Dear Shellers,

I was very fortunate to be shelling at Ocracoke, NC for the first time two
years ago, just after Dan and Floyd went through.  In just two days, I found
13 beautifully intact Scotch Bonnets on the middle beach, appropriately
referred to as Bonnet Beach.  I also found some great Olive shells at the
North Beach, at the Hatteras Ferry end.  (Please forgive the non-latin
identifications!)  I was also amazed at the Welks to be found on Assateague
Island in VA during the same trip.

I'll be heading to Assateague and Ocracoke again in a little while, but with
less hurricane activity in the area, the beaches may be very different.
I've been wondering if Erin is pushing anything interesting to the coast.

I'd like to plan other shelling trips along the east coast and would
appreciate any suggestions.  David Kirsh has provided some interesting
possibilities.  Are there any others?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!!

Martha
From Massachusetts



-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists of America List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of David Kirsh
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 1:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: good beaches


Dear shellers,

Since I raised the topic, I should try to start it off.

My experience so far in North Carolina has mostly been at Ft. Fisher, Ft.
Macon, and Caswell Beach. Each one has yielded some good specimens from
beach drift but generally my early hauls were my most productive.

I know that there are fluctuations from day to day in shelling conditions.
But recent visits to Ft. Fisher have been disappointing and Caswell Beach
has zero drift, apparently there's been "renourishment" there. Ft. Macon
continues to have drift, but the quality and quantity has declined since my
first day.

The first good shelling I did was when I was 9 years old at Long Boat Key in
Florida. I remember jumping out of the car and finding a large Oliva sayana
in fairly good condition with a bluish overcast. That hooked me for life, I
guess. Recently, I returned there (39 years later). The beach looked
completely different than I remembered, much steeper. Nothing too much
there, either.

Every beach I've been to around St. Petersburg has fairly good drift. Marco
Island has been mentioned as equal to Sanibel but this is no longer true.
Virtually nothing in sight when I stopped by.

On the bright side, John U. Lloyd  Park in Dania, FL, recommended by some
kind people on the list, rivals anything I've seen in the Caribbean,
especially for micro shell diversity. (Maybe I'll post a list of what I
found in 6 hours there). In spite of the damage that renourishment usually
brings to intertidal life and shelling, Harry Lee told me he believes much
of the diversity at John U. Lloyd is due to what is dredged up for
renourishment.

I could give more examples but what are others finding/not finding?

David Kirsh
Durham, NC