Island hopping for shells. Exploring gorgeous Florida islands for seashells and critters.

Did you know Florida has over 1,300 miles of coastline and more than 4500 islands? That's a lot of shoreline to explore and every stretch has its own rhythm, its own story, and its own treasures waiting to be discovered. And today, we will be exploring quite a few of those islands as we make our way from Santael down to the 10,000 islands. I feel fortunate to spend so much time out there, but not lucky. Luck means there's chance involved. And honestly, there hasn't been much chance in what I do. I've worked really hard these last few years going to the beach week after week, learning, researching every shell and critter I find, and creating these videos to share with all of you. I'm fortunate because my intentions have guided me right where I need to be. Like Wayne Dyer once said, "Our intention creates our reality." Each time I head out with intention to explore, to learn, to connect, I realize the real treasure isn't just the shells I find, it's the journey itself. And our journey today will involve several different locations. Because when your friend has a boat and she wants to explore the 10,000 islands, you say, "Yes, please. And by the way, I have a few different beaches I can suggest." So, we just had a lovely boat ride down here. And right off the bat, we have a very handsome juvenile fighting conch. So, that critter never quite made it to adulthood. Oh, and here's a nutmeg. I think nutmegs are just swell. Most of them are usually like that size. There's like a medium. They come in medium. I mean, yes, they are actually smaller and larger, but I tend to find those mediumsized ones. All right, here's a fighting conchk. Happens to be my favorite shell. Other people say they're so common I don't even pick them up anymore. And I say good more for me. Now, I will be picking up anything that I think is interesting, whole, intact, colorful, or unusual. But my favorite days are the ones where the shells and the critters show up. Will you look at that dolphin? And the locations we're going to are just gorgeous. I cannot wait to share. So, if you're ready to see what all is out there for us today, let's go to the beach. [Music] [Applause] [Music] I know worm snail it sounds so unappealing but I just love their little twirliness of them. So that is a Fargo worm snail not to be confused with the Florida worm snail. So, we have a couple down here. Angel wing. What I like about these now, if you look at the bottom, it's got that like ruffled uh like texture to the shell and it uses that because it kind of rocks itself into the sand. That skinny point sticks up. So, just interesting all the little attributes of the seashells. There's a reason for it. Oh, hello lace mir. You're kind of broken. But I like looking at that pink protocon on top. That's what it started out is that little tiny pink thing and then the the snail grew the rest of its shell. Hello fighting conchk. Yep. All right. So I do have some standards. I don't keep every single fighting conchk I pick up. I do check out a lot of them though. So let's see what else might be here. All right. So this and that. You know, it's one of those things that, oh, darn it. I wish I'd picked up that augur. There was a couple times I wish I had. So, it happens to me, too, where I don't understand why I didn't pick up a particular shell. And look at this. And I wonder the perfect speed. So, I want to go quick enough to examine as much beach as possible, but not so quick that I miss things. I miss things. I know I do. But that alphabet cone was awesome. Oh, spiny jewel box or the arsenella cornuda, the little horned box. All right. So, mo all of the names that I mentioned are the common names which can be different and depending on where you live. So, we call that here an apple mir somewhere else I don't know you might call it something different from a common name it will have the same scientific name photus pom. So that is the way that we can be consistent with the shells is if we use the scientific name. But I don't like being fancy. I like saying things and using language that makes it stick that you can kind of remember it. So common name of the calico scallop. Scallico scallop. Yep. All right. No lack of seashells. That is good. Oh, that's a lovely calico scallop. You are very pretty. and a little turkey wing. All right, those are a little misshapen. It's just the way they roll. I think they're awesome. It's a little zigzag arc. That one has a couple names. Wonderful. Our state shell, the Florida horse conchk, which fun fact is the second largest sea snail in the world. Now, you might have noticed some of the bling I was wearing. I know the Hebrew cone. That is what's on my wrist. And then that abalone ring. So, you too can get some. I'm going to talk more about this at the end of the video, but for those of you that noticed, yes, I am wearing some new bling. And it looks even better when you're holding an alphabet cone. All right. So, I cheated a little. The next shell I'm going to find is that alphabet cone. There it is. Now, I was kind of bummed. Well, one, that it's broken, and two, that it's this particular snail didn't dissolve the interior. So, I've heard that alphabet cones, because they try to eat bigger things, they will dissolve some of the inside of their shell, and I can't really see what's going on right there. So, I'm going to bring it home. I'm going to see if this particular