Looking for shells on the beach. I found seashells AND critters!

Fort Meyers Beach is the beach that taught me how incredible Florida beaches can be. It has been and likely will continue to be one of my favorite beaches here in Southwest Florida. Fort Myers Beach has been through it, though. First, there was Hurricane Ian that stopped by for a visit back in 2022. And then more recently, the Reourishment Project that reshaped this beach's shoreline once again. It's not the same beach I used to know, but somehow it still feels like home. The colors may have shifted. The sands may look a little different. But the heartbeat of this place, the rhythm of the waves, the soft roll of the gulf, the quiet joy of finding a shell, well, that never changes. Some days the shelling feels like a challenge. Other days, it's like the sea can't wait to share its secrets. But no matter what I find, whether it be a few tiny treasures, a perfect sunrise, or a curious critter saying hello, I always leave here smiling. Because just like the beach, we rebuild, we renew, and we keep showing up, letting every wave remind us that resilience isn't just about surviving change. It's about finding beauty in it. And something that doesn't change is me coming down here looking for beautiful little seashells. And guess what? Fort Myers Beach has its fair share of critters, too. So, in addition to finding some seashells, perhaps we'll make a couple of friends as well. So, if you're ready to see what all is out there for us today, let's go to the beach. [Music] [Applause] [Music] So yes, if I'm at the beach, we're basically looking at low tide or It's turning into low tide. So, the tide is going out. There is some of that white fluffy stuff that made me think wental traps. Look, there's a dwarf olive and a bubble. All right, that does mean wental traps along with that fluffy stuff. But this is not typically where I find went traps and it's a very timeconsuming kind of searching. So, I'm probably not going to spend too much time. Look at this little darling thing. And it did trip me up for a minute. I think we're looking at a little tinted canththerus. It is quite adorable. Didn't know what that was. It took me a hot second. That's what I think that is. Yeah, we know what that is. Very common. I like them when they're hinged. And they're dark. I prefer the dark ones versus the lighter ones. So, that is a calico clam. All right. Fort Myers Beach. Lately, it used to be Marco Island. Every time I went there, I'd get a sand dollar, but I want to say most of the sand dollars I've collected this year has been from Fort Myers Beach. And it is a little discolored. It's okay. It's the whole thing's going to go in hydrogen peroxide. Hopefully, it'll turn it white. Hello, nutmeg. You're very darling. Yeah, nutmegs have been showing up here, especially since that dredging I kind of referenced at the beginning of the video. That's a common nutmeg. All right, this one's coming. It's a sunray Venus. I'm liking those black kind of beams on it, right? They're fun. This one isn't as pink as some of them can be. Still lovely. Still happy to find a shell. Yay. Okay. Yeah, I don't discriminate. If you're little, I'm I think you're adorable. Another little nutmeg with its column folds. Yep. That is lovely. That was weird. For a minute it looked striped. That is a broad ribbed corda. I don't know any other cordidas that we can find down here. I guess you just call it a cordita, right? All right. There's another one. Terrific. It'll keep the first one company in my little delicates container. So, there's a container I keep in my shell bag for things such as sand dollars, tiny things like lentil traps, delicate things. Now, for all of you who just kind of roll a different way, I feel you. This is a fighting conchk. It's my favorite shell. It's super duper common and I don't care. I just love them. Especially that shape. It's kind of like topheavy. So, for those of you who just like different stuff, I'm with you. You like what you like. Don't let anybody convince you otherwise. All right. It's buried. Mostly buried. Is it alive? Probably. Yeah. Yep. That's a living sand dollar. All hairy and whatnot. Yeah. It's not not flat very. Yeah. I'm going to um tuck it back in because I kind of found it. There we go. Like that. Perfect. Okay. I try to kind of leave the critters how I find them. Sometimes that's not always possible, but I try my best. Oh, look at this little adorable nutmeg. All right, so another nut. And that's okay. I will pick up nutmegs all day long if that's all that's here. You're in luck. That's not all we're going to find. But another adorable little nutmeg. Now, notice the birds up on the sandbar up there. So, I want to go check up check out what's on the sandbar, but I kind of got distracted