i am just an amateur collecter but have made an attempt to find cowries
every time i have been to the keys in the past few years and never found
a single one despite looking for hours.  However, one year I talked to a
local fisherman who said he regularly found lots of cyprea in crab traps
in certain areas.

Jim Miller wrote:

> This past Thursday, COA member (and all-around great guy) Scott
> Schubbe and I made the long drive from Tampa to the Keys to check out
> what used to be an incredible habitat for Cypraea cervus and zebra.
> In the 70s, I can say with certainty that there were once thousands
> to be found extending along about a two-mile stretch of seawalls and
> rocky areas beside some thick mangroves. Once in the water, it was
> obvious that what was at one time a great collecting spot had been
> destroyed. Not a single cowrie was found. It appears that
> overdevelopment in that area, much of which destroyed the mangrove
> area, and the wish of all the new home owners to have nice lawns
> (meaning fertilizer runoff) turned this collecting heaven into a
> hellish breeding ground for thick bluegreen algae. Where visibility
> used to be 10-15 feet, we barely had two feet, if that. Compounding
> our problems were high winds and rain spinning off Isadore which was
> then just off Cuba.
>
> In all, we drive nearly a thousand miles to come back empty handed
> except for a few Vasum muricatum. Is anyone on Conch-L currently
> finding any cowries in the Keys or are they close to vanishing? If
> anyone has had experience collecting down there, I would appreciate
> them contacting me privately to compare notes. Needless to say, I was
> heartbroken over what I experienced that day.
>
> Best regards,
> Jim
>
> --
>


--
Steve                      _
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"I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always
agree with them."
        - George Bush, former U.S. President