shell is doing that at all. So, we'll we'll revisit that once I have a little bit conditions that are a little bit better and more controlled. All right. Colorful moon snail. I adore or gaudy nautica. So, these have a couple names sometimes. Either one works for me. I think they're gorgeous. I love finding them. Beautiful, colorful moon snail. Oh, and another cone. Now, the way it is when I find the live ones. Yeah. And that's why I'm handling it like that cuz it when I did find live ones, they were always kind of like half buried. And I can just kind of tell by my body language. I was just double checking to make sure nobody was home, completely safe. And even if it was, I know they can be dangerous in other parts of the world, but not the ones we have here. Here in Florida, you might get stung. If you're allergic to bees, not a good thing. You know, you definitely want to be careful. But for most of us humans, we're okay. Oh, yes, another cone. So, I will I mean, no, no surprise. I'm going to concentrate on like the really desirable shells when I get to the beach. So, another cone. It's a Yeah, it's a little dinged up on the aperture, but still really, really great. So, I just concentrate on the good ones, and then once I kind of feel like I might have really already found all the good stuff, I'll kind of like branch out into some of the other shells. Right now, because I get to go hopping, I'm going to just look for everything, anything good. So, we have a horse conchk on the left and a fighting conchk on the right. And the only one that's actually a conchk is the fighting conchk. Horse conchs are not conchs. Not true conchs anyway. All right. Moon snail is a little broken and that's all right with this little drill hole. It's still kind of pretty. I'm going to hold on to it. Oh, calico scallop that it's almost black. Gorgeous. All right. That's awesome. So, I don't know because I'm going to be island hopping. I'm just going to go for the good stuff. Every every beach I get to I don't usually collect um driftwood. Well, I don't usually find driftwood, so that could be why. But I'm going to hold on to that little squiggly piece. That's kind of cool. And it's not too big. I can put that in my shell bag. Look at that. Isn't that pretty? I like it's like a darker color than they normally are. So, that is a paper fig. And yes, likely all of the different patterns on the shell or those striations, they're going to give the shell some strength. Those shells are actually kind of um thin. So all those different all of them, the ribs on that scallop that helps give it strength also. So that is a base scallop. Very nice. Oh, the buttercup lucine. You know, I do have to admit if they didn't have that yellow on the inside, I don't know that I'd be as enamored, but I just think it's like a fun surprise seeing all these bright colors on the beach. So, that was a buttercup blue scene. All right, kitten paw. You're shaped kind of weird. Well, frankly, most kitten paws are kitten paws are. So, in this one Yeah. Yeah. You're kind of Well, you got lots of toes. You only have a few toes, so they're they're different and they glue themselves to substrates. That's why you might have like that flat patch on there. But yep. So, check out a couple of kitten paws. Now, this is not mine. I did not find this. My captain did. This is Captain Jenny's shell. She came over and said, "Aren't you jealous?" And I said, "Yes, yes, I am." Beautiful lace mir. Gorgeous. Wanted to show you guys. That would be terrible for you not to see that lace mir. All right. Another nutmeg. Woohoo. What's not to like about a lovely little white and brown beaded? They're mostly brownish, like orang-ish kind of a color. All right, I'm chasing something. Horse conchk. And the winner is a horse conchk. That's just great. Yeah, your aperture is not perfect, but that's okay. A fabulous little horse conchk. That's not really a conchk. And calico clam. I wish they weren't called clam. I don't like the word clam. I wish there was another word. I don't know. I just it clam. But that's a that's what that is. It's a calico clam. All right. Here's another lace mir. Not nowhere near as glorious as Jenny's. A the little tail's kind of broken, but you know what? I feel like I could do something with that. I don't know. Okay. We also have another moon snail and an Atlantic semile. Yep. There's I think those are like freckle shells. So that's an Atlantic simile. And then another moon snail. Yay. So there's definitely shells. Fantastic. Yay. Oh, another angel wing. Okay. Little green. Nothing that bleach isn't going to take care of. And I believe that's going to be the last shell of this location. Yes, we are now moving to Shell Island. It's quite fun when you say yes, captain. Please take me to Shell Island. But I just want to kind of set some expectations. This place is gorgeous, but the tide has really come in at this point, and I'm going to show you that in a second. The reason I go to the beach when I do is I typically go at low tide. So, the tide's at 1.77. It's It's pretty high. And well, right, we did find a hermit crab. So, it is a long-wisted hermit crab. And and not for nothing, it's kind of a beat up shell. So, even the hermit crabs are not finding beautiful, perfect seashells, but we'll just Yep. It didn't really give us too much of a show. That's all right. Just wanted to say quick hi. All right. The sinister fulgar sinestrm or lightning welk. All right. There's a little augur. Terrific. All