by this pairwalk and a hermit crab. Oh, look at the little eyes. It's so cute. Now, we know that that is a long-wisted hermit crab because it has asymmetrical little front claws on it. Yep. It's going to run away from me. And there was quite a few. Yeah. All Well, I shouldn't say all. A majority of the shells that I saw were had critters in them because they were moving around. But let's head over to the sandbar. See if there's anything over there. Now, I can't say for certain the birds broke that shell, but that's what I'm thinking. And you have the little nasses. Those are those other little tiny snails kind of running around. They're the vultures. They're going to clean up. They're the cleanup crew. Nothing goes to waste at the beach, which is kind of nice. Everything gets recycled. They are the kings and queens of recycling. And we have an apple murix with a hermit crab. Yep. Also long rested just because we see the asymmetrical little. They're so cute. Those little little pinchers. All right. So, lots of critters. And that's load time. So excited. There's a couple of low tides coming up this week. Oh, it's going to be awesome. All right. Another All right. What's that little thing? I don't know. Another nutmeg. And there's I don't know what that was. All right. So, nutmeg. A little bit of sand in there. No critter. No hermit crabs. Here's a critter. Has dislodged itself. Hi, buddy. There are snails sometimes. Well, the fighting conchs, you know, they kind of they'll start swinging at you. It takes them a minute to kind of warm up, but I'm just going to put this critter back in the water. Yeah. Here you go, buddy. All righty. A little perform my little Uber service. Let's see what else is out here. Some birds. Yeah. And the sand replenishment. Yeah. Normally I would be all the way to the left by I don't know 20 feet or so, but because of all this new sand, it's a lot more room to spread out. The birds, I'm sure, are really happy about that. Look at all the sand dollars. So those are alive. Those little circles, see? Yeah, those buried circles there, those disturbances, those are sand dollars. So all the dark purple circles and then all the circles in the sand, all sand dollar. Oh, you're upside down. There you go, friend. A, you're so like with fringe. You're very pretty. Love seeing your little Celia. Gorgeous. There you go. Let you hang out with some of your other friends. So, there was a lot of them and I was really happy to see them. This is brand new sand. This is sand that did not used to be here. So, I guess all these critters I'm going to flip you over and you. Yep. Give you a fighting chance. There's There's There's so many of them. And these like events, they h once in a while, not not all the time. I mean, this isn't the first time I'm gonna flip you over. I've seen something like this, but it's always really for me, it's really exciting because like I said, it doesn't happen all the time. And there's just so many sand dollars. Oh, just a really cool experience. Yep. Those are all sand dollars. And typically the tide would be a lot higher. Water would be over this. So, they'd just be doing their sand dollar thing, but you know, low tide. So, there's not a whole lot going on at the water's edge. So, I'm going to walk back up over here, which would be the typical rack line. And there's not much here either. Okay. I mean, obviously, there's shells here, but it looks like this is going to be one of those days. The beach is going to be stingy, and that's all right. I can work a little harder. It's okay. I never ever leave disappointed. What do we got here? Oh, hello fighting Now, this one is really kind of exuding the old that Victorian lady laying on the the chase lounge kind of a vibe. Yeah, just kind of hanging out. I just a so cute. All right, I'm going leave you alone. You're fine. See what else might be out here. Now, you know, I'm kind of, what's the word? I'm torn right now because this is like the spot. This is where there should be a lot of shells and there's just rubble. So, yeah. H. Oh, my beach has changed so much. And it's it's basically low tide. So, I timed it pretty good. I did want to be right about here at right about low tide. And uh yeah, well this we'll just do what we can do, right? So this is a dis dosenia. Very common, especially after a storm. They're like the first casualties. So that's a little I like the elegant shape of the top. I do kind of like that teardrop shape of it. There's a lightning welk. Although I do think it's broken on the bottom, but you know what a day like today? I think it's perfect. So that's a lightning welk. And okay, can always depend on those lettered olives. Thank you. Shiny, pointy, lettered olive. Yeah, you're terrific. Yeah, I probably have quite a few of those from Fort Myers