Beach Shells From Florida

If you are like me, you pick up the beach shells that catch your eye, bring them home and add them to your collection and that's it. At least, that is how I used to be.
Now I am studying their names, eating habits, longevity and shapes and sizes for identifying. It started with a simple quest for names. I wanted to identify my tropical shells by their proper names, but it wasn't always easy to do. So I bought a book and searched online and I have mostly been successful in identifying the shells I have.

Seashells mean summer. I think that is one of the reasons why so many people decorate their homes with them or have parties and weddings with seashells as the theme.

They are unique and lovely with no two being exactly the same.

One of the best on-line spots for having your seashell questions answered is the Conchologists of America, inc. site which has plenty of answers!

Left to right these are Jingle shells, which get their name from the sound they make when they "jingle" together in your bag or pocket. Pen shells, which can be up to a foot or more long! And a crown conch.
I've made these photos into postcards which are for sale in my Seashells by Millhill store.

If you are planning to move to the west coast of Florida - lucky you! Send an appropriate announcement covered in shells in customizable postcard form.

You might find the perfect beach home at Sanibel & Captiva Island Real Estate

Sand dollars come in varying sizes and can be flat or puffy. The one pictured here is mine and was purchased at a shop on Sanibel Island. It's called a Sea Biscuit.

When swimming in the gulf waters just off the beach on Sanibel Island, I remember reaching down just under the sand being able to scoop up little, half dollar size sand dollars- not sea biscuits, but the flat kind. They were alive of course, so I left them there, but I thought that was really cool. I've since learned that sand dollars live in colonies, so if you find a live one most likely there are others nearby.

Live shell collecting is illegal on Sanibel, but the beach is literally made of shells, so there is no way you won't find something pretty and unique while there.

When I lived in Florida, many times I witnessed extremely sunburned people. Whether at Disney World, the grocery store, or even at the beach - still trying to even out their "tan" and soak up the rays before vacation ended. They usually had the sunburned areas covered with towels.

They had obviously come down from the north, white as ghosts from lack of sun all winter, and were determined to "get a tan".

In Florida you are much closer to the equator and the sun is able to fry you much quicker than farther north. And there is no hurry to get that tan....every day has sunshine in the sunshine state! Well...almost.

Here is some good advice to heed before planning a day at the beach:
1. Wear sunscreen, SPF 30+ Add the sunscreen BEFORE hitting the beach and reapply often. The sun is strongest between 10am and 3pm, so it's good to get out early, take a break and head back out in the late afternoon.

2. Wear a wide brimmed hat. One that will cover your ears as well as shield your eyes and nose. You will burn on a cloudy day as well! (Also wear sunscreen).

3. Take lots of water to drink or Gatorade type drinks with you in plastic containers and pack the cooler with LOTS of ice. (beaches don't allow glass of any kind.)

4. Kids especially cannot stay out for long on a Florida beach in summer. Even with a high SPF sunscreen, hats, umbrellas, drinks and the works I don't think that young children can take more than two hours safely in mid-summer. Between 10am and 2pm the sun is the strongest.

5. And most importantly...You will not see the burn until much later on in the day so judge by the time you spend on the beach and not how great your "tan" looks.