right. Now, I keep every single one of these I find. They're a turid. I won't torture you anymore. So, that is a Santael turid. I don't find them often at all, but there is a Santael turd and a Tampa turid. That one clearly is beat up, but I still keep all of them. I just think that they're kind of neat. And the Florida prickly cockle that falls under the category of you are super colorful and I love you. So that is a Florida prickly cockle. Just love those bright colors. All right, another bay scallop. You're a little prettier than just your regular bay scallop. I like those little white like little flashes on there. Very nice. Lovely base scallop. All right. And here's a rough scallop. Yeah, it's been hugged by the beach a few times. It's not quite as rough as it was at some point. Still going to go in the shell bag. Okay, a sunray Venus clam. And you know what? Yes, the Atlantic semiles. It was definitely the semile day over here on Shell Island. So, I will be finding quite a few of those. So, that beautiful sunray Venus and a Atlantic simile. All right. There's a top snail. And someone had asked me, "Does the snail and the shell have the same name?" Yes. Yes, it does. So, if that was alive, it would still be a top snail. And the shell is still a top snail. That is a broad ribbed cord. A really nice one in my opinion. Very common. Again, don't care. I love them. So, that's a broad ribbed cord. All right. Some jingles. Excellent. I prefer the orange ones. Okay. Another worm snail and a dark serif. So, there are Oh, what is that orange calico scallop? I don't care that you're beat up. You are awesome. Now, in the next shot, for those of you I hope you're watching this on a television and not just on your tablet or a phone because there's fish jumping all over in the background. Now, I'm going to be quiet. You can watch that and have yourself some beach time. [Applause] All right. Had to check out that piece of wood. Isn't that fun? All those little holes. I never knew where they came from. And they come from critters. Sometimes worms. In this case, there's some pits in there. So, the pits kind of Yeah. They use their pine knees and they just dig a round hole and then they'll just go ahead and filter feed. So the front of their shell or the anterior part will kind of show on the outward here. Let me show you this. So this I found over at Lover's Key and it was just riddled with those pitics. So they're called striate pitics these particular ones and they just they make holes and then that's where they live. Wild, right? Yeah. Some of this Whoa. It's so pretty. And that's what happened. And I just kind of poked my head up and I was like, "This island is gorgeous." And with the fish flopping around in the background there. So, here's another prick uh Florida prickly cockle, but this one I would say is albinistic because it's not albino and it definitely doesn't have those bright colors. So pretty. So pretty. Wow. A purplish simile. That's pretty cool. I don't find those all the time. Yeah, that's neat. That I get them mixed up with the uh paper cockals, but that is a purplish simile and sometimes they're really quite orange. All right, the pen shell. I do not typically collect these, but I thought this one was kind of cool. This is a obviously a little little baby pen shell and it's going to be either one of those half naked or stiff pen shells. So, yeah, kind of neat. I don't normally collect them, but that one was just kind of cute. Pick up that pen shell. So, in the middle of Shell Island, and I'm going to tell you where Shell Island was. I apologize. The last time we went here, y'all were asking me where it is. We're going to talk about that because apparently the term Shell Island is not meant for just one. There's many Shell Islands. The one I'm talking about, there's Marco. There's Kais. We've been there lots of times. And then that tiny little thing right there. See that? That is Shell Island. I'm going to zoom in real quick. Not that you're really going to see much else, but there. So, there's that little spit. That's all seashells. I'm going to show you that dark area is kind of the water that's in the middle of that. It's really just kind of a very sophisticated sandbar. It's just that's what it is. Sand shells and just a little bit of grasses and then that center area which I assume is salt water. I'm sure storms just kind of run over this. But this place is beautiful. And another top snail. Woot woot. That's got a nice little top on it. All right. I do like those. And if I remember correctly, I think that Yep. See, so there was a lot of those semileies. I love I want to call them freckle shells. There were so many of them cuz they have those like freckles on the back except for that one of course. But yeah, so those are white Atlantic simileies. I'm just going to go with Atlantic similes. And then that is Look at that. That is a rose petal telon. Just one. Isn't that fun? Now I'm going to be quiet. I want you to hear the way that this island sounds. There is a certain sound when the water is lapping up against the shells versus the beach. It kind of makes a tinkling noise. Oh, it's magical. It's absolutely magical. And look at that. So, yeah, they don't call it Shell Island for nothing. So, this is that kind of like spit part I was talking about at the top of it where it's like long and skinny and it's just it's all shells. It's really really cool. All right, there is an alternate talon and there's just a little