Let's spend some time at the beach together and I'll identify everything I find!

Hello beach friends. I am excited to finally be hitting the sand. I don't know what is going on here in South Florida with the weather, but it's been raining every day at any time of the day. I planned on going to record yesterday, but the forecast, well, it was pretty grim. And when my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and I checked the radar, well, I decided to save my nerves from the whole fear of lightning thing and just try my luck another day. So, we're here today at Fort Myers Beach postourishment to see what might show up. Now, of course, there is a threat of rain for me, and I did pack a rain coat, but with any luck, I won't get chased from the beach. All right, we got stuff here. OB, it also looks like it had been raining. Here's a Florida prickly cockle. Very common, very beautiful. I just adore those little prickly shells. So, I've decided that today's theme, other than lady finds some seashells, is perspective and how perspective can change everything because it's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see. So, we're going to comb Fort Myers Beach and just see what all is out there. Looks like the weather. There's a little bit of fog out there. There's some rain out in the distance. So, I'm just going to be paying attention to all of my electronic devices while I'm still trying to find delightful things on the beach, creatures, whatever just might show up. You know, it sure would be nice if I could control what shows up on the beach, but as many times as I've placed my order, I get what I get. So, that is a variable coina. And so is this beautiful, really colorful, and they're all different variable co coinas. We learned that a couple weeks ago. The reason that they're all different colors is that so birds don't really identify the patterns and it makes it a little bit harder for them to um be spotted and eaten. So there's not much in the water. I'm going to head over here to kind of like the rack line. See if there's anything up here. All right, that's a piece of a horse conchk. Seeing bitter days. Yep. evidence that it had been raining at some point. Oh, your crossbar Venus clam. Probably the most common seashell on the beach and not, you know, not unusual. You would find the common things, but we are going to find at least a couple of treasures. It is tough this time of year. Summer is not traditionally a great time to go shelling, but I will do my hardest to find some goodies and some creatures, including a close and personal look at some bottl-nose dolphin. So, if you're ready to see what all is out there for us today, let's go to the beach. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Now, I don't know how you guys roll, but when I go to a beach, I kind of want to know what I'm finding. Like, is this a good show? What is this? That right there, that is a white Atlantic Semile. There are a couple different simileies in the simile family. That's the white Atlantic variety. Here is a card. A broad ribbed Carda. [Music] It's been hanging around for a little while, but I like the strong colors on it. I see pink. Oh. Oh, it's broken. Yeah. Rose petal talon. This particular beach, Fort Myers Beach, I used to find rose petal talons all over the place. But that really changed once they laid down that new sand. And I'll talk about that about that new sand periodically. Right here, I see rubble. Yeah, just like broken shells. Nothing terribly exciting. In the summer, I do, if I can, I prefer to shell in the water, but clarity, seaweed, you know, other things can kind of prevent me. the fact that there's no shells there. So, yeah, I got my eye kind of. Beautiful. Those clouds are pretty. But just kind of I realize there's weather out there. So, I'm just going to kind of be aware of what's going on. Although, it's hard. I get really distracted by everything on the beach. This is a buttercup lucine. Yep. There's also many lucines, but that one is a buttercup variety. Here's a clam. Now, this is a calico clam. It's rather fancy if you ask me. And apparently the balms that are called clams are the ones that are edible. So perhaps that's edible. I myself have never um gone to the beach and eaten anything, but that's not to say that other parts of the world don't do that. Many, many places do. That is a sinistra. Sinestrm or a lightning welk. Oh, a little nutmeg. Cute little thing. And we can see on the other side those columel folds. Those little twisty things. All right. So, we have a lightning welk and a little nutmeg. Oh, and a cockal. Not to be confused with a clam. They are quite different. That one is a giant Atlantic cockle. beautiful strong colors on it that kind of translated to the other side. I'll talk about that in a little bit, too. There's a horse It's been It's been hanging out here for a while. I haven't seen one that size or that color in months. Hopefully soon. Hopefully fall shilling reveals some of the good stuff as the months march by. That is a lettered olive. Beautiful, pointy, and glossy. It's a fine find. All right, that's a pear welk. It is missing its bottom. So, I'm not going to hold on to that. But that lightning um lightning welk, the lettered olive, I'm going to hold on to that. Oh, there's another nutmeg. And you can