We missed a bet by not calling this thread "The Color Purple." In March, 1997, I had the pleasure of collecting Janthina from a beach on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. The snails were easy to find because of the purple splotches of dye on the white sand. In this case, there was only about one snail per ten feet (3 meters) of beach. This was similar to the density of Janthina that I saw on Boca Raton Island in the Florida Keys in the late 70's. Does anyone have any idea whether the density of Janthina has changed through time? Charles Simpson's experience in 1883 may have been one of those extraordinary events that could still happen. Janthina is said to be purple because the snails feed on purplish by-the-wind sailors (Velella velella, harmless floating coelenterates related to the Portuguese man-o'-war). When I lived in central California in the early 70's, I frequently saw windrows of Velella cast up on the beach. They are squishy and fishy at first, then dry crisp, like discarded plastic wrappers. Normally, they live in the centers of the oceans, drifting on the currents, but sometimes a crosswind would drive the pelagic herds onto the shore, particularly during the winter, if I remember right. I never found any Janthina with them. What season of the year is the most likely for finding windrows of Janthina on the beach? My finds were both in winter. The irony of the Zapotec women squeezing Purpura snails for purple dye is that the same molecule is obtainable as indigo (from the plant) and as aniline dyes (from coal tar). Yes, the blue in your blue jeans is chemically almost the same as the royal purple from Murex snails. Sorry, I have no references on this. Anyone? Andrew K. Rindsberg Geological Survey of Alabama