As a new subscriber, I am enjoying the "chat", and learning as I go.  I am
planning to spend four days in Marathon, FL, to kick back and go shelling.
Can you advise of some spots we may look to find some shells?  Would
appreciate - E-Mail address below.
 
I am from Delaware, about which you have recently been speaking.  John
DuPont was, in fact, the owner of the shell collection.  His mother built
the Delaware Museum for his shell collection, which numbers over eight
million specimens.  Your rumor about Tucker Abbott being attracted from
Phila, and then having a falling out with DuPont is the same rumor we use
here.  I trust that your sources of information about conchology are more
reliable than the recent DuPont dialogue!
 
Concerning the sinistral Busycons found north of Florida, I believe the
specimens I have been finding in Delaware and Northern Virginia are a
different species than the lighting whelks.  They are very similar to the
knobbed whelk in color, size, etc., but the angle at which the whorl leaves
the spiral is flatter.  I have found over fifty of these in my brief
shelling career, so they are not particulary "uncommon".  I have not had
time to research this occurence.
 
Sam Tuttle
[log in to unmask]