really see those folds now. Really neat. I call those peekaboo shells. You can kind of peek inside. It's kind of neat. All right, so a couple little things. I've often stated that this is my favorite beach. It's changed a lot, though. There's a lot of sand here that didn't used to be here and it really just kind of changed the profile of the beach and what is showing up. So, it's going to be a while before it really kind of settles down in my opinion. This is a calico scallop. Gorgeous little thing with that little fleck of orange. Lovely. So, yeah, this beach has gone through many changes. Wow. So, that building on the left, that's the one I used to battle with with at high tide. Not anymore. So, there wasn't a whole lot there. Just kind of grit. But look, look at this little thing. I don't know what it is. It's a toss between a Gulf oyster drill and a rib canth. I cannot I just can't tell. It's adorable. I will be holding on to that. And that's Yeah, it's just grit. I'm sometimes hope that there'll be like little tiny shells in there, but I found one. So yeah, this beach has changed a lot. Oh, look. This is also where I f I found my first sand dollar here at Fort Myers Beach. Probably right about this area. Lovely little five-hole keyhole sand dollar. They are just terrific. I hope I never tire of picking them up. I do. I still think it's kind of magical. Here is a turkey wing or a zigzag arc. Arcs are another kind like family of seashells. Jingle. Bright orange. Jingle. Nice little flash of color. Buried treasure. Another turkey wing. Wow, that is in great shape. They're funky kind of. Yeah, the older they get, they just they don't farewell the older they get. Oh, it's very flat beach, but it's very pretty. Yeah, this was the beginning of where the really good shelling would start and uh it's just different right now. Going to have to wait. Just going to have to wait. I mean, the beaches continues to change from before they put the sand down while they were putting the sand down. Now, it just I just kind of kind of have to wait. Like I said, here's another sand dollar. Terrific. So, there are still goodies here. And frankly, it is harder to find stuff in the summer anyway. So, I have a couple things kind of working against me as far as coming here to go uh shelling or beachcombing really, a couple of sand dollars. Now, I will put those in hydrogen peroxide. That's going to be not all of them. It doesn't work with all of them, but most of them they'll get really white and it doesn't damage the actual test of the sand dollar. Wow. That is so pretty. So, I guess you could see a really flat beach or you could see a pretty morning. I guess that's all about that perspective, right? The birds are loving the seaweed. There's not much trapped. I was kind of hoping that stuff would be kind of trapped in it. Okay, so the tide is still going out. It's not going to be a really really low tide. It'll be a low tide. like good enough to get me to the beach low tide, but not one of those like killer killer great negative or zero tide. Yep, I see rain out there. And I just decided, look, if something goes squirrely, I'm just going to break for one of the the hotels or of the condos. Like it it is what it is. So, there's breakers out there. So, the sand is piled up and you can see kind of Can you see the white caps out there from the um from the ocean? That's because there's a sandbar out there. So, it could be trapping seashells all the way out there. And that means they're not going to make it over here. But, is it true? It's possible. I don't know. Oh, look. So, this is a horseshoe crab shell. They do mol and as they grow, they get like crabs. Well, it is, I guess, a type of crab, even though they're closer related to spiders than they are crabs, but that little seashore arachnid does uh grow and shed its outer exoskeleton. So, that's what that is. Oh, terrible. That is the exoskeleton of fast food. Okay. Not really. And that little weird thing, that is either beach brains or um sea pork. It's sea pork or sea liver. I call it beach brains. Yes. And more plastic. We'll get that off the beach. So, very messy here. I love a messy beach, but it just seems to be more like leaves and stuff. Oh dear. Okay. So, there we go. There's some sea pork there. That kind of phallic looking thing. Right. Here's another Atlantic giant cockal. Excellent. Oh, it's really pretty interior. Lovely. that C park. Okay, there is a sunray Venus clam. And I don't know if you noticed it was open just a little bit and now it's not. So that means it's probably alive. And I did, you know, kind of just kind of get my fingernail on there. Yep, that critter is definitely alive. So I'm going to leave it leave it here in the water. It's got a lot of parostum on it. Kind of like that brown kind of making it shell look messy. And then I felt something in my foot. Oh, look at that. All right. Get one into the water. Pull rescue one from the water. They have a pretty decent hinge. It's not uncommon to find them hinged like that. Yeah, pretty. And if you were to bleach it, it's very It's a really pink kind of shell. All right, back up to the mess. Let's see what else might be up here. I'd love to clean it up. All right, back. Oh. Oh, a shell. So, an apple murix or the phous pom. Lovely. I have not seen one of those. Those are