Beach as well. And okay, another nutmeg works for me as I do like Oh, no. Oh, it's kind of peekaboo. Barely peekab-oo. So other things like bristle worms and other sponges and things will kind of suck the calcium out and and kind of make ridges and grooves and shells. So that's likely what happened to that little nutmeg. All right. Now I'm really not sure where to go. The old rack line doesn't have much. All right. I guess I went back by the water. We have a breathing. Look at it just kind of Yeah. Really cool. Another live sand dollar. Yeah. Yeah. This is a Well, it used to be a really great spot. Oh, all right. Well, I'm going to keep moving. I'm just going to keep moving. Like I said, I never go home empty-handed. Oh, a variable coina. Now, the scientific name for the variable coina is Donax variabilis. Now, Donax means wedge. It's Greek meaning like wedge-shaped or reed. Variabilis meaning variable or changeable. So the scientific name when it put it all together is the wedge-shaped shell that comes in many variations. So the variations help the animal kind of hide. When the birds kind of figure out if all of them were always purple, the birds, it would figure it out really quick because the coinas are a really important food source. So they do have some tricks up their sleeve with that variability. Now I see the sea star, but I wanted to grab that olive. I didn't want to forget about the olive. You are upside down. Oh no. There you go. Isn't that gorgeous? So to see it's holding on to me. Yeah, they do that. They have those little sucker tube feet. Oh, awesome. Beautiful. That's a short spine, Sea Star. And you know, yeah, I was going to put you here. All right. And then I thought, you know what? You're just you're you're not gonna go far. So, I changed my mind. I'm gonna take you a little bit further. Yeah. I just didn't feel good about leaving you there. And I'm going to put something between me and the sea star this time. So, when I let go, I'm actually It's going to float to the bottom of the water versus hanging on to me. Oh, I just think they're beautiful. All right, buddy. There you go. All right. Now, I feel better about that. Oh, we have a heron. All right, let's see what other critters are going to show up or shells. I'll I'm happy for either. All right, a crown conchk. It's been hugged by the beach a couple times. I wish we had met sooner. And actually reminds me there used to be like clay here on Fort Myers Beach. Gone to that clay just totally gone. Now I see water. Yep, the dolphin. So, the water's moving just a certain way. And you can tell it's a dolphin in the back there. There is a couple of them. There are a couple of them kind of they're all they're all hunting. So, I see the one I'm kind of waiting. They do this thing where they kind of I guess they know fish are close to the water and they kind of rush the beach and flip over onto their side. Here it goes. Rush the beach, flip over onto their side. Now, that was an adult. Look at how big that splash was. I think it's trying to stun fish and so it'll stun the fish and then kind of do cleanup. It'll go back. Yeah, the heron completely undisturbed. Now, there's two more dolphin back there. Now, I think these other two are juveniles, and I don't remember if we're going to see it sooner or later, but they're also going to do that that funny rushing motion. They look smaller to me. Not funny. I don't know what you would call it. That when they rush up to the the beach. Yep. Like that. Yeah. Oh, it's so fun. You get like your own personal dolphin show. And that bird got out of the way. And when I see them doing that, I will go in the water. I just make sure that I stay shallow enough that I wouldn't get I mean that dolphin I would say would would it probably hurt if it if it hit you. It wouldn't do it on purpose. It'd be after the fish, but I am not going to put myself anywhere near, like I said, I'll I'll stay in the ankle shindep water, but that's about it. Just in case. Oh, it comes. So, Hi. Hi, Flipper. The water a little shallow there for you. Yeah, that's how that And that's exactly why I'm gonna I'm going to stay over here. Well, you guys stay over there. A. So really cool. Like I never get old. I could probably do this. See dolphins every day for 10 years and it would never ever get old. You know, just seeing them in their natural environment. It's just it's very very cool. Very very fortunate. They don't show up every day, but when they do, I get pretty excited about it. All right. Another lettered olive works for me. Yeah, you're fine. I'm still hunting there. So, a golden olive would be nice. I know albino, I've been talking about that for years. I don't know if that's going to happen, but the golden olives, they show up from time to time. And yet, oh, rough. Yeah, there's