Florida Gulf Coast Beaches. Hunting seashells at Sanibel Lighthouse Beach.

well hi there Beach friends we are going to be spending our time today doing what we always do looking for seashells over at Lighthouse Beach Park over on Sanibel now I was over here not too long ago I had myself such a great time I really had to come back and I think I did learn something which of course I'm going to pass along to you so we will be looking for seashells and we are going to find a couple of them including a really pretty little white shell and some weird mystery shell so maybe somebody can help me out with that and then of course if we see a couple Critters along the way we are also going to say hi to them so Lighthouse Beach is a gorgeous place to spend a couple of hours and we are just going to be yander around looking for Beach treasures and seeing what ever else might be out on the beach for us to discover so if you're ready for a salty Adventure let's go to the beach [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] okay I'm pretty excited to be back here at Lighthouse Beach on Sanibel Island because the last time I was here I think I finally cracked the code on how to find wencil traps they are these tiny little beautiful little white shells so I am really hoping to find a couple of them while I'm here today now the last time I came here the tide was pretty low let's talk about Tides so today this is what the tide looks like it is not going to be really low it is in the morning at some point so I'm going to try to hit this low tide at 10 14 but you'll notice it's only 1.2 feet so it's really quite High the last time I was here I was this is what the tides looked like and I was here about this time so the tide was really really low I mean it was actually negative so this time the tide is much much higher and that is going to play a part in our shelling so this is a scallop it is quite possible that this was hinged you see some Barnacles that are clearly not viable this could have been hinged and I know that because the scallops the two sides are going to be different colors they're going to be different patterns so the one kind of has those Checkers the other side is not going to have that so that is a Calico scallop that is a dosenia this is called a disc doseemia and it does have a little drill hole up top it's got little tiny lines it'll kind of look like record player lines to me so we are at the point we're really really close to the actual Lighthouse itself and the water is so clear like ridiculously clear and there's shells here so super happy to see that that's one of our common crossbarred Venus clam shells with that little bit of a purple on the inside our next Contender is a giant Atlantic cockle yep real pretty yep still sand in there no problem and so just again it's good and it's it's hard to find shells this time of year that's variable warm snail so in summer it's a lot slower so always happy really to find anything of Interest wow and apple lyrics well okay that is a great find fantastic little apple lyrics you know I happen to really like being part of the shelling Community because so many people have shared little tips and tricks with me and then I in turn pass them along to you I have heard here that you can look up underneath the trees so that's what I'm doing at this point it doesn't really look like there's much here so I'm going to wander back down by the water looks like we have one of those coquinas so that is a little Coquina little white one fantastic I am looking I got a hankering for a certain little white shell this little shell is a kitten pot a really tiny little kitten pop but that is a little kitten paw and another Coquina and they look just like little butterflies when they're open so that is another little clam shell very pretty little shells all right and this man the tiny shells are so hard to handle especially what I'm trying to show you but I do I do what I I try I do my best so this I wasn't really sure is it a turret but let's see if I can kind of get a good look at it there we go nope just an auger so after all that it's hard to tell but once you can kind of get a good look at it you can tell that is really just a very tiny common auger that's okay pretty cool oh what do we have here just rolling around so that my friends is one of the shells I came to find that is a wentel trap isn't it gorgeous now just notice to the way those blades on it there's no bumps on those blades it's really just shell those little vertical blades and that's it there's other shells that really look like lentil traps that are not but those little blades will have bumps on it here we have another real pretty yellow Coquina and oh isn't it darling that is a little tiny Apple mirrix another little Coquina oh gorgeous little purple one so we're definitely gonna find some itty bitty shells today oh and I'm chasing something real tiny what do we got think it's another one of those little augers I honestly can't it's just so small so that's what I think it is or maybe that is a turret now I'm gonna go auger I think I saw some of those vertical lines so it's been I mean this water is so clear and you can really get down that is another one of those coquinas so luckily again and it's really kind of gentle I mean that's it from a wave perspective you're looking at like little and that's that's it with the waves so right where I am right now anyway great conditions that is a itty bitty fighting so that is one of those little fighting conch shells gorgeous and here all right it's a little bit bigger so I can tell for sure we're looking at an auger very cool though