Florida Beach Walk; Sea Shell Hunting at Low Tide. Shells, Critters, Birds and Beachy Goodness!

well hi there beach friends how do you feel about a really low tide walk on the beach looking for some shells and critters and birds and whatnot well if that's kind of thing you feel like doing you're in luck because that's exactly what we're gonna do so let's go to the beach [Music] [Applause] [Music] today we are going to be at fort myers beach i frequent this beach it generally provides me good stuff it's easy access and we're going to start off with a little bit of churning surf here that's what i was contending with and i got myself an olive okay that's a pretty guy not a golden one but he's real pretty and looks like we got ourselves a pretty good pair welk when i say pretty good it's a little bit of a chip there what else are we gonna find a cone here we have a florida cone not too shabby he's chipped a little bit but great color the cones are always a fine find a little oh man it's broken how pretty oh well what do we got here oh another one that's a banded tulip he's chipped we'll just look at it from this angle what else we got there's some stuff rolling around see if we can find something good like this guy oh it's real pretty that is a juvenile florida fighting conch oh i love the pattern on that guy what do we got here a giant atlantic cockle hinge um he's been rolling around for a while that's definitely a little bit too much cleaning for me so i'm gonna leave it where i found it another olive giving it the old gloss test i wish you guys could feel olives because when they're shiny they're really really glossy it's they're they're just they're awesome now here we have another chipped pear elk at least it's got a little color on it and a lightning milk that's a swell little pointy guy right all right let's just take a minute and listen to the beach i love when there's nobody there it's my favorite all right what do we got oh that's a really pretty lightning milk really dark color he's a decent size oh that's a fabulous find real happy with that looks like i'm going to get myself oh now that's an awesome olive look how pointy he is all right got a little story here now this beautiful banded tulip gorgeous shell but i didn't keep it because i was shelling very close to another woman who was from texas and i felt kind of grabby about it and plus i get to show all the time so she was close enough and i felt like she should have this shell so i handed this shell over to her and she gave me something in return i want to tell you about that a little bit later in the video but this guy i did not take home but this guy i did he's real pretty a little banded tulip and a lightning milk complete with beach stuff yep there's the beach stuff and there's the shell oh look how dark that guy is i can't help it guys i love those olives what do we got here that is a washed out with a little hole in it alphabet cone but still a decent find and check this out i hadn't even put down that first one yet and i found another one now again not in great shape but still finding the cones is always kind of cool look at this little guy see little eyeball it's a juvenile florida fighting conch is kind of chilling out in there can't keep them so we'll just admire the shell and put them back what another cone that's a florida cone he needs to be cleaned up a little bit but still the cones are cool look how dark and light oh man that's an awesome olive you guys probably think i'm nuts but i love them what a little nutmeg hearty little shells and another one i love that little twisty part on the inside and a juvenile horse conk it's just a little guy he's still pretty i love that they're bright orange gotta love that orange another cone look at that now this guy's pretty devoid of any color but that is a florida cone there's some pelicans just kind of hanging out figured i'd pick my head up see if i see a dolphin or anything i'm back to shelly oh hey buddy here we have a live banded tulip there's his operculum kind of poking out there oh pretty shell all right buddy thanks for thanks for the visit just put you back oh and an apple murrex he's a little pitted and not perfect but i'm still gonna keep him and another one ooh now he's in much better shape that's like almost perfect great color intact and here we have a florida fighting kanken look at how knobby see all those little points on the top look at that compared to this guy this is almost like a knobless florida fighting conk same shell like same variety of critter but this one just looks so much different interesting and here we have a sand dollar and he is expired so he is safe to keep and i just decided uh i'll leave them for somebody else i have plenty of sand dollars and disc docena these are fun shells i have seen them when they were actually littered the beach with these guys they're kind of cool and another olive he's happy it's a fine shell and another nutmeg he's cool he's got his point he's not quite as white as some of the other guys but still a good shell right and another pair welk well that's unusual he's in pretty good shape he's got his color he's not too broken neat shells and another one look at this little guy i like the tops of them they just kind of got that twirly thing that's a fine shell i see some olives rolling around there so this is kind of what i'm doing just kind of walking along seeing if something kind