just not a lot here, even at low tide. So, all right, there's a semile. Little freckle shell. The Atlantic Semile. What else? So, I'm going to be little or a coina. Very nice. Yeah, it's just grit. I think I'm Yeah, I'm just going to call it. Turn it back around. Not even one rose petal town. There used to be. This was the beach to get them. Oh, well. Yeah, things change. Oh, I think we're on dolphin patrol again. So, all right. So, fish are literally jumping out of the water to get away. Yep. Literally now. I do think. All right. Maybe not that shot. Oh, a brittle star. Oh, I only now that I think about it, I only see these when in like winter and it's cooler. I mean, it's o end of October, beginning of November at this point. And I'm I'm trying to pick. There we go. And can we There we go. Oh, you're so pretty. So, fun fact with the brittle stars, they don't have like traditional eyes. They can sense light with their arms because they will typically crawl into cracks and grooves and things like that. So, it finds those cracks and grooves with its arms because it can detect light. Oh, that is so cool. Love a good brittle star. Normally it would be the winter low tide days. I don't know why. Just I can't remember ever finding one of those in the summer. Interesting. Oh, that was cool. Ah, there's that heron still hunting. Now, the background noise. Yeah, remember that hurricane? There are still repairs going on. So, it's unfortunate, but it is what it is. A chneled duck clam. Looks like it has some old barnacle friends. The friends have vacated, but they left their sleeping bags behind. So, this is a chneled duck clam. Couple little barnacles on it. And if you wanted to, you could also call that a sailor's ear. Okay, we're back on dolphin patrol. See the We can see the water kind of That's a dolphin kind of pushing the water. There it is. Now those that looks a little smaller. And I think it's going to do that thing where it kind of rushes at the beach. I think they're practicing. Look it. It's so cute. This is like a little blurp. So, I do I I could completely be wrong, but these little ones, they they do look a little smaller, and I feel like they're practicing that whole like rushing at the beach that it's not as big of a wave. Here comes one. Look, blurp. Oh, I do. I think they're practicing. A So cute. All right. Lightning welk. Not intact. Not surprised. It's just going to be one of those days and that is all right. I'm certainly not going to complain. I'm still delighted. So happy to be here. Bay scallop. Yeah. Yeah, that is a bay scallop. It's not intact. And again, that is okay. I think at this point with the big smile on my face about those dolphins, I do have a couple shells in my shell bag. I think I'm going to be quiet and let you enjoy some beach time. [Music] [Applause] So yeah, this was the area. It is what it is. I mean, perhaps once winter kind of comes and we get maybe a couple of proper storms to kind of come through, but luckily the shelling's been a little slow because we have not had any of those big summer storms. And I'm that's okay by me. That is quite all right. Here's a fighting conchk. And it is using its stroboid notch rather expertly. So that right there is the notch of the little eyeball coming out. And that's what makes Yeah. On only the true conchs are going to have that little notch in it. So, we'll leave that critter just kind of hang out in its little spa treatment of a tide pool. Oh, look at that. Another nutmeg. I almost feel like I had better shelling. Not all the way at the south end. That actually a little bit north of that. Interesting. Just I'm going to make a note of that for next time. Yep. Piece of an alphabet cone. Had to check it out. Always check out the spots. You never know. All right. Just a piece. Yes. I mean, like I said, there are shells here. If you were like brand new to shelling, it would be awesome. But I'm a little brattier. I'm a self-admitted shell brat. That is a calico scallop. Very nice. Yeah, very typical typical uh calico scallop. Now, it happens a lot. You see like like flocks of the shore birds along the water's edge and it is tempting to kind of you want to kind of go boo and then get them to go flying around. That's not very good for the birds. They need their energy. Sometimes they come all the way from the Arctic to come winter here. Check this out. So this is from yesterday and almost 69 million birds ended up migrating overnight. So that's what was migrating last night. They end up on our beaches and they can be really tired and they need their energy to rest, to get their strength back again, to feed, and then to eventually migrate again. So, if you see the birds, we know to be nice to them. We're not going to chase them off the beach. Let let them rest. All