Hello all,
In response to those who have asked me to give a full report on the Panama
shelling trip, here it is.
On Friday, February 18th, Paul Kanner (another Conch-Ler) and I met in
Panama City, where we were staying at the Costa del Sol hotel (which was
nice, since it's centrally located and rooms have kitchenettes, ideal for
shell cleaning). On Saturday, we took a cab out to Vera Cruz beach at 6:30
in anticipation of the 9:30 low tide. We arrived just after 7 and the tide
was already quite low with a lot of exposed areas that looked promising.
About a mile offshore there's an island (which I'll get to in a minute). I
might point out here that the word is that this spot is not particularly
safe for tourists (per a report from the US State Department and local
advice), though neither Paul nor I felt we were in any kind of danger at
any time. If anything, the place seemed quite quiet and the only other
people we saw were shelling.
Walking out on the flats revealed a mix of sand and mud; good habitat, we
thought. We were therefore astounded when we saw almost no trails at all,
and those that we did see were mostly small sand dollars and a few Natica
unifaciata. We expected to see some Augers and possibly some Olives, but
there appeared to be nothing. I did find one very small Melongena patula
half buried in a sand/mud mix. We checked out some rocky areas, but they
revealed nothing of interest, so we proceeded out to the island.
At first we looked on the left (east) side and saw no shells at all except
for a few Pecten circularis valves and a few Nerita scabricosta up high and
dry. Over on the right side (west side) of the island, we met another
sheller that was collecting for the Panamanian Institute. He pointed out
the area where we could find Cypraea cervinetta, so we started turning over
rocks. Well, here's where it gets kind of messy: The area where the shells
are is covered with the worst mud imaginable. Within seconds of turning
over the first rocks, we found our first cervinetta, but we were already
starting to get covered in mud. Not only that, but the rocks are covered
with all manner of sharp objects -- barnacles, oysters, etc. and we found
ourselves getting cuts all over our legs and hands (the rocks ripped holes
in our gloves quite rapidly). I had hoped to shoot video of our
"discoveries," but since my hands were covered with mud, picking up the
video camera caused it to get coated with mud, too. I could not risk a
$1200 camera in these conditions. Besides the cervinetta (which were all
rather small), we found C. robertsii almost everywhere, along with a few
Thais melones with nice pink and yellow apertures, and what appeared to be
some Bursa corrugata, all of which had eroded spires.
Paul made the first discovery of a Murex radix up among the higher rocks
and if I recall correctly, it was in excellent condition with very little
in the way of marine encrustations. We also found some very nice Cardita
laticostata (which Paul later cleaned up in our room to reveal some
absolutely stunning colors and patterns). I waded out to a group of rocks
that were a little way out in the water and found a Neorapana muricatum, a
small (but sadly, heavily encrusted) radix and a Latirus pseudodon. There
were several small Cantharus under rocks and a few other small shells that
I have not identified yet (including at least two species of Dove shell).
At that point, we realized that the taxi was due back to pick us up at
11:00, so we made our way back to the highway (a long walk). The tide was
very low at this point, but we still didn't see any trails on the flats
(except for the Naticas), though I found a second, slightly larger,
Melongena patula.
The next day, we took a taxi to ScubaPanama, where we had chartered a boat
to take us to some of the farther islands offshore where we would shell at
low tide on the beach, then dive as the tide came in. By 7 AM we were on
our way to Isla Ensenada and several others in the area. Our panga was not
quite up to the rough seas and we were soaked by the time we had reached
our destination. Though the tide was out, the areas around the islands
appeared quite steep, so we tried going up closer to some mangrove areas
hoping to find larger Melongena patula. When we got there, we discovered
that here was more of that same terrible mud and for a few minutes it
appeared that we might end up stranded there. Fortunately, Paul is a
longtime seaman (boat captain and divemaster), so he took the matter into
his own hands and got us out of there with little time to spare. We then
headed over to a large multiacre beach that was surrounded by tidal flats.