of strikes my eye i might hang around and try to grab it let's see what am i hunting a nutmeg with a couple holes oh well not perfect but it'll do looks like i see another yup ooh he's got some nice color on him he's missing his little top but he's got great color good size i can't resist look at that oh he's nice and big look at how big that shell jammed in there is oh that's a fabulous big fat olive and this i was looking up on the beach and i spied this guy ugh this is a true tulip and it would have been so pretty but it's busted so let's check it out keep moving looks like some of the tide is pushing some of the shells on the beach so now i'm gonna have to start zigzagging back in the water found this fabulous apple murax nobody's home he's a keeper i heard crabs like those for some reason and here i am up on the beach i see a crown conch oh wow a third i see third of a crown i actually kind of like that i like that the way that this guy is broken so i'm gonna keep it no i got a nautica yay color from wound snail i love these guys oh he's in fabulous shape great color you can see his stripes oh he's pretty yay oh looks like i might have just ran into my husband who found two nutmegs and a gorgeous juvenile florida fighting conch holy cow is that thing pretty nobody's home just making extra special care oh oh man look at that stripe in the middle that's awesome i am loving that shell all right what else we got another cone what there's another florida florida cone it's got almost no color but still a cone holy cow it's cone day at fort myers beach i found myself another florida cone at least he's got a little bit of color awesome cone day and florida fighting conch had to at least see if he was there's anything real special about this guy he's just kind of a regular old standard run-of-the-mill florida fighting conch but i'm keeping it anyway oh a banded tulip he's in relatively good shape only a little chip that'd be a great mirror shell right just kind of just that one side what else we got oh another crown conch except this guy's not broken not great color his spikes are kind of there but i'm still they're not that easy to find i'm keeping it looks like after all that shelling i figured i needed a break so let me just pick my head up and check out the birds drying themselves off no dolphins today but i did find this oh man you guys think i'm nuts i think that that shell is awesome no it's just a florida fighting conch but still and here's another one this is a juvenile florida fighting conch i can't get over they're just so cool i like it and we got ourselves a shark eye he's a little bit chewed up but a shark eye nonetheless at least nobody snacked on them another cone awesome another florida cone really unusual to find this many cones on the same day this has never happened to me and an alphabet cone all right he's a little chip but he's got pretty good color he's in pretty decent shape that's a pretty good find wow with these cones oh a little nutmeg a little bright orange nut bag and lightning welcome two little orange guys oh and a calico scallop these kind of pretty these you'll find every all over sanibel not quite as easy to find on fort myers beach and nutmeg and an auger if it was a critter kind of day i'd have to be real careful because sometimes those hermit crabs will get in those guys but i'm not finding that many critters and that guy looks safe to take home all right looks like the water is cleared up a little bit here a little easier to spot a cone there's another florida con all right definitely not perfect but i'm still kind of excited to find all these cones and nutmegs so it looks like it's either a cone or a nutmeg kind of day this is kind of cool got kind of that white stripe on the left there and the sunray venus i do like him when the accent color is black but he's a little discolored so we'll just kind of check it out leave it for somebody else and this handsome fella this is a great egret these guys grow up to about 32 inches tall don't see these guys as much the herons i do see not these so much these guys specialize in skewering fish with their sharp pointed bill they stock the surf and other coastal waters but they're actually more common inland go figure oh and a rose petal talon these are pretty much ubiquitous they're everywhere i don't always pick them up but you know if it happens to be there sometimes i'll just decide to keep it look at this lightning well this is probably the prettiest lightning walk we've ever collected i thought it was spectacular it's not just dark it's black and it wraps all around the edge there oh man i thought that was just spectacular and this guy was also really pretty nice dark coloring not quite as gorgeous as the previous shell but still a very pretty lightning and a little keyhole limpet i think this is the first one we found down here in southwest florida kind of cool and a button snail whoop they're tiny look at this guy he looks like a chestnut turban like that shape the way he kind of spirals around but on top he's quite a bit different they don't get very big that's about as big as they're gonna get that's a cute little guy and another nutmeg shocker watch the next thing i find is going to be a cone nope a fargo worm snail i like those worm snails they look nice kind of all mixed in with the other shells i'm gonna keep it and another disc dosenia yup kind of a like the shape of those