I never responded when we were writing about shell adventure, but
this could be a good opportunity...
In 1952, on a family vacation to Ft. Myers Beach, and just underway
with shell collecting, naturally I had to go to Sanibel. So one morning my
my mother,( not the least interested in shells, but very much in helping
her shy daughter with her hobby interests) got the earliest morning
ferry to Sanible. When we got there there were heavy construction
equipment and huge mounds of dirt ( I think they were actually plowing
a main road). My mother asked a burly equipment operator how we could
get to the beach .Asking us to climb in a big truck, He kindly offered to
take us there, and did (exactly
where of course I do not know)
When we got to the beach  there were piles of shells everywhere -pairs of
this andthat,including buttercup lucines (anodontia alba) (how long since
any of us found a pair ?) and
lovely gastropods.  There was one huge tulip - which I took and have kept
all these years.

So, just for fun, I just  hunted it up and measured it.  9 and 1/16
inches.

For years my mother would say, "Remember our trip to Sanibel, and that
tulip" ? And of course my answer was "yes".

Karen