Looking for sea shells at low tide on a Florida Island.

Beach friends! Today we're going to be exploring and beachcombing Caya Costa. Caya Costa is an island that is only accessible by boat, so we will be taking a little boat ride to get to our island destination. Now in order to get to the marina I was leaving from in Captiva, I had to drive through Sanibel, starting with the Sanibel Causeway Toll, which is kind of like the Welcome to Paradise toll booth. I love driving on the causeway and it's gorgeous views of the gulf water and in the distance we can see the Sanibel lighthouse. Sanibel is one of the few places down here that is not completely developed, with over half the island dedicated to nature preserves and Captiva has some pretty incredible homes tucked away off the main road, but there are a few you can get a peek of and their view is pretty spectacular. Now this is the second trip I've taken with Captiva Cruises and it's only a three-hour tour, so we're going to make the most of the short time that we'll spend on the island on this gorgeous December morning. If you're ready to do some exploring, let's go to the beach! So we are now on Caya Costa proper. Already had a very exciting morning driving through Sanibel and Captiva and took a boat ride and we're here at Caya Costa. Now I came here specifically because the tide was low and you can see where the sand is kind of flat and the tide is out beyond that, so the little more beach is exposed and upon first inspection it looks like the island is going to give me this beautiful sand dollar. So we'll go ahead and definitely hold on to that five-hole keyhole sand dollar. Now I do like shelling in the water, so if it's warm enough and possible that's where you'll find me. That is a lettered olive and so I'm going to kind of walk around in the water for a little bit and see what else I can find here. Here is another lettered olive and I do have a hankering. I really want to find an albino one, so I will be picking up many, many, many, many olives today trying to see if I can find that elusive albino olive. This is just another regular standard, although quite fat and pretty, lettered olive. So I'm going to keep picking them up and this is another lettered olive. They get their name from the markings on the shell. Sometimes they look like m's and n's, w's, oh there's a light one, oh that's a little beat up, and not albino. So we'll leave that. Check this one out. All right that is another lettered olive. Got a bunch of m's on there. Looks like I found myself the olive garden. I can't take credit for that. Someone else had said they had found the olive garden. I thought that was funny, but I am. There are no shortage of olives here and hopefully, wow that one's real fat, hopefully I'll find there is an albino and there's also a golden olive. So that is another kind of exciting elusive shell and look at the pattern on that. I am not going to do anything to that other than seal it. I'm not going to try to bleach it or anything. I thought that pattern was gorgeous. Here we have an auger. Make sure you check real good when you're shelling in the water because the critters can definitely creep into those shells and hide. I figure I see some stuff on the beach. I don't want to miss anything, so come up here and take a peek. We have a calico clam, lots of common stuff, lots of surf clams, lots of arcs, cross-barred venus, which you will almost always find. Here is a broad-ribbed cardida. That's another relatively common shell, but I like them. Here's another one. This is relatively common. It's a disc docinia. I like them. They have real neat kind of like striations, like a record pattern on them. See anything else interesting? Here is a lucine. That is a Pennsylvania lucine. A little beat up, but I don't find them all the time, so that's a little bit interesting to me. Another calico clam. Those will come light, dark. They have stripes, all different kind of variations of the colors of them. Looks like I picked up a couple more olives. Just your standard colored lettered olives. Okay, now let's talk about some moon snails. That is a false shark eye, which is in the moon snail family. Why am I calling it a false shark eye? Well, I am going to tell you, so let's back up a minute. The clue is on the bottom. This area here, where it looks like it's kind of removed or scooped out, that is the tail of a false shark eye. I needed personally to look at many, many, we're just going to keep doing it until I really kind of nail it. Some of them are questionable, and I'll show you that, but I'm getting there, making some progress. That is a spiny jewel box, a little discolored, but a little bit spiky, so I'm liking that shell. And look what we have here, a chestnut turban. It's kind of hanging out, waiting to be admired. It's a nice little shell. Okay, and here we have a hinged calico clam. So the bivalves, bi meaning two, like a bicycle, biped, the