right. Lightning welk. Cool. Good old sinister fulgar sinestrm. Okay. And an augur. Yes. So, I always like to pair my lightning welks with augers. It's just the way I roll. What do we have here? A mauve mouth drill. Or is that a Gulf oyster? Yeah, I think that's a mau mouth drill. All right, we have ourselves a mauve mouth drill. Oh, look at the little top snail. Adorable. Yep. Wonderful. Yeah. Anything in this grit is going to We know it's going to be small. I do see What is that? Uh, it's a broken mir. Yeah, broken apple mur. Oh, bright orange jingle. Yeah, no mystery why I picked that up. There's a little baby's foot. Little spot where the animal attaches to the shell. So, that is a little jingle. Another coina. Cool. Now, add those with the other coinas. coinas for the win today. Oh, a turkey wing or a zigzag arc. That's a nice Yeah, the little ones tend to be nicer before they grow up and get all weird and misshapen and Oh, what is this little tiny Oh, another little lightning welk. Adorable. So, it's fabulous. Oh, the Arsenella Cornuda, right? Yeah, the horned or the horned little box or the spiny jewel box. Do like them. The spinier the better in my opinion. Pointed Venus clam. Yep. That's what that Fort Myers Beach is pretty good for those pointed Venus clam. I don't know why. I can't think of any other beach, frankly, I've ever found one. So, you want to find a pointed Venus clam, you're going to have to head over to Fort Myers Beach. Oh, rose petal talon. 80% of of rose petal talent. Yeah. Well, they're here. Okay. So, they're still here. I just didn't find an intact one. Maybe next time. As you all know, there will definitely be a next time. Okay. Buttercup lucine. I can't stay away from the critters. There's no way. Love this beach. All right. Buttercup lucine. Fantastic. And then the just the sheer breath of the different species that you can also well, frankly, on all of our beaches. Here's an apple. Mirix been hugged by the beach a little and just because it's been Yeah, it's been rough. I'm going to save that for another shell collector. Yeah, that's the whole brat thing. But someone else, I'm sure will appreciate that apple mir. Oh, don't want to leave this sharp ribbed drill behind. That would be terrible. Yeah, though the tinies, I tend to get those. And all right, there's a little fighting conchk. It looks a little beat up, frankly. Yeah, I guess my standards on a day like today, I guess my standards get a little bit lowered. So, that's a jingle. I like the black ones because I know that they've been buried and lower oxygenated. Well, allegedly, allegedly the gray ones are a natural color, but then the black ones have been buried. And then we have the freckle shell, the Atlantic simile, the spiny jewel box, a couple of the augers. So, there are yeah, I'm still kind of picking up little things here and there, but it was definitely a slower beach day for or a slower shell day here at Fort Myers Beach. And again, that is okay. Between the Brittle Star, the sea star, the other sea star, the all the other critters, the dolphins, and I did manage to collect a couple of shells. I am certainly not going to complain. Zero garbage today. I found no garbage, but there were a couple of treasures. There were those sand dollars. There was one little moon snail, the dwarf olive, the sunray venus clam, the pointed Venus clams, the buttercup lucine, uh broad rib cordas, the one scallop, lightning welks, the jingle, few of those calico clams, some fighting conchs, the jingle, a mauve mouth drill, the bubbles, the distoenas, there's one turkey wing, there were some lettered olives. Yay. And then lots of those variable coinas, even better. And then some of those nutmegs. We have Atlantic semile, some augers. Yep. And then my favorites were fighting that yellow variable coina, there's a top snail, that little tiny tinted canththerus, and the sharp rib drill. Did I mention the spiny jewel boxes? They were swell, too. So, there's a couple of things. Granted, it was a little slow, but I'm still not going to complain. Super grateful. Speaking of grateful, it is kind of hard to put gratitude into words. When someone chooses to support what you do, not out of obligation, but because you believe in it, it means everything. And so to you, my Patreons, thank you for giving me the freedom to keep creating, for trusting me to find fun things, and just being a part of this journey with me. Couldn't do it without you. Thank you. Now, next week, we have some negative low tides coming up. I'm very excited. I'm going to head over to the Santael Lighthouse. I'm going to hope for critters. cool tiny shells and wel traps. We're just going to see. Hopefully, I will manifest that. So, until then, I hope you have yourself a great week and I will see you again next Sunday.