The challenges of shelling in the summer. Storms can't stop me!

Every time I come to the beach to film, I have two goals. Of course, I want to find beautiful seashells, but I'm also here to make a video that you'll enjoy watching. So, that just adds a little bit of pressure to the day, or as I like to see it, the opportunity to get really creative. Now, here's the thing. The beach doesn't always cooperate with my plans. Storms roll in, shells hide, and sometimes it feels like nothing is working out. But I've learned the real trick is to keep a flexible mindset, soak in the experience, and enjoy whatever the day brings. And let me tell you, this one had a few twists I didn't see coming. Some were frustrating, and some were magical. So stick with me because this adventure really reminded me that the best days aren't always the most predictable. And if you're ready to see how Kiwen and I got along on this day, let's go to the beach. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Okay, we are leaving the marina and we're headed over to Kiwen Island. The only way to get to Kiwen Island is via boat or if you're a really really strong swimmer or maybe if you could kayak there, but I went with a tour and I'll tell you about that at the end of the video. And so I also specifically came today because the tide was going to be low. So now these shell tours typically take maybe about 4 hours. You can go on shorter ones and longer ones, but today it's going to be about 4 hours from about 4 to about 8. Low tide is at about 6:30. So, that's going to be the sweet spot for me. But, as I alluded to at the beginning of the video, my plans and what the weather and the shell's plans are, they don't always marry up. So, I know that some weather is kind of pushing toward us. And so, I do want to hit the beach and go fast because I don't know how long we're going to be able to be out here. So, this is a little sandbar just to the south of Kiwen proper. Theoretically, we would have shelled here for a little while, made our way over to the island proper, but yeah, that was a beat up lightning. Well, what did anything? No fighting conx. Okay, so I am going quite quickly because of the weather, but that's not to say, you know, I really don't want to miss if there's anything good here. Now, the fighting conchs, they are my favorite shell, but I do I try if I can to hold off, but sometimes there's some that are just too pretty to leave behind. Now, for this one, what's getting me is kind of those zigzags. Oh, and it's got a little bit of a purple lip. Yeah. So, as try as I might to not pick them up until the end of my trip, it doesn't always work out that way. This one I'm not going to keep. It's It's clearly broken. But to see those that cool pattern on an adult snail shell is a little bit rare. A little bit. Oh, and the apple murix. The phonotus pom. Feel like I haven't been able to say that in a really long time. So, this is a welcome surprise. Hi, Apple Murix. Thanks for showing up. And this critter, I do think just because of the the fins that are kind of coming out the side, I think that's a batfish. And I had seen one. I don't know if it was the last time I was here or the time before. That's that's I Well, I kind of got that critter from very very shallow water into deeper water just so you can kind of see it a little bit better. Crazy critters. And hopefully we'll get to see critters, too. I don't care what we find. Just anything good. Oh, I just hope we can stay cuz it's it's kind of Yeah, it's it's raining at this point. Okay, here's an alphabet cone. Yeah, I'm probably not going to keep that. Yeah, it's not not in great shape, but they're here. We do know that the alphabet cones are here. And since it's raining, I'm probably Yeah, I'm hunched over like Quasimoto trying to kind of keep my camera dry as I'm shelling. And then I got my rain coat on. So, it's cool. I'm good. Here we have there. Sinister Fulgar Sinestrm the lightning welk. I am not walking all the way. Nope. And we're time is of the essence at this point. So, cool little puddle. I get most of the sand out of it. Excellent. All right. A nice looking shell. So, here we have a lightning welk. Oh, another one of those apple mirs. Yeah. Oh, you're nice, too. All right. Very nice. You're coming with me. Oh, man. And it's it's really raining. And guess what? My backpack was open. I got my raincoat on. I never closed my backpack. We all had to like evacuate. So, we got off cuz it it was going to get a little squirly where we are. So yeah, I took a quick screen grab. So we are getting out of that red area and then we had to hang out for a little while, which is fine. My only trepidation is that I really wanted to be down at the south end of Keyen shelling at low tide, but fantastic captain said, "You know what? We're we escaped the rain. Let's go to a different location." So that's what we did. So we're still on Keywan. We kind of just went a little bit north and we're going to cut through the back side to the front side. And look what I found right away. We have a rough scallop. Beautiful orange rough scallop that works for me. Okay, that's great. And then there was just like a little trail. So the the island is quite thin at this point. And this is clearly other boers do this. You kind of park on the back end of the island and you just kind of walk through to the Gulf side. So here we are on the Gulf side. I honestly I'm going to keep my fingers crossed. I don't think the shelling's going to be great here. And my only like trepidation is that time is