Shelling Trips
6 Passenger Max
Sanibel Island and Fort Myers is the shelling capital of the world. You will be amazed by the variety and condition of the shells found here. While combing the beaches of Sanibel Island Cayo Costa and North Captiva you will find Angel Wings, Arks, Augers, Bubbles, Buttons, Clams, Cockles, Conchs, Cones, Jewel Boxes, Kitten Paws, Olives, Periwinkles, Scallops, Tulips, Whelks and hundreds more. Our guides will take you to all the best Sanibel shelling spots.
Shelling Trip Rates
(Rates Are For Up To 6 Passengers)
4 Hours = $500.00
5 Hours = $625.00
6 Hours = $750.00
4 Hours = $500.00
5 Hours = $625.00
6 Hours = $750.00
Conch Shells
The term 'conch' is used to describe over 60 species of sea snails which have a medium- to large-sized shell. In many species, the shell is elaborate and colorful. Probably the most well-known species is the queen conch, which is the image that might come to mind of a sea shell. This shell is often sold as a souvenir, and it's said you can hear the sea if you put a conch shell to your ear.
Conchs are edible, and in many cases, have been over-harvested for meat and also for souvenir shells. Queen conchs are a species threatened by overharvesting, and fishing for conchs is no longer allowed in Florida waters.
Conchs are edible, and in many cases, have been over-harvested for meat and also for souvenir shells. Queen conchs are a species threatened by overharvesting, and fishing for conchs is no longer allowed in Florida waters.
Scallop Shells
Scallops are a cosmopolitan family, found in all of the world's oceans. Many scallops are highly prized as a food source. The brightly colored, fan-shaped shells of some scallops, with their radiating fluted pattern, are valued by shell collectors and have been used as motifs in art and design.
Scallops have up to 100 simple eyes arranged around the edges of their mantles like a string of beads. They are reflector eyes, about one millimeter in diameter, with a retina that is more complex than those of other bivalves. Their eyes contain two retina types, one responding to light and the other to abrupt darkness, such as the shadow of a nearby predator. They cannot resolve shapes, but can detect changing patterns of light and motion.
Scallops have up to 100 simple eyes arranged around the edges of their mantles like a string of beads. They are reflector eyes, about one millimeter in diameter, with a retina that is more complex than those of other bivalves. Their eyes contain two retina types, one responding to light and the other to abrupt darkness, such as the shadow of a nearby predator. They cannot resolve shapes, but can detect changing patterns of light and motion.
Clam Shells
Clams are animals that burrow under the sea floor. They are bivalves, mollusks that have two shells that protect a soft body. There are over 15,000 different species of clams worldwide. The biggest clam is the Giant Clam, Tridacna gigas; it is up to 4.8 feet (1.5 m) long and weighs up to 550 pounds (250 kg). Most clams are only a few inches long.
Clams come in many colors, including shades of brown, red-brown, yellow, cream, etc. The two shells are attached by a muscular hinge (the adductor muscle). When a clam is threatened, most clams will pull their soft body into into the shells and close the shells tightly for protection. The foot is used to burrow into the sand. Clams use their tube-like siphon to draw in water, from which they extract oxygen and filter plankton.
Clams come in many colors, including shades of brown, red-brown, yellow, cream, etc. The two shells are attached by a muscular hinge (the adductor muscle). When a clam is threatened, most clams will pull their soft body into into the shells and close the shells tightly for protection. The foot is used to burrow into the sand. Clams use their tube-like siphon to draw in water, from which they extract oxygen and filter plankton.
Olive Shells
The family of Olive shells numbers 400 in species. These small glossy gastropods are found in tropical and warm seas. Shaped liked pointed olives, they have been used for jewelry and as ornaments since prehistoric times. Each shell has its own shell color and design. This is due to a dye the animal secretes continuously over its lifetime. Using its large foot to pull its prey down, the olive snail feeds on worms, bivalve shell animals and crabs. The animal of the olive is actually larger than its shell and can extend itself to cover the entire shell. They spend most of the day buried in sand and search for food at night. They are popular with collectors because of their almost limitless range of patterns and colors. Most markings in olives consist of zigzags, chevrons and small tent-like (inverted Vs) markings. Interesting Facts: Olives are one of only two species that have a mantle that completely covers the shell. They spend most of their life buried under the sand. Occasionally, in the water, you may see a live Olive mollusk sticking its sphyngle (eye) out of the sand.
Periwinkle Shells
The common periwinkle, related to limpets, whelks, and other marine snails, is the most common snail in Florida. A single spiral shell that grows with their bodies protects these small snails. The body includes a fleshy foot, a short tail, and two antennae on the head. The cream-colored foot of the common periwinkle is divided into a right and a left half, which the snail moves alternately as the muscle ripples forward. Their stalked tentacles are sensory organs that are used to see and taste.
Common periwinkles use their foot to hold securely onto rocks when waves crash over them or marsh grasses when the tide rises. They are closely related to the marsh periwinkle (Littorina irrorata), which is more common in salt marshes. Common periwinkles are herbivores, using their file-like tongue, the radula, to feed on diatoms and algae attached to intertidal rocks. The common periwinkle breaks down its food by mixing it with mucous on the radula before bringing the food into its mouth.
Common periwinkles use their foot to hold securely onto rocks when waves crash over them or marsh grasses when the tide rises. They are closely related to the marsh periwinkle (Littorina irrorata), which is more common in salt marshes. Common periwinkles are herbivores, using their file-like tongue, the radula, to feed on diatoms and algae attached to intertidal rocks. The common periwinkle breaks down its food by mixing it with mucous on the radula before bringing the food into its mouth.
Sand Dollars
Sand dollars, like all members of the order Clypeasteroida, possess a rigid skeleton known as a test. The test consists of calcium carbonate plates arranged in a fivefold radial pattern. In living individuals the test is covered by a skin of velvet textured spines these spines are in turn covered with very small hairs. Coordinated movements of the spines enable sand dollars to move across the seabed. The velvety spines of live sand dollars appear in a variety of colours green, blue, violet, or purple depending on the species. The tests of dead individuals are often found on beaches, the textured skin missing and the skeleton bleached white by sunlight.
The bodies of adult sand dollars, like those of other echinods display radial symmetry The petal like pattern in sand dollars consists of five paired rows of pores. The pores are perforations in the endoskeleton through which podia for gas exchange project from the body. The mouth of the sand dollar is located on the bottom of its body at the center of the petal-like pattern. Unlike other urchins, the bodies of sand dollars also display secondary front to back bilateral symmetry. The anus of sand dollars is located at the back rather than at the top as in most urchins, with many more bilateral features appearing in some species. These result from the adaptation of sand dollars, in the course of their evolution from creatures that originally lived their lives on top of the seabed to creatures that burrow beneath it.
The bodies of adult sand dollars, like those of other echinods display radial symmetry The petal like pattern in sand dollars consists of five paired rows of pores. The pores are perforations in the endoskeleton through which podia for gas exchange project from the body. The mouth of the sand dollar is located on the bottom of its body at the center of the petal-like pattern. Unlike other urchins, the bodies of sand dollars also display secondary front to back bilateral symmetry. The anus of sand dollars is located at the back rather than at the top as in most urchins, with many more bilateral features appearing in some species. These result from the adaptation of sand dollars, in the course of their evolution from creatures that originally lived their lives on top of the seabed to creatures that burrow beneath it.