and it's funny because I don't tend to find like the little itty bitty augers looks like it's a good day for itty bitty shows so again just for reference kind of where I am then The Tide is High the last time I was here there was a lot more Beach to go through yeah and we're it's just about as low as it's gonna get which isn't that low but that's okay you know anything you can do to increase your chances try to go with low tide or at least as low as you can it can help a little bit and another auger let's see I did see something something in there and that's just a little piece of shell so not a critter or anything we're gonna be able to hold on to that lovely auger okay bubble so Bubbles and coffee grinds so those little black things kind of floating around those are what I'm looking for and I'm hoping that will in turn lead to another lentil trap so that is what it's really kind of what I'm looking for if something else pops up by all means I'll go ahead and pay attention to that shell as well what do we got here okay just a piece so that well it's actually most of an apple mirrix and here it's mostly little crushed up pieces I was again hoping perhaps there'll be a lentil trap or oh look that is a little tiny spotted slipper snail cute little thing why are little things so cute here's another cute little thing so that is another one of those fighting conchs itty bitty little fighting Kong beautiful now I know it's a little fuzzy but guess what I got two shells and one of them is a lentil trap it's practically huge so that is a gorgeous I'm not even gonna pay attention to the other shell don't care let's just talk about the Wetzel trap because it's so cool and white and again it has those blades that do not have anything bumpy on them so that's something we know that we definitely found a Wetzel trap and yet again another fighting so it looks like this is the fighting set well and also the coquinas oh look a darling little nutmeg fantastic little shell wonderful to find another nice another little variety of shell and Nutmeg and another auger do you kind of like the augers that's another shell that I do tend to pick up every single time I see it I will pick them up the augers oh hi critter so this is someone just reminded me recently this is not a starfish this is a c star and this one specifically is a short spined sea star so we'll just say hi you gorgeous thing you and then we'll just continue to we'll do our thing over here while you do your thing over there see if anything pops out at us oh look a little NASA and then I was kind of looking at the inside I didn't know if there was anything in there but it was really just the shell it was a very dark and so the coloring came right through so that is a little I believe a bruised NASA shell all right and not exciting at all okay now this I know it's a serif but it just looks weird to me and then I started look it just it looks broken but yet not so I is this all right so I've done a little bit of research and I didn't think it was a dark serif which is one of the serous I usually find I think big fat teeth think that is a stocky serif so it's it doesn't really match a lot of the pictures that I found so if anybody does know am I Bonkers is it really just a dark sarith or is that a different kind of Seraph I would love for you to tell me so this see that looks like a dark source to me this I mean it's a little broken that's not as unusual as the one before it so I'd love for someone to help me out with another little shell mystery this is not a mystery it is Tiny and again very darling it is a little Apple mirax shell to have ourselves another little apple mirax wonderful and yeah oh that is a chestnut turban a little worse for wear holes it's a little beat up so I'm not gonna collect that still nice to see it that is another little slipper snail they confound me those slippers because they always look like something else but here we have a little one and then a little bit bigger slipper snail all right the scallop is just hanging out waiting for me so this is a Calico scallop pretty little shell and a tinted cancerous so there's another cancerous the ribbed cancerous love love love that show this is a tinted cancerous actually a really good condition tinted cancerous at that and this is another auger and I will tell you be real careful if you especially with the augers in the water could be a critter so make sure those those shells are empty before you take them home now this looks like a good spot just because there was such a nice concentration of shells so I'm going to kind of oh it's just so this shot is beautiful clear water with the seashells the water is only a couple inches deep all right what did I Spy oh there we go what is a sharp rimmed drill those are tiny little things they only get about that big and they're kind of flat on the bottom which I just think they're really interesting so I really like these sharp ribbed drill okay and a channeled duck clam now these also are known as sailor's ears I typically just call them the channeled duck clam and someone has asked me if you could tell me the difference between that and a discocenia happen to have them you'll see on the left all right so your child duck clam it's got much deeper grooves in it where the dystosemia on the right is really kind of just flat it is grooved but you can barely tell child duck clam is also a little taller of a shell this dosenia is very flat hopefully that helps you identify this as a channel duck clam correct amundo nice okay no way gorgeous little Moon snails this is known as a shark eye and it also is a Paul Newman shark eye it