ticking away. All right, so I might lose my tide. Let's see what all is here. Try try to be upbeat. [Music] Oh, it's not looking good. All right, what do we got? All right, a masi arc. I heard like three quarters of a mossy arc. Okay, bits and pieces. Ponderous arcs. Always ponderous arcs. All right, here's a little yellow or orange rather or something. All right, there's a calico scallop. It's not even in that good a condition. I I'm still pretty happy with it. There's a little orange calico scallop. Okay, a Florida prickly cockle. I'm not going to hold on to that. What do we got here? All right, there's a fighting Nah, I'm not going to hold on to that. All right. All right. What about this? All right, that's another Galagos scallop. It's broken, but at least it's got a little bit of pink on it. Oh, so this is some uh shelling in the summer. This is summer shelling. It is not easy. This is a thick lucine. I don't get to see those all the time. So, that's a little different. So, that is a thick lucine. And then again, ponderous arcs. Uh there's some cohogs. any. All right, here's another Florida prickly cockal. Yeah, you're you know it's got that like pinkish color. It's fine. A very average looking Florida prickly cockle. I guess average didn't cut the muster. Oh, we see all those uh propagules, those red mangrove propagules. We talked about that what a couple weeks ago. That's another calico scallop. Yeah. So, you know, in the back of my head, I'm kind of frustrated. I'm I'm going to admit because I'm here I'm trying to make a video and I'm I'm showing you broken shells. I mean, there's just not a whole lot here. This is a yellow prickly cockle. Kind of cool. I'm going to keep it. Yay. It's intact. It's got some nice color. Oh, what do we got here? Right. Another intact lightning welk. All right. That's great. Yep. Hey, it's a show. And this color, the color on this is really, really good. This Florida, look at that. Oh, that rich purple color. Just beautiful. Awesome. So, that that I'm going to be pretty happy with. But I do got to tell you, like I'm kind of in the back of my mind, I'm like, do I just put the camera down and just try to enjoy myself? I kept this. I really really liked the color. I know that there's a hole and even some gunk on it, but I kept it. I thought that was kind of pretty. So, yeah, like in the back of my mind, I'm going, "Yeah, this this I can't make a video with what I'm finding. I I can't." All right, that is a banded tulip or the Cura Hunteria and the orange ones, which are my favorite. I'm still filming, but believe I'm like, uh, what am I doing? What am I doing? Oh, well, hi Fighting Conch. All right, you are swell. Yep, you're clearly an adult. Yeah, I see that stromboid notch on you. And honestly, this cohog was kind of cool. The blue, isn't that beautiful? So, it's kind of discolored, but again, the kind of day I'm having, I think this shell is fantastic. So, I'm going to hold on to that. And okay, what do we got? A broken bay scallop. All right. That is not Yep. That's not really tickling my fancy. I have to admit. And so it was probably about now I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to put the camera away because I don't I want to enjoy myself here and I'm kind of fighting, you know, like I I really want to find great shelves, but really if I just find anything, that's that's enough. But the captain said, "You know what? Everything cleared up all the way down on Kwaden. Let's go back." And I'm like, "Okay." So, I'm like, "Okay, maybe maybe I can squeeze a video out." So, we're going back to the south end of Keyen. Yeah. You can see there's a lot of a lot of weather in the area. And I'm I'm a big weather fan, weather nerd, I might even say. And I just The clouds are beautiful. Okay, round two. We're back at Kiwen. This time, we're not going to the sandbar. This time we're just going to Kiwen proper because for all intent and purposes I mean low tide is pretty much about now. All right. Make it over. Okay. Yep. That's is this is about as low as the tide's going to get. And then the tide's going to start coming in again. And you know what? It's okay because see what I see. Can you see it? So that's all I needed. I just needed that color. Just a little bit of that color and white. And I found an alphabet cone. Or at least I found a piece. I'm going to try to unear it. Unsand it. Okay, that is what I am talking about. Finally. All right. All right, Key Waden. So far, you're winning. But I I do hope that I can find at least maybe one other one other um alphabet cone. Oh, it's beautiful. Thank you. Perfect. Perfect. Now, if you do see stumps, um things tend to get caught, posts, things like that. So, I came over here again, try to see if there was anything maybe stuck over here. It's It's not terribly uncommon to find, you know, the old broken shells. Oh, this is I mean, I don't think it's too old. This is a calico scallop. Beautiful color. Yeah, it's kind of soft. like the little wings on the bottom are kind of rounded down. Yeah. All right. That's not quite as black. If you were watching, I don't know if you caught the episode, this is back in January. I found this rough scallop here on Key Wade. I was It was like the last shell I picked up as I was leaving and oh, it was gorgeous. And that's unusual. The that is from the shell being buried. Isn't that beautiful? So, I do have an affinity for the very dark shells or just like the miscolored shells. You're going to come home with me even though you're not perfect. That's okay. Isn't that funny? We all