling on these different sandbars. Safety first. Again always have a buddy and we're going to kayak from the one sandbar over to the other sandbar. See if we see any dolphins here. That's what I was kind of hoping for. So we're making our way over. The tide is coming in. There's a dolphin. Look how close too. So awesome. So the tide is coming in. We tried to pick the time. I mean it was dark out. There wasn't much more we could do. High tide was we had maybe two and a half hours of low tide shelling before the tide really started coming in. So here we have a bay scallop. So we're paying attention. The tide at some point is going to start coming in. So we're making sure we're careful. We had to make sure our kayaks were high enough up on the beach. A lettered olive. A pointy beautiful lettered olive. All right let's talk about where we are. So that's where we were on that sandbar and we have kayaked over to this sandbar. So we're not even on an island. It's just a big old sandbar which is so cool and I got so excited. So here we have some lightning whelk egg casings. Those little baby lightning whelks are in there. Hopefully they're viable and they'll do their thing. But what I really had my eye on was this horse conch shell. Now I figured it was probably alive because it was still there. I mean what are the chances I'm just gonna walk up on this empty gorgeous shell. It's just gonna be hanging out. There were other people around. So there were other people who have been dropped off either by boats or they had kayaked there themselves. So we weren't alive. That pink part was alive. So we were not the only ones here. So isn't it pretty though. So that is a live horse conch. Beautiful beautiful horse conch. It is actually a member of the tulip family. It is not really a conch and for size I'm just kind of showing you. It's not all right it's not the biggest one I've ever seen but still oh man I would have been happy. So nice to meet you Mr. Horse conch. See you hopefully another day. All right I can be consoled with a little tulip. A little banded tulip. And we got a lightning whelk. Okey dokey he's in pretty good shape. Now I know what you're thinking. Do you see the sand dollar? Yes I did see the sand dollar. I knew what you were thinking and I had to pick it up. That is a five hole keyhole sand dollar. Completely safe to take home. Obviously it's got no spines on it. You can tell by the color. So it is a fantastic sand dollar. And the water was so clear. I mean you could see the shell from feet and feet away. It didn't even have to be right on top of it. So I spied this guy from quite a distance away. Not perfect but I really just wanted to kind of show you how far you can kind of see in the water. So we're looking at again arcs, commons. There's a Florida fighting conch. Lots of light stuff. Light colored clams and see some like I said some arcs. A scallop here or there. I had to pick my head up. So there are a couple other people and the day it was beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. Yay! It appears to be a rough scallop of the pretty orange variety. Oh so pretty. All right here we have a couple of things going on. So we have a Florida fighting conch shell along with I think it's a some sort of squirt just because it was a little mushy. And then inside we have a hermit crab who did not come out. Probably a blue-eyed hermit crab but again couldn't tell because they didn't come out. So there's a lot going on and I'll just kind of leave it do its thing. Oh this was really pretty. Look at this. This is a calico clam but it's alive. I've never seen an alive one. I thought this was up. Of course the color is gorgeous because it always seems to be the case. The live critters have the beautiful shells. So that my friends is a live calico clam. Beautiful. I'll just tuck her right back in. And what do we got here? Oh another sand dollar. A little bleach will make that just perfect. Marco, I pretty much every single time I come here I find sand dollars. So there's definitely lots of sand dollars in Marco Here we have a lightning whelk. He's a little chewed up but oh man that side looks perfect. I'll save that for a project. Now this is a live apple murex. They kind of confound me these apple murex because they just look white and gooey. Like I don't know where they start, where they end, but that was a live apple murex and we're gonna have to leave that. Leave it alone. And here is another top snail but I think there's a critter in there. And the critter to me the body looks like the coloring of a live olive. It's got that same like mottled brown and kind of tan color. So that's kind of exciting. I've never found a live top snail but when you're shelling in the water you really got to be careful. This guy's yeah yep empty. He's fine. That is a banded tulip. Beautiful. And that see there we go. That is a different top snail. These are all jujube top snails and that is alive. And again that's little he doesn't not have an operculum. It appears it's just the body kind of like an olive. Like an olive doesn't have an operculum. It's just a critter in its shell. I thought that was really cool. Speaking of really cool look at that beautiful pear whelk. Oh man the color on that is just gorgeous. That is a pear whelk. And a lettered olive. Woohoo. All right he's big and fat complete with a little bit of slime but that's all right. I think that'll rub right off. Awesome. Awesome lettered olive. And another sand dollar. Right on. Put that in my hard container. I carry a separate container for those guys so they don't break. Looks like we'll pick up this Florida fighting conch. There's so many things that could interest me. The color of the inside. The color of the outside. And the patterns. The little knobs. There's so many things. But this guy I'm just gonna leave them for somebody But not this one. Look at that. That is so cool. The pattern and 100% bleach will take care of that outer layer so I am definitely taking that shell home. And another olive. That was really kind of I was definitely was I was on the hunt for a golden olive but this guy's just a regular lettered olive. Oh yay. Banded tulip. Fantastic. I like the dark ones. If I had to choose it's the dark. Banded tulips are so pretty. That's why I like the true tulips but I don't find them very often. Oh hello little top snail. We found another one. Another jujubee top snail. Yeah that was a lightning walk at one point. Massive massive lightning walk. Another little banded tulip. Doing really good on the tulips. Works for me. I love those shells. All right let's check out this Florida fighting conch. All right he's got some nice points on those knobs. Nice color. I think I'll probably keep him. So again we are in Sambar in the middle of the Gulf. Not even an island. It's just terribly awesome. Lots of birds. Lots of critters. It's just relaxing. Oh it's