One of this week's visits to the beach proved to be really exciting…it was truly one of those magical moments (well, three hours) as I found awesome sea treasures one after another...
I could see this large piece of whelk shell from 40-50 yards away…the early sunrise light was hitting it just right, so that it really stood out..
…I found some more hermit crabs…it wasn't easy letting this little green shell go!
I also found my first sea beans! Above, a sea heart bean with goose barnacles attached…this bean is from a monkey ladder vine's bean pod, which is the largest bean pod in the world!
I was esp. excited to find my first hamburger sea bean! This is a brown hamburger bean, which can be from American tropics, the West Indies, or W. Africa. There is also a red hamburger bean ~ these beans contain an alkaloid called L-Dopa, used to treat the tremors from Parkinson's disease.
…I finally found another whole whelk! These are a lot harder to come by on the E coast of Florida than they are on the W. coast. This is a lightning whelk, approx. 4" long.
I found 3 royal starfish that day...
…I always find a small handful of scallops, and once in awhile I'll find one with barnacles on it…which I think gives them a nice added design...
At least half of the cockles I find, don't have the pretty contrast pattern they're noted for…esp. the larger cockles…but this one was nicely patterned...
…Besides the 4" whelk, I also found 2 very small whelks...
And one set of coquina shells with the radial rays, which are pretty scarce here…this pattern, that is. The coquina shells are very common, in shades of white, purple, and yellow. They're quite small, 1" max. Mostly smaller.
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