actually kind of common, but not on a day like today. Not in the summer. I don't think anything except for maybe the crossbar Venus clams are really common in the summer. But let's see what else shows up. So, I was trying to show in the water, but but all the leaves and it was like shelling in chocolate milk. So, yeah, I try as I can. All right, here we have another giant Atlantic cocko. Let's take a look at that inside. I typically won't keep them unless it's got a pretty interior. Yep, that'll pass. Lovely. Especially on a day like today. So, yeah, I used to pick them up because I'd like to fill them with the rose petal talons here at Fort Myers Beach, but that's changed for now. For now. Oh, now this is kind of cool. So, this is a jingle, and it's very uncommon to find them hinged like that. So, they have these things called Bissell threads, and that is what goes through that little hole on the bottom of the shell and attaches to a substrate like a rock or something else. So, normally just the top comes loose, and that's why we find only the jingle shells without that little hole in it. So, that's pretty cool. A hinge. You don't find those all the time. That is a duck clam. A chneled duck clam. There are also a smooth duck clam. Those are harder for me to find. I tend to find those. They're also called sailor's ears. Shoot. You can call it whatever you want, I guess, but that's what us shelling people call it. Okay. Is it alive? Yeah. Oh, it's gorgeous. All right. So, we have a five hole keyhole sand dollar. It is alive. And well, look at that psyia. So that's how it moves. It's literally just all those little feet kind of help it move along the bottom of the ocean. And then as it finds food, it'll also use those little psyia things to get the food into the its mouth, which is on the very center of the other side. So on the underside, kind of cruises along eating sand, eating bits of this and that. Yeah, it's hard to shell in water that you can't see through. So, I'm going to put that sand dollar in there and see what else. Oh, there's another one. But I can see the sand piled up on the one side. So, I know it's alive. I'm not going to disturb it. I'll just leave it alone. I know it's alive. All right, let's keep it moving. So, I'm pretty I'm heading toward the south end of Fort Myers Beach. And look at this. I literally heard it. Now, also notice the bird. So, a lot of times birds kind of hang out with the dolphins hoping to kind of like grab the leftovers if there's anything. And so, they're hunting. There are two dolphins here. So, they're likely going to be two males. And what they'll do, I've seen them do it before. They kind of chase the fish into the shallower water where it's a little bit easier to kind of catch them. Look how close. So, yeah, it's pretty close to the uh to the edge there. So, it hung around for a little while. This is how I normally see them, like kind of in the distance. It's It really is. It's very thrilling. And then Yeah, you gota That was close. It was very very close. And it was It was chasing that f chasing those fish. Yeah. Very exciting. I would I mean that's what maybe not even 10 feet from where you're standing on the beach. Really exciting. I myself would uh not be approaching them. They don't care. They're going to knock you over. Yep. So, the bottl-nose dolphin. Really exciting. Now, this is actually also really exciting, like a teaching moment. So, I was talking about the jingle and how it attaches through that hole in the bottom and those Bissell threads and oh, I think it's like a teaching moment where I have the the jingle and then the Bissell threads are probably attached to that little piece of shell. Now, the jingle I can tell it's it's in there. It's not alive, but Oh. Oh, that's really cool. kind of this like little teaching tool. So, I'm going to hold on to that. Well, speaking of jingles, here's another one. I don't know if you noticed that the other hinge jingle that they were different colors. The top and the bottom were different colors. Here we have a jingle on the left and a buttercup lucine. That was what was on the right. And I'm still trying to go in the water, but it looks like most of the stuff I'm really kind of finding is up here on the beach. Crossbarred Venus clam. That is not something I say often. I don't pay a lot of attention to them. They're just that common. Sometimes they're very yellow. Sometimes they could be kind of purple and all different states of being worn down. So, yep, that is a crossbar Venus clam. I'll try to do a better job in also pointing out the things that are very, very, very common. We've already talked about this, the Sunray Venus clam. I guess you could eat those. I thought actually if you had your saltwater fishing license you could take those but I couldn't find that information again. This is a Florida prickly cockal. And what interested me so much was that the delicate color. So this would be what I think would be considered albinistic compared to a quote unquote regular Florida prickly cockle. So the albinistic one is on the left and the regular one is on the right. And even that strong color translates to the top side of the shell too. So, just interesting. Just one of those things that just kind of interest me. Nice fighting conchk. Nothing I'm going to keep and collect. It's