Hello everyone and happy holidays!

Over here in the Florida panahandle, the low tide fully lived up to the
advance hype. We went out to the flats off St. Marks, 30 miles south of
Tallahassee. With the low tide scheduled for 8:30, we knew that we would
get stuck in the mud going out the channel from the boat ramp to the Gulf
if we launched too close to low tide. Many boats get stuck right at the end
of the channel, even on a normal low tide. So we were putting the boat in
the water at 4:45, with the temperature being 43 degrees, which doesn't
sound too bad but there was a 20 knot wind blasting directly out of the
north. We had worn our heaviest wet suits, plus sweat shirts underneath,
but it was still bone-numbingly cold. Now even at 4:45, the channel was so
shallow that we had to carefully work our way out with the engine tilted so
the prop was barely in the water. Though there was a full moon, it was
behind some clouds, so we had to cautiously make our way about a mile and a
half to the spot where we knew the flats started.

On a normal low, just a few small areas of grass and mud actually is
exposed. On a minus tide (like the one two weeks ago, a minus .3), an area
about the size of a football field is exposed. When we arrived (still in
the dark), we ran the boat up into shallow water and waited. Within an
hour, the sky began to get light and I could see there was already a huge
area of grass, mud and sand flats exposed. By 8:30, this had expanded to an
area so large that I couldn't see the far end. This was mega acres of flats
. . . and the tide continued going out. By this point our boat was sitting
high and dry out of the water on a sandbar.

Did we find shell? Yes! Although I didn't find anything particularly rare,
I did see many species and collected some nice specimens. Turbo castanea
were everywhere, and there were even some bright orange specimens. Almost
everywhere in the sand you could see trails where Oliva sayana were
burrowing along, as well as the wider trails of Sinum perspectivum (Baby's
Ear). In water that was just at the edge of being exposed, we found large
numbers of Neverita duplicata in a dark green-grey color. Their trails were
everywhere, but they were duried so deep that often I couldn't actually
find the shell that made the trail. Busycon sinistrum were very common,
from small to very large specimens. We saw one small Pleuroplaca gigantea
grazing among the grasses. The best find was several particularly
dark-colored Busycon spiratum, though they were not particularly large (in
fact, I have never seen a large Pear Whelk anywhere in the Panhandle to
date). There were a number of Fasciolaria lilium hunteria just at water's
edge busily making more Banded tulips. The big find was a cherry red
Fasciolaria tulipa in perfect condition. Other true tulips were seen either
grazing on the grass or buried in the sandy mud. We also found a smattering
of cockles and other bivalves, including two dayglo orange Argopecten
irradians concentricus (both dead) and many, many live Pen Shells, a few of
which had Cherry Jewel boxes growing on them. Finally, our small auger,
Terebra dislocata was found in several sots, with the largest being about
two inches.

All-in-all, we had a great time, though we wished we had brought gloves. I
was able to shoot more video for my shelling video project (though it was
difficult since my hands were numb).

Was it the lowest tide of the century? I don't know. I do know I was
exhausted by the time I covered barely a quarter of the area that was
exposed. The tide finally started to come back in at about 11 AM, and our
boat was at last afloat at about 11:45. We still had to wait an extra 15
minutes before there was enough water to get back up the channel to haul
the boat (17 ft. Boston Whaler) out of the water. We had planned to go back
today and hit the other side of the flats, but last night's 30 degree
temperatures discouraged us. We'll just have to hope that the next super
low tide happens in somewhat warmer weather.

Once again, the best to each and every one of you and I hope you all have a
most wonderful holiday.

Best regards,
Jim



Jim Miller
Tallahassee, Florida
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