What lands on the beach varies from day to day and beach to beach. Generally there are lots of calico scallops and pen shells on Sanibel beaches. That was what was used to decorate the dragon sand sculpture. At Caya Costa we found the sand dollars, which were still beautiful even though they were chipped. The beach everywhere was loaded with sea urchins. Some still had their spines but most did not. They all had their smell though and we enjoyed looking and left them on the beach. From prior experience we knew it was not a good idea to try to take them back because they are fragile, and it takes a long time for the smell of dead sea urchin to clear. There were lots of murex on the beach, both apple murex and lace murex. Many of the shells we found were still alive, so we either tossed them back into the water or let them be. Some shells are able to burrow into the sand and keep moist till the tide returns and they have another chance to get back out.The one Hannah is holding is a young horse conch and it is alive.
Cool. Most of the beaches we have visited are cluttered with coke bottles and other trash.
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