bivalves, when the two shells, when they're connected, it's just called hinged. Wow. All right, and then this would be a gastropod, so it's only, it's one singular shell that happens to have a lot of other living creatures on it. Those little lumps you see on there are slipper snails, and they are still alive and well, so I personally don't take anything alive from the beach. So I'm going to leave those critters right where I found them. Here is a keeper that is a juvenile fighting conch. Empty, pretty, keeper, and look at this one. Isn't that awesome? The big fat nutmeg that is much bigger than I typically find them. It's got its top, it's got great color, so that is a common nutmeg and a really good example of one. And yet another calico clam. Okay, and this one is also hinged. Nice and clean. It's got a little bit of purple on the inside. Those are so pretty. So that is a calico clam, and I'll show you a couple different variations of the colors on those. What did I spy? Okay, well, it's just a chunk of a lightning welk, but you never know. Be curious. It pays off sometimes. Another sand dollar. Very nice. Look how different. It doesn't have all those little patterns that that previous one has, but real pretty. Definitely going to hold on to that. Another olive. Not a golden, not an albino. Still lovely. Nice and light. We have a nice littered olive. Okay, we have a little hotel, a little barnacle hotel here. So all those barnacles are alive and they filter feed, so they do need to stay in the water to survive. So I am going to leave that shell at the beach as well. Okay, and this is hinged. Another bivalve that is hinged, and that is a sunray venus. Nice and clean. Oh, very pretty. Hinged sunray venus clam. All right, so I'm creeping around. What else did I spy? All right, a lightning welk. Most of a lightning welk. A little beat up. Looks like it's been hanging around for a little while, so I'm not going to hold on to that. Gonna hope I find something a little bit better. Oh, now that's another fighting conch. Unfortunately, it's a little bit broken, but real pretty patterns on it. So that is a another fighting conch. And a pen shell, like the pen that you write with. So that is a pen shell, also known as a beach taco, because they really do kind of look like beach tacos. Another sunray venus clam. I have found them in the past where they kind of have a pink hue. Typically, they are kind of that beige color, but they also do vary a little bit. Yay! Look how bright orange that is. So that's a little horse conch, like glowing orange. And it's just a wee little one. They lose that orange color as they get bigger, but that's a fantastic find. And a nice lightning whelk. Very pretty, kind of like a lemon color. More on the yellow than the brown. Very nice. Looks probably another, oh no, I'll just say a couple olives. So we have another lightning whelk. So that's what the little ones look like. And another lettered olive. I'm still hunting, still looking for that albino. Okay, that is another lightning whelk. And sometimes these shells will really lose their colors and you're going to kind of want to rely on the shapes of the shells. And lightning whelks are very easy to determine because they open on the left. Oh, I see a bunch of fun stuff here. Let's check this out. Oh, and I'm not worried by that slime. That slime will come right off, but we have some live barnacles. So not a keeper, plus a couple of slipper shells in there too. So I'm going to leave that here, but let's see what else we got. A lightning whelk that looks much better underwater. So we're not going to hold on to that. What do we got here? All right, an apple murrex. A little bit beat up, a little bit pitted, but it's the first one I found of the day, so I'm probably going to hold on to that. Oh, a little sea star. A little short-spined sea star just floating around in the water. So that's a critter. You kind of move around, they have a water vascular system. Very interesting. So we'll leave that little critter where we found him. So here's a little look at Coyacosta. It is a state park, even though there are a couple homes on the islands and the state does keep trying to purchase those homes, so it will be one day 100% state park. But for now, there are a couple of private residences on the bay side, not on the beach side, or the gulf side rather. And that is gorgeous. That is another fighting conch of juvenile. So it's not full-grown, but fantastic patterns on it. Really, really pretty. All right, cool. We have another moon snail and look, that little spot there looks scooped out to me. So I'm going to say that is a false shark eye. Again, these are still shark eyes. I'm just determined to really kind of figure out exactly what I'm finding. That is another common nutmeg, almost as big as that first one. It's kind of missing its top. It should have a pointy top, but still a great example of a nutmeg. And I'm going to