kind of got some pits and whatnot in it. Definitely a keeper for somebody. So, that is a fighting conchk. Technically, a West Indian fighting conchk. And then that is a slipper shell that it is a gastropod. So that would um attach itself, not glue, but it would attach itself to uh rocks, substrate, things of that nature. Oh, okay. There's one one beautiful pink rose petal telon. I'll take it. One is good. It's like hope. That means that they're not completely gone. Maybe they'll come back. So the rose petal talon, at least I know I to find them on Lover's Key, so there's that. All right. Lightning welk. Yeah, a little chip in it. That's a deal breaker for me, but not for somebody else, I bet. So, I'm going to leave that there. So, kind of Yeah, it's summer. It's slim. Okay, so I've made it pretty much down to the south end of Fort Myers Beach. Guess what that is? What about now? That's a cohog. But because it's juvenile, sometimes they have zigzags on them and clearly sometimes they have kind of those little ridges on them. So that's a juvenile cohog. Interesting how they can just be so different from the small to the large to the adults. Oh, thunder. All right, let's check the old devices. Yep, there's something out there. Keep an eye on that. So far so good. I haven't been chased off yet, so I've been able to enjoy this. Absolutely. Beautiful morning here on Fort Myers Beach. And I do think it is time for me to be quiet and allow everyone else to enjoy some beach time. Now, I don't have any sponsors. I would love a sponsor, but the people that kind of reach out, it just doesn't make sense. I don't think you guys want to hear about carbon monoxide detectors. So, I don't accept those offers. And I'm able to do that because of my Patreons. So, Patreons, I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to keep my brain focused on all things beach and all weather and just things that would make your time at the beach more enjoyable instead of me trying to figure out how I'm going to weave in some software or just any other kind of products that just don't make sense. So, Patreons, thank you for allowing me to really just concentrate on all things beach and not worry about any of those other kind of products or software or things that just don't make sense for the channel. Cute little bird. I tried to figure out what kind of bird it was and turns out some of these birds, they change their colors based on the time of year. So, yeah, I got stuck. It's not a ruddy turn. It looked like the size of a ruddy turnstone, but the coloring was just off and I I couldn't figure it out. That's another thing just because you come to the beach I get to see these birds a lot and gh garbage. We'll take that off. And I did so just kind of by happen stance I get to learn. I did another check on the weather. There was no lightning. So that my lightning tracker is a great app to have. They are not a sponsor. I'm just telling you that because it is an excellent thing to have on you. Keeps you safe. All right. This is a live banded tulip. Hello little creature. Yep. So, you are living nice looking shell. Just going to tuck you in. Leave you be. Kind of surprising. I've only seen one. Actually, now that I think of it, it's not all that surprising. The tide was low today, but it was only at about 2, so it wasn't like super low. That building, that's the one that I've done battle with, and we are many, many yards away from it now. So that's what that renourishment did. Kind of keep the keep the beach from not being in someone's living room, but it obviously it, you know, it changes everything. Oh, here's another bird. Here's a little snowy egret. And I wanted to know if it was an adult or a juvenile. And it's an adult. The juveniles have a yellow stripe running up the back of its leg. And there was no stripe. So that again is just one of those things. And I just happen to be kind of curious by nature. Now the spiny jewel box. All right. This one does not have a purple interior. What is interesting about these? Well, many things frankly, but they will, when they're juveniles, they will glue themselves to substrates and hang out there just like the kitten paws. So, in addition to the jingles, there's a whole bunch of other things that can produce that kind of like marine glue. Calico scallop. We haven't found many of those today, just a couple. That one happens to be quite pretty. Kind of a typical color. The other valve would be completely different. Not the same, just real pretty. Calico scallop. Oh yeah, it's raining. It's raining, but just barely. And there's no lightning. So that's I mean the rain is not a big deal at all. It's that lightning. We are not the lightning capital of the world, but we are here in Florida the lightning capital of the United States. So always good to be aware of your surroundings. Now this rose petal talon, I'm going to keep it. It's discolored. It probably has been buried for a little while, but I do love just seeing those signs that my camera will focus and the signs that the beach will maybe one day return to its former glory. Now, check this out. Do you remember that shelf from the beginning of the video? Yep. That is literally the same broken pair I had picked up. So, I guess nobody else kind of picked it up either. And it goes to show you there really weren't