bit of pink on it and it just reminds me of the sunrise talon I'd love to find one day. But that is an alternate talent. Very nice. All right, so that's going to wrap up our time here at Shell Island. But there were some dolphins that were kind of hanging around, eating and whatnot. So that's Yep. always got to hang out with the dolphins. And so these are likely males. I think the last ones we saw with Captain Jenny, I thought that there was like a nursery pod. I think these are males. There's only two of them. Maybe there was a third one. And is it this one? It gets really close. Like I swear it wanted to see me or us as much as I wanted or we wanted to see the dolphin. >> Isn't that cool? >> Oh, that was just so magical. Yep. And it zooms off. >> It's going to go do its thing. Really, really. Oh, look at this day. All right. Well, we're headed to our next beautiful locations. I think the dolphins are going to >> continue to feed and delight us. Yeah, the water was really shallow. I know it's very Oh, actually next week I also had a really cool dolphin experience from the beach, but that's next week for now. All right, we're on to our next location. So, this is really just that area that was just north. It was just a little bit north of Shell Island, and I wanted to check it out. The greener, the green was pulling me in. I love seeing the green on the beach. All right, I'd love even more to find some shells. All right. So, we have a flat. Now, it's only a piece of a flat. I swear I feel like I used to find them all the time, or at least more than I do now. So, I'm going to keep that. I know it's only a piece, but I'm going to keep it anyway. Oh, man. This place is pretty. And you know, if you didn't know what to look for, you might miss the periwinkles. So, if you're near Yep. and you got some dead trees and stuff in or near the water, check them out for the periwinkles. So, those look to me mostly like they're going to be the cloudy periwinkles. And they kind of Oh, I think I see little antennas. Oh, they're so cute. All right, there's a couple more. And I guess they're social. It You rarely see one. There's usually they hang out in clusters. Or maybe one went off to you do a little adventure, but then it's going to go back and hang out with its friends. Oh, look at the little baby with snails. Oh. All right. Here's some more. And they're Oh, they're really living on the edge of those guys. Yeah, they don't technically live in the water. They just eat the algae that grows near the water. Oh, you are adorable. Oh, with your little probosus. I can't quite tell. Antenna probosus. I don't know. Oh, it's so cute. Who knew that snails could be cute? Yeah, I didn't know. Yeah, apparently have an affinity for slimy things. Kind of slugs with shells. I don't care. I think they're awesome. And this is just beautiful. Oh. All right. We're going to not leave empty-handed here. All right. We have one really pretty apple mir. Say that's more of the blonde variety versus the brunette. Very, very nice. Oh, and that's a stingray. Yep. So stingray se it's May through October to do the stingray shuffle. But that was a stingray. Now we did leave that location. We're now at a different location. We again we just went a little more north. On our way to Shell Island, I saw this area and it looked like there was a lot of water. So the beach was here and then there was water behind it. And so I wanted to check it out. But apparently these periwinkles said, "Hey, come over here." And I had to go. What am I going to do? I just think they're fascinating. And they do have There was one that had a different um shell pattern. I'm going to show you one of those in a minute. Isn't that cool? All right. Yeah. All right. I'm going to walk over. So, there was the um Gulf and Yeah, there was I didn't know what it Maybe it was a lake, a lagoon. I was hoping for mud and crown conchs, but no, it was just kind of more water. It was very still, very beautiful, but there was no mud, no crown conchs, but it was still I'm glad that we stopped cuz I did get one souvenir. This mangrove periwinkle. So, that's not a cloudy periwinkle. It's a mangrove periwinkle. So, all right. I got one seashell. And that's fine. Got to say hi to those other critters. That's all I need. Just one shell. All right, so back in the boat now. We're going to head to South Kis. I've been there before, so I did know kind of what to expect. Again, the tide is quite high. It's high. I mean, it kept coming in, so my expectations are not really high, but again, just being out on the water and being able to just go the island hopping. Look, low tide only lasts so long anyway. So, just to be happy to be able to be out on the water all day. Might as well check this upper rack line. That is what, you know, since the tide is kind of coming in. On the upper rack line, you're going to find the baby's ears. I'm terrible for checking it. Uh, angel wings, yep, will be there. The paper figs. So, that's all I really kind of found there. So, no big deal. Hop back in the boat. Guess. Does this look familiar? This is Dickman's. So, that's Kais over there. So, that's the north end of Kais. We had already just kind of checked out the south end. Wouldn't this be nice? Just kind of walk up to a big old horse conchk. Yeah, would be nice. Not going to happen today, but that really would be nice. It does remind me of that time it happened on Santa Celt. Like I showed up to the beach and there was a horse conk. It was It was