3rin's View…

Today’s afternoon beach stroll was more of a forced march into the wind. West central Florida is under a Wind Advisory through tomorrow morning. The high winds (20-25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph) even prompted the closure of the iconic Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which will snarl commuter traffic for anyone heading south from the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. Thank goodness I live and work locally!

On the plus side, I had the beach to myself. Though in places it was hard to recognize my beach under the coating of foam. Some of the foam had a sticky enough composition that it actually picked up sand particles as it rolled along, forming weird, lumpy sand sculptures.

Now I must hit the shower in order to get the sand out of my hair and ears and every other exposed body part!

I found this turtle scute on the beach after one of the recent storms. Fear not, my finding of this scute does not imply that a sea turtle died. Aquatic turtles can shed their individual scutes, unlike their terrestrial relatives.

If I was a better researcher I could not only pinpoint the species this scute came from (as each species has uniquely shaped ones) but also its exact position on the carapace. Suffice it to say, it came from one of these three species that frequent Florida’s Gulf Coast: Loggerhead, Green, or Kemp’s Ridley. I omitted the Leatherback as it does not have scutes and also the Hawksbill as it would be recognizable since it is so decorative (items labeled tortoiseshell are derived from this species).

The barnacle cones on both sides of this scute mean that it has been detached for quite some time. I’m surprised that this keratinous structure could survive so long.

Shell Interior, Myakka River State Park, Sarasota, Florida December 2019

Over 300 native species of freshwater mussels and clams have been documented in the US. Of those, 200 are now either endangered or extinct. All of Florida’s 60 native species are protected to a degree; some are completely off-limits while others have harvest limits of 10 per person per day. The Florida Shiny Spike Mussel (Elliptio buckleyi) falls in the latter category.

There were many of these shells scattered along the banks of the Myakka River during my visit last month. Apparently, the park’s Limpkins find them quite tasty (and more prevalent) than their usual snail fare. I was particularly enamored with the rich, coppery iridescence on the interior of the shells. In case you were wondering, the elliptical shape of the shell is reflected in the Genus name, Elliptio.