that many people. There was a couple beach comrs. Not many though. Look at this. Yeah, it's a crown conchk. It's broken clearly. I do absolutely love those shells. I'll tell you about that at the end of the video. Okay, we have Yep. Lettered olive. Yep. Not going to pass the quality test for me. I'm a little bit picky. Been doing this for a little while. Oh, a colorful moon snail. So, we do call those a colorful moon snail. They are a member of the moon snail family just like the shark eye. But we call the shark eyee a shark eye. I guess you could call it an uncolorful moon snail. But yeah, the middle the kind of the eye of that shell is a little broken. That's okay. I'm pretty excited just to find a shell. Yay. All right. Here is a fighting conchk. A juvenile. Oh, it's broken. Ah, well, doesn't change the fact that that is still a juvenile fighting conchk. Perhaps someone else would like to add that to their collection. Oh, here's another calico scallop with that lovely little orange like stripe running up the front. And I guess there's two other ones, too. Lovely. Okay, guess what that is? It's just a piece of shell. Very, very pitted. Been here a while. I was trying to figure out because it's probably either, you know, I was going to go like lightning welk or horse conck, but I guess it could be a clam, a cohog or something. So I I don't know. It's a piece of shell. There's some coinas pretty of the blue and purple variety, the variable coinas. So those are relatively common. Sometimes I pick them up, sometimes I don't. It just depends. On a day like today, I'm picking them up. Okay. So, another teaching moment. So, this is a paper fig. Look at the So, it started that size and then the animal just continued to build and build and build onto the shell. Oh, isn't that cool? So, you can kind of see the juvenile version and what would have been the adult version. I just think that that's kind of cool. Nerding out a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, so, okay. So, I was picking up the variable coinas and then I saw this limpit. Now, the limpet's broken, but it really just kind of reminded me, stay curious. Check things out. Half the time I find something good, it's because I was looking for something else. So, just Yeah, be stay curious. A juju bee top snail. Lovely. It's been a while since I've said top snail, too. I haven't found one in a while. Oh, another variable coina. All right. Another couple of keepers. Now, here is a pointed Venus clam. Lovely. Wait a It's broken. Yep, that sure is. They're hearty little shells, but apparently they can be broken. So, that is a pointed Venus clam. Neato. Oh, there's a shark eye. A false shark eye. So, this is a sharkey moon snail. It's a little beat up. All right. That hole in it is counter sunk. So, it's very likely another shark eye was trying to snack on this one. Yeah, they're cannibals. Absolute brutal. So, that's a shark eye. We're going to leave that for someone else as I make my way back from whence I came. But at least I did again did not get chased off the beach. It rained a little bit, but no big deal. And a lovely sand dollar to remember my time here at Fort Myers Beach. Lovely. So, there wasn't I mean, it is summer. It is what it is. There's a couple of goodies, but I still was really grateful to uh you know, at least come to the beach when it was kind of low tide. I managed to kind of sneak a visit in in between these storms. Now, I did take a little bit of garbage off the beach, 1.75 ounces, but that means in total I have removed a little over 81 pounds of garbage from our beaches. And there were a couple of seashells, couple of goodies. We did have some sand dollars. Not all of them made it. That one did break. And inside it are little grinding plates that we call doves. So that didn't make it, but still kind of pretty. Then we also have the spiny jewel box there on the left. On the right there is the buttercup lucine, some of those Atlantic white simileies. There is the lettered olive, the turkey wings, the variable coinas, and then I did grab a couple of those crossbar Venus clams and jingles. There's some broad ribbed cordas, some calico scallops. There's some slipper snails, including some spiny slipper snails, spotted slipper snails, and then there's some sunray Venus clams, the Atlantic giant cockals. There's a surf clam up there too, kitten paws, rose petal talons, both pink and white calico clam. There is on top the Florida prickly cockals. And then there was that colorful moon snail, the nutmegs, and that lightning welk. I think that's everything. Oh, there's a cohog there, too. And then my favorites, I liked the teaching pieces. Unfortunately, the one had some barnacles on it and they weren't viable, but still I I don't really like that. But we also had the apple mir, this little mystery shell, and the rose petal telen. And I realized it doesn't seem like a whole lot, but there were 25 different species of shells I was able to find. Hopefully, fingers crossed, the next time I go to the beach, there'll be a little bit more. Now, the next hunt I'm going on is very specific. I'm going down to Everglades City to look for Crown Conch. At least that's the plan. So fingers crossed that comes to fruition. Until then, I hope you have yourself a great week and I will see you again next Sunday.