hold on to that. Now, I did spend a bunch of time wading in the deeper water because that's where you're probably more likely to find the bigger shells, and I just wasn't seeing anything. I really tried. So ultimately, I kind of ended up sticking toward the beach and the shallower water, but I would periodically kind of try to walk out and see if I saw anything kind of poking out of the sand. And you know what this is? This is a gorgeous live banded tulip, just beautiful, but there is a critter in there. So that is the front of the snail. And that little brown piece is its operculum. So that's his little hidey hole. When he sneaks into his shell, he can kind of close that trap door. So that we cannot keep. It is illegal to do, they call it live shelling, and it is not legal. So we're going to leave that critter at the beach. Oh, another one, another fighting conch, but it also has a slipper on it. So all sorts of live stuff when you're, especially if you're shelling in the water, you probably are going come across a couple of things that are alive. Terrific fighting conch empty. I don't see any other inhabitants. Plus, I want to do a cleaning video in the future. So I'm going to hold on to that fighting conch. Oh, yay, another chestnut turban. Very nice. It's a little bit broken, but that's another fine shell. I'm happy with the variety I'm finding. And this is broken, but it is an angel wing. So that is another bivalve. Typically, there are two sides to that, but it's broken, so probably not going to keep it. And I did see a little flash of color, and I didn't know what it was, just a little tiny fighting conch. And they come in such a variety of patterns and colors. Really fun to find those. And another pretty cool, all right, empty barnacles. That is another fighting conch and some nice patterns on it. Probably try to see what I can do with that one. And then here is a slipper shell. That's those slippers that are kind of attaching themselves to those other shells. That's what their shell looks like. So if it's empty and collectible, it's just a piece of the shell. Here we have a little, that's a rather beat-up jingle. Here is a surf clam. So lots of those you'll find laying around. And sometimes some scallops. That's probably a discolored calico scallop. So there's definitely shells here. And it really just depends on what kind of day it is and if I decide what I'm going to keep. Tide right now is dead low or dead, it's at zero. Even though it's coming in, it had been negative. So we're still enjoying a nice low tide finding things like this calico clam and another juvenile fighting conch. I do like those and they're relatively common, but I still I still can't kind of resist them for some reason. Maybe one day, not yet though. That is a jingle and it's also called a baby's foot because on the inside sometimes you can kind of see a pattern and that is where the muscle of the animal attaches to the shell. So that is a jingle, also known as a baby's foot. And here we have a lightning whelk complete with all sorts of stuff on there. So these creatures will attach to something that they think is viable. That looks like they chose to attach themselves to a lightning whelk and that olive looked really light, but it's just a little bit weathered. And sometimes that can be really pretty too. So there's no right or wrong way to collect shells. You just go on and collect whatever you want. Oh, so that is a real pretty sand dollar, but you know what? I find so many of them I can actually be picky. That's how spoiled I am. So I'm gonna see if someone else might be interested in that little sand dollar there. Another calico clam and another calico clam. So now I can kind of show you if it's been on the beach for a while, it starts to kind of wear down. The color will wear down and it does make it a little bit harder to identify them. So then you're going to have to start relying on the shape and the shape alone and it makes it a little tricky. Okay here, so this is another example. This is a prickly cockle. This color is very light. This is not a typical colored prickly cockle. Of course you can tell because it has that texture on the surface of it. This is what they normally look like. So that's a quote unquote normal colored, although it doesn't normally have all that stuff on it, but from a color standpoint that is typically what they look like. And a piece and you never know, yeah, no it is not attached to a big old lightning welk. It's just a piece, but you never know. You never know. Oh I see something rolling around. Oh awesome! Okay so that's a horse conch. Of course it's not one of those big giant ones, but that's great size. And people typically call those ponies. So that's a little pony because it's just a little horse conch. I see a lightning welk. Yep, very nice. That one is a little bit more on the brown side. We had found that very yellow one a little bit earlier and it is missing