looks like it might even be a false one but who cares it's gorgeous it's got that blue Paul Newman eye gorgeous moons now all right I'm back looking for bubbles and coffee grinds though it's barely any waves so perfect conditions well looky here now this is organic and the first thing that pops into my head is this is part of a skate maybe the grinding plate of a skate and I think I know that from going shark tooth hunting but I couldn't really find any information on what this is that's what I think it is it is organic I think it's part of some sort of stingray or some sort of skate once again if you happen to know if you could leave me a comment that would be fantastic this I do know this is a lettered Olive very lovely little lettered Olive so pretty day in it very popular Beach Sanibel in general you're gonna find a lot of people and especially at this beach now I have no idea what that is I don't think I've ever seen one before I'm leaning serif I don't really know it it's kind of reminding me of that stocky serif but I not really sure and I know it's a little hard to tell just because the whole shell is very white perhaps it's an albino something I don't know so another mystery if again if you could help me out and drop a comment that would be awesome I found some Critters so here's some cloudy Periwinkles so these are little see snails of sorts they don't live in the water they just live near the Splash Zone so you won't find them in the water they can tolerate it but mostly they stay out of the water kind of in this area close to the water but not actually submerged and a couple lyrics wow that's so weird so what's that like maybe four Apple mirrors today all right I'll take it so see some coffee grinds still looking for those elusive little lentil traps now I did bring this little container or this little sifter rather and I don't know that it would actually help but what it does do is it stops the motion so if you really just wanted to grab you know a handful of stuff and look this does allow you to do that kind of gives you that extra time so yeah probably you know it's light enough I probably will keep this little thing in my backpack just in case so it would be good again to kind of just check out your little goodies where they're not kind of getting pushed all over the place so at this point the tide is coming in not again not that the tide really helped us that much I tried I came as low as I possibly could and look you know we did find a couple lentil traps I'm still looking here is another one of those fighting conks so it's on the juvenile side one of those small Florida Fighting conks and a paper fig oh darn well it's got a little hole on the top of it but that is a little paper fig they tend to like Sanibel I I like Sanibel I can see why they do so again up here just in the off chance you never know maybe there'll be a baby's ear sitting here or a rental trap and if you do see one don't tell me if you see one and I didn't pick it up please don't tell me it'll drive me bananas I'm just kidding by all means this is another kitten paw if you guys happen to have better peepers than me well you just tell me you leave me a comment down below so I do know again at this point the tide is coming in I think I've kind of done as much as I really can it's getting a little bit harder looking for the tiny shells it's a little Meander around in a little bit deeper water and by deeper I mean like two feet because again this is a very wide shallow Beach people just yeah just walk out into the water just kind of hang out for a while so I am still looking for a seashell so I'm out seeing what might be out there not surprising a giant Atlantic cockle I call these Beach bowls they are fantastic for holding your little Treasures and here I think somebody else probably found these before I did these are southern quahogs or Quay Hogs if you like to pronounce them incorrectly like I used to before somebody corrected me so these are southern quahogs they have soaked up some of those colors or it's actually oxidized and making them a little bit blue probably not going to collect those these on the other hand so we have a Calico scallop and another little worm snail so those are kind of cool I'm probably going to hold on to those and then two more of those Calico scallops and like we talked about earlier those two are not from the same animal those are from two different animals because those patterns match that is a giant Atlantic cockle although it is on the small side that is with that lovely little shell is it's a little giant Atlantic cockle now notice how calm the water was and it kind of got kicked up here any idea why that happened anything nope did not get some weird wind it's from a boat perhaps a boat or two so the water will be really really calm a bolt will go by and it really just kind of kicks up that water and if you're gonna pick up garbage why not have this little Daisy on it right so I am going to remove this from the garbage or I'm going to remove it from the beach it is garbage but it is at least cute garbage little Daisy something or other okay so I do have a nice concentrated kind of pack of shells here is another giant Atlantic cockle a little bit on the Lighter Side still pretty doesn't have those rich rich colors and I did bring this little tool it's very very light and I'm bringing that so if I see the shells that are really hard packed together you don't want to use your hand shells can be quite sharp and I myself have cut myself so don't use your hand use another shell or a tool of sorts so I've loosened it up looks like uh pretty much your arcs crossbarred