have our the things that we kind of like and I'm not right. It's just a preference. So, that I prefer. So, this is a lettered olive. I do prefer them with a very pointy top and very shiny. It's just over time. That's just how I've really I just how I like to collect them. And that that critter is alive. I see it coming out of the the siphon coming out of the siphonal canal. So, I'm just going to leave leave that snail alone, but it looks like it was hanging out with this cool alphabet cone. All right. And it's intact. And of course, I would wonder like because there's so many attributes. The color, you can see it's missing like it's got a little it's missing a little bit of its uh color, but when you look at the back, it looks perfect. All right. That's a juvenile fighting conchk. Real. I'm really liking the pattern on this one. Frankly, today I'm liking a whole bunch of stuff I might not ordinarily like, but no, truthfully, I really I think that that's a very pretty shell with all the little zigzags on it. So, that is a juvenile fighting conchk. And isn't this piece of naker weird like the color it looked fake, so I was pretty excited about that. I couldn't wait to get that home and maybe try to make something out of that. Okay, here is an augur. Making sure there's no hermy in there. So, a common augur. Quite lovely. There is a couple different types of augers you can find here, but that is just your regular common augur. Here's another calico scallop. Oh, it's got that little that little sunburst pattern on it. And you can see the wings. I've been talking a little bit the bottom. It's supposed Oh, what do we got here? Well, it's an alphabet cone. Yep. I'm gonna leave that for somebody else. Yeah, I did find two already. Look at that. Oh, that is awesome. All right. To be fair, if that alphabet comb is in really good condition, I totally would have kept it. But I guess this is really just kind of keeping my attention. That beautiful calico scallop. Oh, that is a piece of a parel. And we'll put that by this most of a shark eye. Yeah. Okay. There's ponderous arcs. And this obviously this area the tide comes in, goes out, goes in, goes out because you can see all the green that gets to grow here. Oo. All right. Banded tulip. That's a nice though. Nice rich color on that. Lovely banded tulip. Okay. This has a nice rich color on it also. Now, this is a calico clam. Yes. Sometimes I I totally call one the calico scallop and one the calico clam, but the clams are going to be much smoother. The scallops have some ribs on them. So that is a calico clam. That is a live lettered olive. Cool. That's why it has that little notch on the bottom of the shell. It's actually the front of the shell, anterior part of the shell. So the water here is very very clear. It's just it's such a bummer. It feels like soon as it gets just like a little bit of depth to it, it gets a little bit cloudy. I have snorkeled here before. Not terribly successfully, but but I've done it. Oh, you know what? I think I see I see spots. I do. Hello, cone. Oh, gorgeous. No, I do. Oh, well, you know what? It's okay. I just I think the color is nice and pretty and rich. So, that is okay. Even though it's got a little bit Yeah, the top is a little flat and the aperture has got a little piece missing, but that's okay. Gorgeous alphabet con. Yeah, I'm seriously thrilled with all everything I'm finding. Look at this. It's like a pair of earrings. So, I found that other orange rough scallop soon as I got off the boat for the other location. That is gorgeous. Got a little bit of that calccarious worm stuff on there, but that'll come off. Gorgeous rough scallop. Beautiful. Oh, I thought that might have been an apple mir, but we're looking at a live lettered olive. Wow. Yes. I mean, it is so shiny. The animal kind of like wraps its It's kind of like cowies, too. That's why they're so shiny. The animal kind of wraps its body around its shell when it's cruising around. All right. Scallop. Calico. Scallop. Yeah. One of the runof-the-mill, but you're not broken. You don't have any holes. Yep. You're lovely. More spots. Yes. Oh, I almost started chanting, "Please be whole. Please be whole." Oh my god. Yay. Oh, now I'm feeling so fun. Like the I'm telling you, today was such a crazy roller coaster day. It was Yeah, it was fun. And here, this fighting conch, it really just reminded me of why they are my favorite shell. Now, this one isn't exactly like the best one I've ever picked up, but there's so many different attributes of it. The pattern of it, the actual texture, the knobs. Oh, just love those fighting conchs. I see another alphabet con. And this was actually my favorite one. It's a little bit smaller. It's perfect. Gorgeous little. So, obviously it's a little more juvenile. So, beautiful little alphabet cone. Orange. Yeah, that is a calico scallop. Love that color. Yep. Keeping that for sure. And that little bit of bleach stuff. I'm going to pop that in. Did I say bleach stuff? That beach stuff. I'm going to throw that shell in bleach. Just like this one, actually. So, this fighting conchk go. I just think it's the shape of it. Its knobs are kind of pointy. Yeah. And there's a little bit of a honey color. I can just tell that that's going to clean up. Well, at least I feel like I can just tell it's going to clean up really nice. So, yeah. What? So, I What a day. I was excited to get here and then I had to get drugged off the island and then I didn't think I was going to be able to make a video and now I'm back and finding alphabet cones. So, for