Aloha,
My interest in shelling started when I arrived in Hawaii, early in 1970.  I
was stationed here with my husband, who is also a local.  After our tours were
up, we stayed.Since
he knew the beaches, we mostly dove with friends and never joined any clubs.
I seemed to be the only one who liked shell, so I never realised  there were
so many
shell lovers out there.  Only in the last few years have I even tried to learn
any thing about shells.   I only have one shell story that might be worth
telling and that took place in Saipan about 12 years ago, the only time I've
been out of Hawaii since I came  here.  One day we were walking on the reefs
looking for fishing spots, when one of my sons called out that he  could see
something in one of the crevices in the reefs.   I hurried over to look.
There was something there, but it was hard to see .  So, I  slowley put my
hand down in the crevice, and grabbed onto what felt like a huge shell.   With
my heart beating a mile a minute,  and visions of shell shaped
sugar plums dancing in my head,  I slowly pulled it out and low and behold in
my hand I held a lovely....Japanese handgrenade!   With my heart now stopped,
I carefully  carried it up the beach aways, a laid it down beside the foot
long bomb head that was already laying there.   Shelling in Saipan gives a
whole new meaning   to the word SHELLing.
 
I do have a question about a spider conch I found while there.  I don't know
how to measure shells, but with my tape measure I get it to be about 9 inches.
But the spines  are very short, only about 1 to 1&1/2  inches.  Why are they
so short?  Is it an old shell because it is so large and is that why the
spines are short?  I've always wondered.
 
Aloha
Seastarr49 (Shirley Cole)
Makaha,  Oahu,  Hawaii  :)