Strong winds and a full moon make for great shelling
An assortment of shells collected on the beach.
Jack Hughes
The same arctic air mass that brought zero temperatures to Southwestern Pennsylvania earlier this past week also was responsible for temperatures into the mid-forties all the way down the coast of Southwest Florida. Along with the cool temperatures, the strong cold front brought 25 to 40 mph winds and large ocean waves. When you combine these winds and waves with the super blood wolf moon like we had last Monday conditions are more than perfect for some great shelling. We also took advantage of the low tide that occurred just before sunrise.
Because of the full moon and the storms, we experienced a negative tide some 3 feet lower that normal and this brought thousands of shells onto the shore. While these conditions are not rare, they do not occur very often and we were lucky to have just a few days left of our vacation. We were also able to go before dawn when only a few folks would be on the beach. Later in the day, the beach would be crowded with vacationers and most of the shells would be gone out back to sea or picked up by tourists.
The results were just fantastic as we were rewarded with a bucket full of real treasures. Lots of welks, murex, a sizeable horse conch and countless others. We had forgotten our flashlight, but the light from the full moon over the water was enough for good visibility.
Within an hour, the tide was starting to reverse itself and soon the remaining shells would flow back into the water. Coffee was calling and we would have an opportunity to view our shells in more detail. What is always amazing to me is that every shell you see contained a living creature that was a meal for another shell or bird higher up the food chain. The ocean is just so alive.
Speaking of being alive, no live shells are allowed to be taken and there are fines for those who do not follow the rules. Later that night, I did enjoy some sea scallops that were harvested by a commercial fishing company.
If you can鈥檛 get off work or don鈥檛 want to incur the cost and hassle of travel these days and would like to see some very beautiful shells, you could drive up to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and see one of the best displays of sea shells in the country. Thanks to an avid sea shell collector in our area and Professor Donald Conte from California University of Pennsylvania along with Joe Hardy we are fortunate to have this collection in the form of an exhibit just alongside the large aquarium in the lobby area adjacent to the Tavern restaurant at Nemacolin. Perhaps lunch and a visit on one of our cold rainy winter days would lighten winters mood. While it is not as big as the Bailey Matthews exhibit in Florida it is very impressive and I would encourage a visit.
The shells are from all over the world and many are shell fossils that are millions of years old. We plan to visit soon to compare some of our findings. February is just a few days away and our thoughts turn to next winter and a return visit to Florida. Perhaps we will be lucky and hit it in time for another full moon and another strong cold front.