awesome. Another gaudy nautica. Yep that is a colorful moon snail. Beautiful. Now you know what just occurred to me is that shark eyes. That is a yellow prickly cockle. Shark eyes tend to have lots of drill holes but not so much the gaudy nauticas even though they're both moon snails. Here we have a Florida prickly cockle. That one before it was a yellow prickly cockle and then this is a Florida prickly cockle. They're kind of cool. Look at that. I rarely find yellow scallops. I don't know exactly what kind of scallop that is other than a real pretty yellow one. There's really just something to be said about being on a Sambar in the middle of the Gulf and it looks like I found another sand dollar. Another five hole keyhole sand dollar. Oh so pretty. All right so once you were up on the beach this is the kind of stuff that was up there. You know me. I kind of like to be in the water but you know every now and then I'll get back up on the beach and see what's there. Usually it's lots of arcs. Some of the prickly cockles. Some of the cockles. There's a giant Atlantic cockle there. Some of the beat-up Florida fighting conchs. So lots I mean lots of stuff and definitely if you spent some time here I'm sure there's treasures but I like to keep moving. He's alive. That is a lettered olive but there's a little critter in there so he's gonna have to go back in the water. But there's another one. Looks like he's going to be safe to keep. Yep. An abandoned tulip. Is it a project tulip? Don't know. And another top snail. Very cool. Empty. He's okay to take home. Oh dang it. And a cone and I really really like cones. I almost keep all of them but that one is just a little bit too far gone for me. Another colorful moon snail. All right. Another gaudy nautica. And not the most vibrant one I've ever found but still cool shell. Oh that is a project shell. We'll save that for some sort of project but that is a banded tulip. Another olive. They're hard to resist. I'll have to show you guys because for those of you who've never seen a really shiny olive like for real they're just these beautiful shiny critters. And this those are tulip egg casings on a ponderous bark shell. So I thought that was kind of cool. Looks like we have another tulip rolling around. Yep. If you look at it from that side it's not so bad. And that's an alphabet cone but he's a little bit too chewed up for me. Oh lightning welk. That's got real pretty coloring. Yep that's a beautiful lightning welk. Check this guy out. Now because I am a nerd I was going through my shell book and I remembered seeing this. I didn't remember what the name of it was at the time but that is an eastern white slipper snail. I had never found one. I thought that was really really cool. It's flat but yet that's the way it's supposed to look. Really cool. Another banded tulip. Oh a project tulip. Yep we'll use that for some sort of project because it's so pretty. We'll just hide that side. That's okay. All right so pick my head up once again to see what was going on. Now that is Dickman's Island where you see the actual vegetation there. That is an actual island but too far away we wouldn't be able to to get over there by walking. So we are sticking to the sand bar over here and it looks like I spied a shark eye. Oh that's a fantastic shark eye. Does it got blue in the middle? Maybe. Maybe a Paul Newman shark eye. Maybe. Ah dang it. That is a piece of an alphabet cone. Really vibrant piece of an alphabet cone. Another lightning walk. Oh I love those dark ones. Yep oh that's beautiful. A beautiful dark lightning walk. Woohoo. Critter alert. Yep here is a Florida. A Florida fighting conch right there. See his little eyeballs and his little snout. His little trunk. Oh he's so cute. They only eat algae and they are adorable and I love them. So I know the tide is coming in but I'll help a little shell out. They had kind of um you'll see they were buried and I guess they were kind of digging out from underneath the sand trying to figure out. Maybe they're going to look to see when the tide was coming in. Here is another one. An alive Florida fighting conch. Oh look the eyeballs and the snout. I'm sorry. I think he's so cute. Now that little sickle piece. That little kind of like u-shaped that pointy thing on the end. That is the operculum. So they also have an operculum. It's very strange shaped compared to the way we usually see them. So I took a couple pictures and then we're gonna leave them back in the water. Now this feisty guy is giving us quite a shell or gal. You can clearly see the two eye stalks as well as the the snout there. So that is the face and that is how those critters move. They they have that long body and they just kind of lurch. They're not graceful at all. They kind of flop all over the beach but they are ubiquitous. You find them everywhere. I adore them. Thank you so much. This guy was so active and awesome. Thank you so much little guy or little gal. It's hard to say. Either way thank you. Thank you. Go do your Florida fighting conch thing. Oh and a little calico clam. Oh very pretty. Very pretty. So that is a nice chunk of an empty horse conch but clearly other shellers and myself um I am not keeping that. They've decided that that is not something you want to keep and I have to agree. So that is just torturing me a little bit um because you find it and it's empty but you know what I would have been the first one at it anyway so this would have ended up being someone else's shell but figured I would just admire this big old chunk. I've got another chunk to show you. Look at this. Now again this is the Florida horse conch. It is our state shell. It is the Florida state shell. These guys can grow up to two feet long. I mean they get huge and it is the largest gastropod in American waters. So that is kind of cool. Now that is a lightning welk. It had been looks like pretty done over by a boring sponge so that shell is actually a lot lighter than I normally would have expected it. And here I just wanted to show you a bunch of the shorebirds enjoying themselves on this little slice of heaven in the middle of nowhere and at this point we leave and we saw another dolphin which was so cool and now we're headed to a new location but guys we've been together already for quite a bit so I'm gonna save the rest for next weekend. So next weekend we are gonna hit this part of the beach. This is part of the Ten Thousand Islands. This is Kais Island and I will be sharing everything I found on the sandbars as well as everything I found here on Kais Island with you. So thank you as always. I appreciate you. You guys are truly the best. Thank you to my Patreons who help support me. Thank everyone who actually watches me, leaves me comments, supports me. You guys are the best. So I will see you next Sunday when we will talk more about kayaking and shelling on a deserted island. See you then.