Just a few words of thanks to those who so generously supplied me
with advice and encouragement about shelling in Miami Beach.
I do not collect live shells any more,  but found a very satisfying
assortment of empty shells on the beach.  Considering that the beach
is bulldozed (!) every day, it is a miracle that anything
survives--live or empty.
 
Two comments/questions:  I didn't find any donax variabilis (or any
donax at all, for that matter).  I've never shelled on Miami Beach
(my Florida experience is limited to one trip to Sanibel, over 20
years ago), so I don't know if there were never any coquinas there
or if there once were and now are not, or what.  (Also, I haven't
shelled in so many years that I am completely out of the loop.)  I
remembered the coquinas as being pretty ubquitous on Florida beaches.
So what gives?  Also, sadly, there wewe of course considerable
quantities of trash on the beach (although, curiously--at least to
me--no glass), and also oil.  I didn't recognize it as oil when
walking down the beach, but I certainly recognized its tarry
signature on the bottom of my shoes when I returned to my hotel room.
Has there been a recent oil spill in the area or is this just
general leakage?
 
Erika Gottfried
Curator of Nonprint Materials
Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives/Tamiment Library
New York University
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212-998-2635
Fax: 212-995-4070
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