Shelling in Central Florida

These are shells I found at Caladesi Island and on the north beach of Ft. De Soto. All of these shells came from just two trips to the beach! They are typical of what you can find beach combing on Central Florida's beaches. Be careful though! I accidentally brought home a hermit crab with out realizing it and he died before I could take him back to the beach. Let that be a lesson to always inspect the insides of shells to ensure you don't bring a living creature home with you. I see a lot people on the beach taking home buckets of sand dollars that are still alive. If the sand dollar is brown/green and has little hairs all over it, it is very much a live and needs to stay in the water. However, if the sand dollar is white and doesn't have any hairs on it, then the organism has died and those can be brought home and bleached to bring out the beautiful white color.
Along with shells and sand dollars, you can also find bits of sea glass. Sea glass are fragments of broken glass that have tumbled on the shore so much that the edges are smooth. They can be used for many decorative projects. Be careful though because some still may have some sharp edges. See how many different colors you can find!
I'd also like to suggest that If you do go shelling on the beach, try to take a small plastic bag to put any trash in that you may come across. We need to keep Florida's beaches clean and it only takes a second to pick up something that has washed up on the shore.
So get to the beach and start your own shell collection!