Venus I did see a corrugated Jewel box in there there's a scallop okay so loosened up a little bit of stuff but yeah it's still pretty much looking like the common stuff here is a slipper oh and a little jingle also known as a baby's foot you see that little white mark on the other side and then a handful again of mostly arcs probably a couple of crossbarred Venus clams in there so you know it is shells but it's most of the common stuff doesn't look like there is much more the really kind of interesting gastropods or you know tulips Apple mirrorics things of that nature this is another very common shell but I just like them it's got a fancy name too it's got broad ribbed cardida and they come in nice rich colors nice hearty shell here we have another one of the that's just a Calico scallop but it's just so pretty and I do say it pretty much every time I come to Sanibel Seattle has the best scallops they really do and on the off chance you were considering either buying a vacation home here or moving here I do have a contact so you can come here and do this whenever you like that is a cross-barred Venus clam and my friend Heather can help you move here and go out shelling like this so Heather's information is in the description box below maybe you can come and find yourself one of these little Florida horse conks and Sanibel is a great place to visit the point we are here at the Lighthouse it's a little crowded and so I'm going to relocate we've kind of done what we were gonna do here anyway it's a little on the crowded side so I'm gonna take a quick drive up the beach and we are going to go to another location mostly just to see what other kind of things are here on the beach so I'm at Folger Street it's very close to Gulfside City Park in case you wanted to come to this area I have a very fancy expensive parking permit that allows me to park here and where is here exactly well this is Sanibel Island this is where we were over at Lighthouse Beach and this is where we are now so we kind of traveled not too far but a little bit up the beach and it will change things the beach will be different how different well let's just see again Sanibel and those fantastic scallops and the coquinas beautiful another scallop yep and a kitten paw terrific okay so you know it's similar shows that we were finding of course you're gonna have your your common shells but there's lots of coquinas for sure which works for me all right so now we've got to check that out let's go see what's in the water here's the view lovely day okay first thing I'm noticing it's a lot more cloudy the water Clarity is not as good as it was up at lighthouse so it's a little bit cloudier and did just not a scoop really just kind of grabbed what's in the water here and so a lot of the they look smaller to me so some of the shelves here they're looking smaller and I have a ton more of those coquinas so a lot more coquinas here than we were seeing over at the um Lighthouse Beach and yeah it's it's not really easy to see it looks like a bunch of white stuff just kind of flopping around in the surf there so which is fine you know but I also kind of know for the most part it's your common shells so here we have this lovely just a half of a Coquina and it is just so beautiful here I think it is time for us all to enjoy some beach time and I bet this little Ibis here was busy eating up those coquinas so the coquinas are very very important to the entire ecological system of everything that goes down here a lot of Critters depend on eating them so they're important to feed some of the other animals that are here on the beach oh so pretty so we have this these are all calico scallops beautiful they come in such a beautiful variety of colors yep that is also a Calico scallop so talk about variety you got all those Rich colors and then sometimes they'll be very very white and then top to bottom we got a kitten paw one of those coquinas and gets another Calico scallop so that was our time here it's pretty fun I got a bunch of different stuff definitely low tide helps you find those lentil traps for sure I think I found what like eight or ten when I went today was two still found them still was a great day found a lot of really fun stuff happy to have come but try low tide if you really want those lentil traps try low tide so I took barely any garbage it's 0.2 ounces but I think every little bit counts so in total I've removed 5.2225 pounds of garbage from the beach and all these fun things starting with got a couple of Jingles some crossbarred Venus that broad ripped cardita the uh distocania a couple of those slippers some of the smaller fighting conchs we did get a bunch of those coquinas all different colors really pretty we got some augers and some seraphs we are into this scallops here so a bunch of those Calico scallops and then we have some of those Channel duck clams the giant Atlantic clams and then some of the more fancier shells the the Apple muric shells we did get one little nutmeg the horse conch the rib no the tinted canthress the lettered olives my favorite the two lentil traps that shark rib drill kitten Paws that one really blue uh shark eye the skate I think maybe some a worm snail all sorts of fun stuff it really was fun it was beautiful day great to be out there patreons thank you so so much I really do appreciate you more than you can know I I really do and everybody else who watches I appreciate all of you all your love your notes your comments all of it next week we're going on a tour we're going on a tour with swfl shell guide it's gonna be fun I hope you have a great week and I'll see you again next Sunday