the very bottom of the shell, but still totally viable and very pretty. And here is another juvenile fighting conch. I can see these actually being hard to identify because they vary so much in color and size and just the shape of the shell. Like this one, this is an adult. And again all sorts of stuff going on there. So that is not something I will keep. It's too bad because it probably would clean up pretty. Oh wow, we'll keep looking. Plenty of keepers here. Let's see if this is a keeper. Oh so pretty and so inhabited. So that snail is not done with its shell yet. So that is not something I am going to keep. I love these guys. They are snails. They take a while. Sometimes they'll come out and kind of give you a little show, but I only have so much time on the island. So as much as I would like to hang out and let this guy kind of come out and swing around, I'm gonna go ahead and put him back in the water and just keep looking for shells. We'll hang out with some of those critters another time. Okay here is another leucine. That is a buttercup leucine. Those are very easy to tell. If they have that yellow on the inside of the shell. So that's a buttercup leucine. And another fighting conch that's inhabited. Yeah I know it's hard to tell, but there is a creature in there and I was bummed about this one because that is a that shell would have cleaned up beautiful. But it's not for me. The snail is not done with it yet. Maybe one day in the future. All right let's see if this one's empty. Well it's empty, but it is inhabited. And check this out. So you've got a couple of slippers piled on top of each other and then a barnacle decided that that would also be a good idea. So I don't know. There's something telling these critters this is where you should be hanging out because the shell is empty, but it's not. There's still living things going on here. So that is another example of a shell that will need to stay at the beach. But we'll keep looking. Oh another sea star. Lovely little critter. And I've been doing lots of talking so now I'm going like to come up on the beach to see what's here. And look at this. That's a little corrugated jewel box with a little bit of beach stuff on there. That particular beach stuff is kind of hard to get off. But it is a corrugated jewel box so I'm going to keep it anyway. Okay another fighting conch. Let's see if we have. Oh it's beautiful. Look at that dark color. Yep I should have known there is a critter in there. So that unfortunately is another fighting conch that we cannot keep. It's big. I mean that one really had some oomph to it. So that we'll just let this critter finish doing its fighting conch thing. We have a keeper. Oh that's pretty too. It's probably inhabited. Yeah. I mean I like seeing the critters. Don't get me wrong. But I only have so much time. So again I'm trying to really be careful with my time. Look at his little eyeballs. And that's that little hook thing at the end. That's its operculum. So we saw a whole bunch of critters but none that we can keep. And for those of you that are new I do this every single week. Every Sunday I show a new video. Share all the things I'm doing and learning. Like I'm learning about containers to carry sand dollars in. Since this was a short trip I brought this just in case I found a whole bunch of sand dollars. I wouldn't have to leave too many at the beach. And look at this gorgeous lightning walk. Oh yeah definitely a keeper. And they do get their name from the zigzags on the juvenile shells. That is why they are called a lightning woke. And another moon snail. All right let's take a look. And that does not appear to have that gouged out area. So I think that is a true shark eye. And here's another critter. Another critter I'm just going to put in the water. That is a short spined sea urchin. And an empty fighting conch that doesn't have any slippers on it. Awesome. So we're going to hold on to that fighting conch. I'm real happy with that one. Oh another moon snail. Let's see what we got. If it's a shark eye or false shark eye. Yep shark eye. Doesn't have that gouged part but I'm not going to keep that shell. But I really again the more I see it the more I'll be able to identify the difference between the moon snails. And that is another juvenile fighting conch with really pretty pattern. A lightning woke. Another little lightning woke. Yep empty. That is a keeper. Excellent. Another one. All right let's look. All right see how it's got that gouged out area there. So that for me excellent. I can tell that that is a false shark eye. So I will be looking at the bottoms of these things going forward to I just need to see it a lot. Over and over and over and over. And then eventually I will nail it. Look at that dystocenia. And they really can tell the record pattern on that. I just like those. Looks like another common nutmeg. Oh very pretty. Very pretty nutmeg. It's got a little top. Nice