guys so the tide is starting to come back in it's covering up the sandbars again the sun is coming out it's a lovely kind of day and if you like this kind of thing i do recommend you subscribe well this little short spined urchin bloop he's alive he's alive and well he's fine do you want to be careful if you're going to handle these guys but it's perfectly safe they cover themselves with shells and other debris using their suckered tube feet so they do a little tube feet in there and it covers itself in shells it's kind of a cool thing they do and look at this guy that is alive even though he's kind of chipped it looks like he repaired himself that is a live sand dollar so now that the tide is coming in let's get them let's get them out in the water a little bit here you go friend and this guy was hoping it would be in good shape because i love the shell those the florida fighting that are that color but he's a little beat up oh well oh little top snail these guys too they do not get very big that's about a medium-sized one believe it or not and another lightning milk so it looks like the tide is starting to push some shells up onto the beach look at this spiny little guy that's a spiny jewel box and he's a little bit pink and he's super spiny oh i gotta like those guys another nutmeg why not what's one more right look how spiny he is oh love love love those spiny weird shells and this is a lace mirex that has seen better days complete with a diving pelican in the background um not much to say about this guy kind of kind of beat up oh look now here's a mangrove tree they're all over there's all different kinds of mangrove trees and i just find they're interesting because they're so lifted off the ground that kind of with their roots they're just kind of lifted and they create cool little sanctuaries for critters when the water does get high so it looks like the sun is definitely out at this point and we're probably making our way back up the beach and let's see what else we find on our return trip well sure i'll take a gory nordica there's another colorful moon snail awesome now remember when i told you the woman who i gave that banded tulip to also kind of left me with something well this is a half naked pen shell and she was talking about these shells that looked like tacos and i thought you know what you're right that looks exactly like a beach taco so i think from now on i'm going to pick these up and i'm calling them beach tacos because that's what it looks like here's another lace mirex it's a little bit lacy not too much almost devoid of color but still kind of a cool shape right now people have asked me what do i use for a shell bag so this beat up mesh thing this is what i use i've been using it since i started swf peach life i had to elongate the handle and i just tied something on because i could not sew anything that wouldn't keep ripping so i just tied that other expansion piece on there that i will put my sand dollars my delicates any tinies i'll put in that little container that always stays in my shell bag and then i just kind of put that over my shoulder and off i go so nothing fancy nothing special but it definitely works and i'll add this to my bag this little he's a little bit beat up but there we have an apple mirex yep definitely got more stuff going on the beach now what i find i top snail these are quite a bit bigger than that one we found earlier but that's about as big as i get and here we have a shark eye on the bottom and apple muric's in the middle and another cone man awesome cone day and another little tops now cool a little apple mirror he's in good shape good color little guy oh he's pretty and yay another colorful moon snail all right this guy's got some mud and whatnot in there tried to kind of see what i could wash out looks like i'm going to need to do a little bit more cleaning on that guy but still love them colorful moon snails of course another cone there's a florida cone crazy how many cones today and another top snail it's so weird you'll just find that same shell a couple times over i don't know why it works like that but it definitely does and then we're gonna end it with this little bit broken but very colorful moon snail wow too bad he's chipped but i'm still keeping it so this is all the goodies we found we did pretty good today let's start off with a bunch of coral that i didn't show you collecting but my husband picked up and a couple scallops those are real pretty those crown conks one of them there's only like half of it but that's okay i kept them anyway and the florida fighting conch and all those nutmegs which is crazy a couple of those florida um the lightning walks and that dark lightning walk so different than the other ones really really pretty a couple the lace and apple murax a bunch of olives a couple of shark eyes a bunch of gaudi nautica's i mean that's awesome in itself all those cones crazy greasy cones and then a couple of these top snails couple button snails spiny jewel box that limp bit that was kind of cool and the banded tulips and some augers and sarah so all in all really fun day to be out and about and i thank you guys for coming with me next week i'm going to take your lover's key and we are going to preview their discovery center which it's not open yet so you guys are going to get to see something that nobody else has seen yet so make sure you subscribe and i'll see you next sunday