Again, we expected to find many trails in the sand, but all we saw were
some of the common Olivellas. Malea ringens and Pleuroploca granosa were
easy to find dead on the beach (most every one in poor condition), but
there seemed to be nothing alive on this huge exposed area. We were
stunned. As a sidenote, when crossing from one side of the island to the
other, we went through a small area with tall grasses, plants and a few
trees. We were in there for only a minute or two, but I managed to be
attacked by either some ferocious (though invisible) insects or had a bad
reaction to an encounter with one of the plants, as there almost
immediately appeared a huge number of welts all over my legs (which still,
almost a week later) itch fiercely, even after applications of Cortisone).
For a minute or two the pain and itching were so bad I thought I'd have to
ask to head back. Fortunately, after a liberal smearing with mud, then
scrubbing the areas with sand, then getting into the seawater, the symptoms
went away for the most part, though the welts remained. Mud can be as much
a friend as a foe here! If anyone else decides to go to this region of the
world, I suggest going "the long way around" and not getting into the
brushy areas.
Frustrated at this point, we tried the steep rocky shores of one of the
islands where we had a bit more luck. I found two unidentified (as yet)
Calliostomas, more Cypraea cervinetta and robertsi, while Paul made one of
the best finds of the trip, a superb Cymatium pileare (I know that in this
area, that shell carries a different name, however neither Paul nor I could
think of it, so I'm using the term generically). Unfortunately, the tide
began to come in with a vengeance at this point and we were forced to
leave. Getting back into the boat we headed for Isla Taboga, getting a good
soaking along the way. Upon our arrival, we decided to try snorkeling along
the rocky area just offshore of one of the small beaches, but the water was
quite cold, and visibility was rather bad, so we came back on board. Our
boat captain had located a big, old Strombus peruvianus in the shallows
which he presented to me. It's hardly a great specimen, but as it turns
out, it's the only one we found and it does have a deep orange aperture.
Our divemaster suggested that we try a dive at a spot he knew of which is a
small sea mount that rises from about 70 feet to within about 20 feet of
the surface. This time we got into our full wetsuits, along with our tanks.
Once in the water, down at about 70 feet, we saw that this area was covered
with a lot of silt and sediment that would stir up into a huge murky cloud
if you picked up anything to look at or turned over a rock. Tiring of this,
we moved to somewhat shallower water. I happened to find what appears to be
a nice Latirus hemphili that, at 91mm, Paul feels might just be a world's
record. We also found several specimens of what might be Latirus tumens,
though according to the "Compendium" this shell should not be in such
shallow water. I will know better once I clean it up. Also found were one
Hexaplex princeps and a nice Pleuroploca princeps. By this point, we got
tired of the cold water and a steadily building current, so we went back to
the boat for a late lunch, then headed back to shore.
So ended our second day of shelling. At this point we felt we had some
interesting shells, but certainly nothing that we could point to as a major
find. We had two more days ahead of us and hoped for better luck. So we
headed back to our hotel where we ended up having an excellent meal at an
Italian restaurant just half a block from our hotel. The congenial
atmosphere and great food put us in a better mood. Let me say here that
Paul is a wonderful guy to shell with. He really knows his shells and was
great company for the entire trip. Considering our lack of success, it was
wonderful to know that I had someone with such a great sense of humor and
easygoing nature to pass the time with. I have a tendency to get a bit down
when I'm not finding much and Paul was always there with a upbeat attitude
and words of encouragement. He's been collecting shells for almost all his
life, so he's had his share of bad shelling trips, I'm sure. He was great
company and in my mind, one of the nicest people I've ever met. Sorry for
the editorializing, but often who you're shelling with is as important as
what you're finding, particularly when you are stuck with each other for so
many hours. I also thought Rene Gomez (the owner) and all the other folks
at ScubaPanama were great to us. Rene really went out of his way to
accommodate our needs, but I'll get into that more in the next installment.
Tomorrow I will tell you about our third and fourth days in Panama.
Jim Miller
Tallahassee, Florida
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