Upclose with a Florida Fighting Conch

I've heard of Florida Fighting Conch (Strombus alatus) before but I've never seen a live specimen. While on my Gulf Coast adventure I found quite a few cooperating conchs. This one had a very rich orange lip color and was found on Marco Island. I took a little video of it demonstrating it's fighting ability though in actuality this is a benign little mollusk that feeds on algae.

I just love those mollusk eyes. This conch has a sharp operculum that it uses to defend itself and to quickly escape predators. They actually use this foot to sort of hop over the sand quickly.

The shell is at most only 3 inches long. These conchs are found easily on the sandy Gulf Coast of Florida. They also are sold in the aquariums to clean algae from the bottom.

If you're walking on the beaches of Floirda check out this beautiful conch species. It's by far a quite entertaining animal. Just remember to return it back to the water when you're done with your inspection.

Florida Fighting Conch Action

Found on the Beach

The beaches of Sanibel Island, Florida were littered with shells and fragments of sea life. Some of my favorite finds were the egg casings of the whelks. After living on Jekyll Island, Georgia for three years I had my fair share of run-ins with whelks and whelk egg casings but I still love them. When you shake the casing you can hear the little jingle of hundreds of little micro-whelks that didn't escape.

When the eggs hatch and the little whelks want to escape they go through the little holes you see above in the detail photo. If a hole isn't present in the casing then the whelks didn't hatch.

We also found a nice selection of seashells on the beach. One of my favorite of the weekend was this large Pen Shell. I especially liked the barnacles that had adhered to the surface. Barnacles always remind me of teaching dock class at Jekyll. I must have taught hundreds and hundreds of children about barnacles. They reall are quite fascinating and if you don't know much about them then you should do a little reading.

I can't even imagine walking on this beautiful beach littered with tar balls or something even more horrific. I know only time will tell before we know what will happen to our Gulf beaches but I'm trying to stay optimistic for now.

Skywatch Friday: Sanibel Island Sunset

These are a series of photos taken one afternoon on Sanibel Island, Florida. The last two depict the moon rise and then the after sunset effect on the little channel walking from the beach. It was a beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. One I hope I enjoy again in the future. Don't forget to check out the other great Skywatch Photos this week!