Oranges . . .

I just realized that there's an orange theme going on with this set of photos . . . taken earlier in March during my bi-monthly beach therapy. I like to go when sunrise is at low tide . . .

Before the sun actually rises on the horizon . . .

. . . And the actual sunrise . . .

An orange scallop! Very rare color to find at "my" beach . . . whether it's orange naturally, or from being buried in sediment awhile . . .

Another angel wing . . .

Sometimes I find really cool patterns in the sand ~ these are flat-topped ripples, made by the tide.

A calico scallop . . .

Lots of nice jingle shells this day (a type of oyster) . . .

I doubt I'll ever find a whole, good-sized pear whelk at this beach; it's very rare to even find tiny juvenile ones . . . but I still like to collect the apexes.

Brrrr Beach Therapy

We're actually having a Spring season here in NE Florida, and I'm not complaining! Even if it was only 42 degrees on the beach Friday morning . . . isn't that why they invented layering?! There were a few other shellers on the beach too.

Seeing the sunrise never gets old, and makes it worth braving the chilly morning . . .

This lightning whelk was a bit rough, and I left it . . .

Have I mentioned that I'm always excited to find a calico scallop? They're like snowflakes; no two are alike! (And on the Gulf coast, there are several species and colors.)

Now this lightning whelk, I did keep . . .

A speckled crab carapace . . . Yes, I do collect crab carapaces!

A shark's eye with a striped acorn barnacle attached . . .

A well-worn knobbed whelk . . .

It's pretty rare to find a horse conch on Florida's E (Atlantic) coast; I was lucky enough to find a whole one a few years ago. This is the largest piece of one I've ever found. Even pieces are rare.

A small piece of green sea glass . . .

I was wondering if I'd see the wintering bald eagle that likes this post near the Matanzas Inlet Bridge . . . it wasn't there when I walked by into the Inlet, but when I came back and was standing right there looking over some shell hash, who should come along but ! This is the 3rd year I've seen baldie.

This shark's eye has suffered some shell "bioerosion" . . . scattered perforations like this were likely made by a boring sponge. These sponges partially acid-digest living and dead shells and invade them as living space. (From Florida's Living Beaches)

This royal sea star is probably deceased ~ the purple body and orange marginal plates are faded ~ but I put it back in the ocean anyway.

An angel wing . . . fairly common, esp. on the Intracoastal side, but hard to find a whole one.

Definitely my favorite find of the day! A "perfect" heart shape made out of an oyster shell.

I have a large collection of shell apex pieces, like this shark's eye . . . some day I'll make something crafty with some of them!

Another calico scallop shell . . . this pattern reminds me of a lace-edged skirt.

A second piece of small green sea glass . . .

A lettered olive . . . I usually find at least one . . . I did find a really shiny one but it was occupied so I put it back in the waves . . .

I think this is an Atlantic bay scallop; I'll have to count the ribs to be sure . . . they have 17-18 ribs, the calico scallop has 19-21 ribs.

. . . And a 3rd piece of sea glass, this one brown.

Most of the shark's eyes I find have a blue "eye", but this pretty golden shell has an orange eye.

Heading back towards my car, the Croc sandals came off and I was able to enjoy some bare-feet-on-sand-and-sea time . . . crucial for mental rejuvenation!