kind of cool. There's another the Sunray Venus. I'm going to call that the pepper version. And then that is the salt version. So we got salt and pepper sunray Venus clams. I like that white one just be Yeah, it's not faded. It's just It's just different. Oh, that's cool. Alvinistic, dare I say. I don't know. Just kind of neat. So, yeah, the visibility is not a problem. I am just straight up dealing with lack of shells, but again, the tide and the time of year it's starting to turn. You have some fronts coming through, so maybe that'll kick things up. Lovely calico scallop. Yep. Very grateful to have that. That works for me. Wonderful. Yeah, kind of slim here. Yeah, most of the good stuff is probably underwater out there. But wow, it's so pretty. I'm excited, too. The winter the water is going to get really green, that blue color, because we do have a lot of fresh water that mixes with the salt water, and that just makes it kind of that muddy and greenish color. So, yeah, it doesn't look like Dickman has too too much here. What do you Oh, little horse conchk. Okay, that's terrific. All right, there's sand in there. No Hermes or anything. All right, another little keeper. I'll take that orange little delightful thing. It's funny that the protocon on those are white versus the lace mir where it's pink, right? I know. Nerding out on shell stuff. So, again, visibility fantastic. The shells are sort of showing up. So, that one I really liked. I don't care about the beach stuff. I was able to pick off most of it. But yeah, that's pretty. I got this very sharp like dental pick looking tool and I hopefully we'll be able to pop those right off. All right, guys. All right, Dickmans. It was a really fun day, but we do have a long boat ride back up to the Santael area. Now, on the way down, it was super flat, super fun. On the way home, it was also really fun. It was just a different experience. I stood up and just had myself a good old hooting and hollering and I don't care. It was really, really great. And you too can have an adventure like this with Captain Jenny and go island hopping, looking for critter shells, fabulous Florida experiences. And don't just take my word for it. She was voted the top 10% things to do in the world by Trip Advisor Travelers. And I will leave all of her contact information in the description box below. So, I had an amazing day. It was just such a great experience to be out all day on the water. Thank you, Captain Jenny. Now, I did mention Ocean Soul gave me those lovely pieces of jewelry. And I just I couldn't leave the video without telling you how beautiful their stuff is. You can have something that you find made into jewelry or you can buy something they already have. This you'll kind of see some of the sea glass. They've got bracelets, rings, earrings, necklaces. I do not hesitate to recommend them. Their product is gorgeous and you will get a discount. Look in the description box below. Now, clean up. I did take that is really Jenny. That's a massive balloon that we managed to pull off the water and then a couple other little pieces of garbage. And thank you to everybody else that I managed to inspire to take garbage. So, today it was only 9.05 05 ounces. But in total, I've removed a little over 83 pounds of garbage from the beaches. And today, I also removed some one pen shell, some spiny jewel boxes, some turkey wings, a mossy arc, some broad rib cordas. There's one striate bubble, rose petal talon, channel duck clam, the angel wings, the uh sunray venus clam. There is a cut ribbed arc. There is a lace mir, an apple mir, some nutmegs, uh, dark sith, some other drills, lightning will, calico clams. There's some scallops there. Oh, the alternate talons. Can't forget those. Did I mention the buttercup lucen? Oh, and the driftwood. Slide over. We have lots of those top snails. The Atlantic similes, rough scallops, horse conchs, kitten paws, augers, Florida prickly cockals on the bottom there. And then we have some calico scallops. Lovely. We have some jingles. We have some bay scallops above that. Some Atlantic giant cockals as well as fighting conchs. And then there was some moon snails, the colorful moon snails, whole bunch of those worm snails. Then my favorites. So today I picked my favorites as that paper fig, the three alphabet cones, the purplish simile, the mangrove periwinkle, and that piece of flat. Oh, and the Santael turid. Can't forget the Santael turid. So lots of islands. It was absolutely beautiful day. Now let's look at that alphabet cone. All right, this one did not dissolve anything. That little dark area, it's really just discolored. So, it's just an alphabet cone with a little bit of a hole in it. And that's fine. But when I do find those other more special kind of scientific things, I'm going to bring them home and try to share what I know with you all. And if it wasn't for you Patreons, I would not do this. I just I just wouldn't. So, thank you so much for your support and allowing me to go out and do the things that I love to do. Thank you. It doesn't seem like enough, but that's all I've got. Plus maybe some extra content that I throw over on Patreon once in a while. So, thank you, thank you, thank you. Next week, we are headed to my favorite beach, Fort Myers Beach. It has changed a lot, but we know every day out there is an opportunity to find something that we've never found before. So, until then, I hope you have yourself a fantastic week, and I'll see you again next Sunday.