Sunrise and Scallops

I've continued to stroll the beach at sunrise this past week, arriving a few minutes before the sun breaks above the horizon. Each sunrise I've witnessed, since starting my weekly beach-combing, has been unique and breath-taking. Getting up so early and driving for about 30 minutes would be worth it if I didn't find a single sea treasure on the shore, just to see the sunrises. Fortunately, most times there are nifty things to find as well…

…Other shellers don't seem to care for the curly partial whelk shells, but I think they have their own artistic beauty…

…I found a whole lightning whelk, it needs a good cleaning...

…I continue to find a few scallops on each sandy stroll...

…and cockles, which come in sizes very small to quite big…

…and white baby's ears, this one decorated with seaweed lace...

…I found my 2nd turtle carapace bone...

…this was actually 30 or more minutes after sunrise…a lone black-bellied plover, with non-breeding plumage, contemplates the liquid gold panorama.

Shell-Shocked

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.