color. Nice size. And oh look at here. Okay so we have a lettered olive that's got real nice lettering. Real nice V's. Some triangles in there. So that is really cool. But what I'm really interested is that one. It is not albino. But that is an elusive golden olive. It is very very shiny. I'm going to show you at the very end. I'll show you when they're all dry and next to another lettered olive. So that's not the last time we'll see that particular shell. And the water was just beautiful. It really was. I wanted to pinch myself the whole morning. I know I do this all the time but I just love it. And I feel so very fortunate. And that is a broken true tulip. Those are much more rare in my experience than the banded tulips. There's another juvenile fighting conch. It's a little more stout than some of the other ones. Still very nice. All right maybe I can put my Folgers container to work. Look at that sand dollar. Oh dear. Well I personally have a very hard time. Well these are alive but even if they weren't I probably would not have kept it because I don't successfully get those barnacles off. So I don't try. I figure let somebody else do them. The sand dollars tend to break on me. All right let's see what we got here. All right no gouged out area. So that is a true shark eye. Not a false shark eye. Yay we're making progress. So there's Coyacosta. I was really hoping I was going to pick up a whole bunch of sand dollars. I came equipped with my little container but you never know what you're gonna find. Did find a nice variety of shells and I was here for a very quick time. I only had to be back on the boat by 11 25 and I was there at 11 25. Not a minute earlier. I literally spent every spare minute I could on the beach. And here I wanted to compare the difference between these two shells. On the bottom that is a rough scallop and on the top that pink one that is a calico scallop. Now you can tell that the actual shells are shaped a little bit differently. The calico is a little more broad and those little wings on the bottom are short versus the rough scallop. Rough scallop had those bigger wings. So now I'm kind of hustling back to the boat because like I said I didn't want to take time away from anybody else because we're going to try to look for dolphins and whatnot. And I made it just in time back to the boat. And another one of the really cool things I like doing these tours is that you do learn about the area as well. So I learned about Pine Island which is the biggest Florida island and we're in the Pine Island Sound. So that is the body of water that we're in to kind of get to and from all these islands. In the background you'll see Pine Island there. So that is the biggest Florida island. And what's interesting on some of these other islands is there are inhabitants. So that is North Captiva and people live there but there's no infrastructure there. So they ride around on golf carts. There's no like paved roads. There is an airstrip right there. That is an airstrip. And if you think about it you know if they buy a new refrigerator or wash machine or how do they get rid of things well there's a barge that goes to and fro. So garbage and all sorts of things that need to get delivered and taken off the island are done by barge. So that was kind of cool and again I learned that on the trip. I will leave a link to Captiva Cruises in the description box below. But let's see what we found on our little trip. Again two hours so it was a short little trip. Did manage to find a couple of fighting cocks that I could keep which was cool and I love the colors of juveniles. And then a couple of those prickly cockles, the buttercup lucine, a couple of those sunray venus clams, the calico clams, a couple of ogres, the slipper snail, the jingles. We found one beat up apple murex, one beat up tulip, one spiny jewel box, a couple of scallops, a bunch of olives and that was pretty cool because I do love those olives. We learned a little bit about the shark eyes and then I did find lightning whelks, some common nutmegs which I liked and then my favorites were the horse conchs. That sand dollar with the pattern I just thought was gorgeous and the golden olive. So I didn't find an albino but I feel like I kind of manifested this albino, I'm sorry a golden olive. So let's take a look at that and why they're kind of special. So they kind of have that buttery color and you'll see it's very shiny. It is dry and totally shiny so it's not worn down. It didn't lose its color. That is the way it's supposed to be. So now is when I get to thank all of you. A special shout out to my Patreons who actually support me monetarily as I go out and I do my thing. So every week I bring you a new video. Next week we're heading to Sanibel. I'll tell you all about that, where I went, how I got there, where I parked, all that good stuff next week but until then I hope you have a great week and I will see you again next Sunday.