me it was a couple of hours of ups and downs. So, the storm looks like it's pushed south even more. But I would just like to point out, you notice what happened? We didn't just give up and go back to the marina and call it a day. We went to a second location and then the captain said, "Let's go back to the south end of Kiwan." So, I'm not here with Ally, but I am here on an unguided tour with SWFL Shell Guide. Anytime I go on a tour, I'm this is who I go with because I just trust their ability to get me where I want to go, where the shells are going to be, to keep me safe, and to really care. Because, like I said, we didn't just give up, go back to the marina, and said, "Hey, too bad. Could have tried another time." So, I really thumbs up for S SWF Shell Guide and the captains that she chooses to use because they're just terrific. Now, after all of that talking, it really is beautiful and I think it is high time for me to be quiet for a little while and let you enjoy some beach time. the sunray Venus clam. Clam doesn't feel very uh glamorous, does it? But I do I call these fancy clams. Actually, I think the calico clams are fancy, too. I think they're pretty. Okay, another banded tulip. Oh, look at the repair this one had to do at some point. Wow. So, yeah. I mean, shells. Shells. Snails make their own shells. And so, if it breaks, they repair it. And sometimes you can really see how um just how resilient these animals can be. Is that another It is another alphabet cone. Wow. That's kind of weird. It's almost like it's very narrow. It's a very narrow alphabet cone. All right. I know the beach stuff on top, but that was very crumbly. I was able to get that right off. Very pointy. So, again, that'll just pop in bleach. Yep. Another alphabet cone. Woohoo. Okay. So, yeah. Out there. So, that is the sandbar that I was shelling on earlier. At this point, the tide Yeah, it's coming back in. So, yeah, that sandbar is going away. And that's why I mean you've heard me if you've ever seen any of my videos, I always talk about shelling at low tide. It just it exposes more beach and it just makes this whole thing a whole lot easier. I'm already struggling in the summer to find shells as it is. Summer is not the ideal time to go shelling, but I still do it at low tide now because of all those storms. Look at these clouds. Isn't that beautiful? And sometimes we get to see dolphins and other wildlife. And there will be a little dolphin popping up in a minute. Now, this was really weird. So, that is not the source. That is to the east. And so, I don't know why the clouds and the light were doing that weird thing because that's where the sun is. That is west where the sun is setting. So, I don't know why the the sky was doing that. It it was just it just was interesting. Oh, I find a lot of this nature stuff interesting, frankly. And then there's the dolphins. Some bottl-nose dolphins. Now, a couple weeks ago, we talked about we had only seen one dolphin, but here you do see two. So, it is likely a male and its buddy. So, they create an what they call an alliance, and they will be pals for their whole lives. They'll hunt together. They'll find girlfriends together. They'll do all the things that male dolphins do. Lift weights. Uh read books, smoke cigars. I I what whatever they do. So, there were a couple of bottomless dolphins out there. And look at this. Just glorious. And then you mix a little bit of that sun going down the red and purple. I'm going to show you purple in just a minute. I think the boat captain really said it the most eloquently when he said there's just it's a really special time to be on the water. So this type of evening in the summer um where the clouds are just soaking up all those beautiful colors as the sun sets. So yeah, all in all it did turn out to be a pretty amazing day. a couple of little roller coasters there for me. But like I said, the whole day was really great. And I did end up with a couple of great shells. I did snag that cohog. There was two apple mirs. I did get some of those Florida fighting conchs. There are some worm snails, the lightning welks, and there was one little coina, some augers, a shark eyee, an olive, that yellow prickly cockle, those dark shell, and a dark jingle. There are some banded tulips, Florida prickly cockals, some calico scallops. Yep, there's a couple of those. There is the calico clam, the sunray venus clam. I did grab some of that naker. My orange shells, which are all also calico scallops. And then my favorites are those two orange rough scallops and the alphabet cones. So, not too shabby for summer. Frankly, this is pretty darn good. And just I didn't have a whole lot of time out there bec Well, I mean, I guess I did, but we were at that other spot where the shelves really weren't that great. But it was what it was. I just wanted to bring you a good video, but I also didn't want to make myself miserable while I was doing it. So, all in all, I feel like it worked out. Patreons, thank you so so much for choosing to support me. I literally, and I say it, I know I couldn't do this without you. So, thank you so much. I really do appreciate you. Oh, and welcome new Patreons. I do update this list about once a month. Now, next week, I'm going to stay local in my area. I'm either going to go to Lever's Key or Fort Myers Beach. I don't know which yet. They both are very appealing, so I'll work it out. But at any rate, next Sunday I'll bring you another beachcombing video. Until then, I hope you have an amazing week, and I will see you again next Sunday.